When, late last year, ITV revealed that it would be reinstating News at Ten, the broadcaster promised to retake the pre-news peak viewing hour with a slate of new drama shows. Whether new series of Kingdom, Wild at Heart, Primeval and Trial and Retribution, along with brand-new dramas The Palace and Honest, will achieve this goal remains to be seen.
However, TV buyers are generally optimistic. Nick Theakstone, chief operating officer of Group M, says: "ITV is constantly looking to enhance the schedule by way of change. Bringing News at Ten back gives more of an opportunity for targeted hour-long dramas, that should improve ratings and profiles, though obviously not every drama appeals to every age group. It has been accused of not experimenting and being rather slow in the past, so this is a positive move."
Media Planning Group's Jim McDonald agrees: "ITV is taking a few risks in terms of new shows, but we want it to take risks."
ITV director of television Simon Shaps insists that the move to reinstate News at Ten is "much less of a gamble than it might look", with the combination of Trevor McDonald and "the familiar, much-loved brand" able to give the "BBC News a run for its money".
Key change
Aside from weekday dramas, another key change in the schedule is the creation of a long entertainment-led weekend beginning on Friday nights. This sees the axing of soaps on Sundays to be replaced with Dancing On Ice.
Dropping Coronation Street and Emmerdale from Sundays is a risky move. A second episode of Coronation Street will air on Friday at 8.30pm, followed by ITV's new half-hour interlinked comedy and soap programmes, Moving Wallpaper and Echo Beach, and Al Murray's Happy Hour.
But viewing figures for the first week of December for Coronation Street were 9.9 million for the Friday, compared to 10.3 million for the Sunday. One source said: "From an ad perspective, a pre-weekend double Corrie is good, but there will be issues with sponsor Harveys."
Shaps denies that moving Coronation Street is risky. "In December there are lots of unusual factors (that affect the ratings).
"Monday has been very strong with double Corries, so we will see audiences growing in familiarity with the double slots and the hook of the storylines.
"By moving the episodes to three nights a week, we hope that audiences will catch them with a better and easier pattern."
Meanwhile, Emmerdale moves from Sunday night to an hour-long episode on Tuesday. However, the new 60-minute slot will have to shorten to 30 minutes on Champions League Tuesdays, potentially devaluing the show's sponsorship.
McDonald also warns: "It will be going head to head with EastEnders in the second half hour and that will be risky for ITV."
Universal McCann's Richard Oliver says it is of "particular interest that ITV is making a distinction between weekdays and weekends" and that a broader balance of new drama and entertainment could help prevent it becoming "too reliant on The X Factor" at weekends.
Shaps adds: "We have been less strong on Fridays, largely due to repeats of programmes such as Midsomer Murders. We are really trying to shake up the weekend schedule."
Key shows for Saturday will be new quiz Duel, Primeval and new Paul Merton improvisation show Thank God You're Here. Sunday nights, which Shaps admits have been too "samey", will be refreshed with Dancing On Ice, drama and films.
US acquisitions
ITV1 has, until now, shied well away from the US acquisitions that rivals Channel 4 and Five have snapped up, but is hoping to reinvigorate the post-news slot at 10.35pm with Warner Bros drama Pushing Daisies, Showtime's serial killer show Dexter, and Swingtown from CBS.
Theakstone says: "ITV's big budgets mean it can compete with everyone else on acquisitions. Historically, it has thought US drama is not right for ITV and has seen some gems slip through its fingers and regretted it."
Other TV buyers say ITV1 would need to command a broader audience than that of Five's CSI import. McDonald says: "What are big numbers for Channel 4 and Five are not big for ITV - a million would be a huge failure for the channel."
Shaps insists that the revisions mark the "final phase of changes to the architecture of the schedule".
He adds: "There are things you can do that are relatively fast, but the real key is to get the architecture changed with the right programmes in place."
The reputation of those whose decision it was to reinvent News at Ten, mocked at the time by many, rests on how viewers respond to this "architecture"
ITV1 EVENING SCHEDULE
SATURDAY, 12 JANUARY
18.00: All-New You've Been Framed
18.30: Harry Hill's TV Burp
19.00: Primeval
20.00: Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
21.05: Thank God You're Here
22.05: Film - Shaun Of The Dead
23.45: ITV News
SUNDAY, 13 JANUARY
17.50: Dancing On Ice
19.50: Heartbeat
20.50: Dancing On Ice: The Skate Off
21.20: Kingdom
22.20: ITV News
22.35: Film - True Lies
MONDAY, 14 JANUARY
19.00: Emmerdale
19.30: Coronation Street
20.00: Teens Too Soon: Tonight
20.30: Coronation Street
21.00: The Palace
22.00: News at Ten
22.35: Movie Premiere - Open Water
TUESDAY, 15 JANUARY
19.00: Emmerdale
20.00: Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
21.00: Taggart
22.00: News at Ten
22.35: Sandbanks
WEDNESDAY, 16 JANUARY
19.00: Emmerdale
19.30: Coronation Street
20.00: The Bill
21.00: Honest
22.00: News at Ten
22.35: Sandbanks
THURSDAY, 17 JANUARY
19.00: Emmerdale
19.30: Local
20.00: The Bill
21.00: Trial And Retribution
22.00: News at Ten
22.35: Sandbanks
23.05: Harry Hill's TV Burp
FRIDAY, 18 JANUARY
19.00: Emmerdale
19.30: Coronation Street
20.00: Saving Ed Mitchell
20.30: Coronation Street
21.00: Moving Wallpaper
21.30: Echo Beach
22.00: Al Murray's Happy Hour
23.00: The Late News.