News

In the wake of the MasterChef scandal, the head of content at ITV has spotlighted the difficulty of handling “historic” misconduct complaints.

Responding to a question from Deadline at today’s ITV half-year results press briefing, Kevin Lygo said “it’s much better for everyone if when people have a complaint they do it as soon as they feel they can.”

“Some complaints are historic and it becomes very difficult to come to a conclusion when people can’t remember what happened or someone else has a different view,” he added. “I would encourage anyone who feels belittled or troubled in any way to raise a complaint as soon as they feel they have been badly treated and we can deal with it quickly.”

Lygo was addressing the MasterChef scandal, which has seen the firing of lead presenters Gregg Wallace and John Torode following a report commissioned by the show’s producer Banijay.

Good afternoon Insiders, welcome back to another edition of our weekly newsletter to cap off what’s been a busy week. I’m Max Goldbart. Do sign up here.

‘Salt Path’ Scandal

Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs in ‘The Salt Path’ Number 9 Films/Shadowplay Features

What’s in a story?: Up until last Sunday, Gillian Anderson pic The Salt Path, a true-to-life underdog film about a couple made homeless who walk along a South England coastal path, was a local box office hit. Then, The Observer dropped a bombshell investigation, questioning multiple elements of the couple’s story and revealing that the author of the source material, Raynor Winn, was once arrested after being accused of stealing tens of thousands of pounds from her employer. What’s followed has been an almost nationwide debate around truth, fiction and just how far Raynor Winn was able to push the believability of her story.

(Image courtesy the Walt Disney Company, Graphic by The Desk)

The Walt Disney Company and Britain’s main commercial public service broadcaster ITV have forged a streaming-focused content partnership that will see each brand distribute a sampling of the other’s film and TV library on their respective connected TV (CTV) services.

As part of the deal, the hit ITV reality-based drama “Mr. Bates vs. the Post Office” will be available on Disney Plus in the United Kingdom, as well as some seasons of the popular “Love Island” dating show. Disney will license “Lilo & Stitch: The Series” and “Phineas and Ferb” to ITV for streaming on its Itvx platform.

The shows are just a small amount of the content that will be cross-licensed between the two services — others include “The Bear,” “Andor” and “Only Murders in the Building” from Disney, as well as “Endeavour” and “Vera” from ITV.

On Disney,...

Disney and ITV are teaming up on a new, first-of-its-kind deal that will see the two companies promote each other’s programming on Disney+ and Itvx starting July 16.

The promotion, billed as a “Taste of Itvx,” will allow Disney+ users in the U.K. to stream ITV scripted and unscripted content including “Mr Bates vs The Post Office,” “A Spy Among Friends,” “Endeavour,” “Vera,” “Price of Perfection,” “The 1% Club,” selected seasons of “Love Island” and the first season of “Karen Pirie” at no extra cost.

Meanwhile, a “Taste of Disney+” will offer Itvx viewers a rotating rail of shows and movies that will be updated regularly at no extra cost and ad-free on Itvx Premium. The selection in the coming months will include the first seasons of FX’s “The Bear”, Lucasfilm’s “Andor,” “Only Murders in the Building,” “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” “The Kardashians,” “Lilo and Stitch: The Series...

Love Island is headed to Disney+ UK and The Bear will be served up on Itvx following a landmark deal that will see Disney and ITV carry “Taste of” versions of each other’s streaming services.

As part of the tie-up, ITV viewers will be able to watch Andor, Only Murders in the Building, The Kardashians and The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives via a “Taste of Disney+” rail on Itvx. At the same time, a new “Taste of Itvx” rail will launch on Disney+ with the likes of Mr Bates vs the Post Office, Love Island, A Spy Among Friends and Vera.

Karl Holmes, Disney+’s General Manager for Emea, told Deadline he “expects we will announce similar deals with other broadcasters [across Emea] in the coming months.”

“We believe there is a mutually beneficial relationship here and we can reach free-to-air audiences in larger markets,” he added. “This will enable...

Disney and ITV will launch a new, first-of-its-kind initiative to carry each other’s streaming services.

In the form of a promotional selection, the partnership will be billed as a “Taste of Itvx” and a “Taste of Disney+” on their respective platforms, the companies confirmed Thursday.

From Jul. 16, a curated and regularly refreshed selection of hit shows and movies from Disney+ and Itvx will be available to viewers on both platforms.

Disney+ customers in the U.K. will be able to stream some of ITV’s most popular scripted and unscripted content, including the award-winning Mr Bates vs The Post Office, Spy Among Friends and reality show Love Island.

At the same time, Itvx viewers will be introduced to a rotating rail of Disney+ shows and movies. Among them will be the first season of FX’s The Bear, Lucasfilm’s Andor as well as the Emmy-nominated Only Murders in the Building.

Disney and U.K. network ITV have signed a pact billed as a “first-of-its-kind initiative” that will see them share a curated selection of content across their streaming services.

Disney+ will carry a “promotional selection” of titles from ITV’s Itvx under the banner “Taste of Itvx” that will include shows such as the multi-award-winning “Mr. Bates vs The Post Office,” espionage thriller ” Spy Amongst Friends” and selected seasons of the reality hit “Love Island.”

Meanwhile, Itvx will have a “Taste of Disney+” selection of shows and movies including the first seasons of FX’s “The Bear”, Lucasfilm’s “Andor” and “Only Murders in the Building,” plus selected series of reality titles such as “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” and “The Kardashians.”

Around 70-100 hours of content from each streamer’s library will be shared.

The service will launch on both platforms on July 16 and will be available free...

Emmy-winning documentary maker Deeyah Khan – whose latest film America’s Veterans: the War Within airs this weekend on ITV in the UK – has warned that the rise in anti-immigrant sentiment in the UK over the last two decades is having “a pernicious, profound effect” on documentary making in Britain.

Khan tells Deadline: “The rise in anti-immigrant rhetoric isn’t just a political shift, it’s cultural. Over time, it changes who feels visible and valued, whose stories are judged worthy of compassion, who gets to hold the camera, and what someone feels comfortable saying.”

She continues: “Since 9/11, we’ve witnessed a slow and steady-burn dehumanisation of immigrants, especially migrants of colour in Europe, Australia and North America. As an immigrant and woman of colour, that enrages and concerns me. And as a filmmaker, it frustrates me because it interferes with the creative process itself.”

It also motivates Khan, whose eight...

Netflix Emea boss Larry Tanz has put the Mr Bates vs the Post Office debate to bed.

That debate over whether a streamer would have commissioned a local show like the ITV breakout hit has been raging for the past 18 months and Tanz, whose team has recently had success with Adolescence, strove to kill it off at today’s Deloitte Conference in London.

“Maybe this is finally my chance,” said Tanz. “[Netflix UK boss] Anne Mensah and her team in the UK commissioned Adolescence, Baby Reindeer and Toxic Town for the UK audience first and foremost. Maybe I can finally put that to bed here and say we absolutely would have commissioned Mr Bates in the UK. We think our audience would love it.”

Tanz’s shutdown of the debate was unsurprising given that Netflix has found such success with local UK hits of late. Adolescence has been killing it and is now...

“Audiences: What do they want and from where?” That was the question, and the title, of a panel session at the Media & Telecoms 2025 & Beyond Conference in London on Tuesday, organized by Deloitte and Enders Analysis. Tasked with providing answers were top executives from the Walt Disney Co., YouTube, and U.K. TV giant ITV.

And one Disney exec had a, for some attendees, surprising takeaway.

“Across the markets we operate in Europe, the big free-to-air channels still aggregate the largest audiences, have the largest shows, and have the largest production budgets,” Holmes shared when asked if a U.S. giant like Disney has a role to play in nurturing linear channels in foreign markets. “That’s really important. We’re also part of that. We operate linear channels in 28 markets across Europe, and they are an important and sustainable part of our business. How do we work with free-to-air? Because...

ITV has just finished briefing staff on a major overhaul of its daytime schedule, which will dramatically scale back the airtime devoted to shows like Loose Women and Lorraine.

ITV will make more than 220 redundancies under the sweeping changes, but it has promised to reinvest all savings into more streaming-friendly content, including drama and sport.

That 220 figure represents around half the 450 employees who produce output across ITV Studios-made Good Morning Britain, Lorraine, This Morning, and Loose Women.

Major broadcast networks are re-evaluating their schedules as viewers watch more content online. Topical daytime shows are expensive to make and do not have the online shelf-life of big-ticket dramas and documentaries, meaning they are being scaled back as media companies switch strategy.

Under the plans, ITV will scale back Loose Women and Lorraine by at least 42%, meaning they will go from broadcasting 52 weeks of the year to 30 weeks. Furthermore, Lorraine’s...

Mr Bates vs The Post Office and Mr Loverman were the big victors at the BAFTA TV Awards, meaning Baby Reindeer did not continue its dominant winning streak.

Hosted by The Traitors star Alan Cumming, the BAFTA ceremony took place in sparkling spring sunshine on the banks of the River Thames at London’s Royal Festival Hall on Sunday.

The prizes were fairly evenly shared, but perhaps unsurprisingly, it was a notable night for Mr Bates vs The Post Office, the ITV series that dominated the UK ratings last year and fuelled a national conversation about injustices faced by innocent British postmasters, who were convicted of theft, fraud, and false accounting.

The series won Best Limited Drama, beating Baby Reindeer, which has been a darling of the awards season after cleaning up at the Emmys and Golden Globes. Jessica Gunning did, however, take home the prize for Best Supporting Actress for Baby Reindeer,...

Exclusive: Following a brief spell on the sidelines after surgery, Lock Stock and Harry Potter actor Nick Moran is already back in the saddle and has joined the cast of Brit espionage thriller Knightfall, alongside Ian Ogilvy, Jeanine Nerissa Sothcott, Michael Paré and Roger Moore’s son Geoffrey Moore. Directed by Ben Mole, the film follows an infamous former spy catcher who must work with his estranged daughter to avert a homeland security bloodbath and survive a terrifying home invasion. Producer Jonathan Sothcott of Shogun Films commented: “It was great to work with Nick again; he’s a superb actor and this is his third movie for us. It was great to see him having a good time amongst friends and being his usual gregarious self.” Film Bridge International will be handling sales at the Cannes market. Above is a first look at Moran in the movie.

Mark Gatiss Series...

ITV bosses faced numerous sale rumor questions this morning but didn’t budge on the speculation, while content boss Kevin Lygo revealed only one drama is stuck in the funding limbo instigated by the American co-pro drop-off.

Reuters recently reported that ITV is in talks over merging production arm ITV Studios with RedBird Imi’s All3Media, which lit a fire under the media industry. Unsurprisingly CEO Carolyn McCall faced numerous questions during its annual results call about the rumors as the broadcaster revealed a mixed results picture including record profits for the production arm.

McCall said you would “expect a lot of speculation” due to the current state of the market and pointed out that such speculation has also followed ITV Studios rivals such as Banijay and Fremantle, although she perhaps consciously avoided mentioning All3Media.

“We won’t comment on speculation but what I would say is we will...

On stage at British television’s biggest annual gathering in 2023, Paramount UK content chief Ben Frow recounted the story of his resignation with signature flamboyance. Frow told Edinburgh TV Festival delegates he was suffering from gnawing burnout that felt as if he were being “pecked alive.” Quitting granted him paradoxical relief: it soothed his anxiety to the point where he felt able to later withdraw his resignation.

Sixteen months on from his confession, Frow remains in charge of Channel 5, the jewel in the crown of Paramount’s UK operations. It’s a job he has done for more than 12 years, which is at least three times longer than any of his predecessors. Frow’s brush with burnout may be a personal story, but he touched on a universal issue: how long is too long in the rarefied executive roles at the top of television?

Ben Frow

Wherever you turn,...

Hundreds of hours of ITV shows are about to hit YouTube while the UK commercial net has hired a Channel 4 exec to run a dedicated YouTube sales team.

As UK broadcasters continue to burrow into the digital space, ITV has struck a deal with YouTube that will see the likes of Love Island, I’m a Celebrity.. Get Me Out of Here, The Masked Singer and Vera become available on the platform.

Genres from scripted to entertainment to reality comprise the deal. Genre-based channels including ITV News and ITV Sport will be developed alongside channels for specific shows, while ITV will create and develop fan content specially tailored for YouTube.

To aid with the push, ITV has hired Channel 4 Senior Lead Streaming & Social Sales Abul Noor to be its Head of YouTube Sales. The newly-created role will see Noor lead a team, which will sell the full range of advertising...

BBC Studios & Zdf Renew Partnership

BBC Studios and Germany’s Zdf today announced at Content London that they’ve renewed their long-term strategic partnership on scripted content. The two broadcasters have said the multi-year deal will extend co-productions on scripted TV content, with Zdf and BBC Studios partnering to co-produce titles across the BBC Studios’ content pipeline. The new agreement also extends to first option on pre-sales and acquisitions across BBC Studios’ catalog available in Germany. Acquisitions already confirmed include Death in Paradise S13-14, Beyond Paradise S1-2, and The Outlaws S2-3. The original partnership with Zdf was forged in 2019. Ther collaborations include A Good Girls Guide to Murder, The Famous Five Series 1, Kidnapped: The Chloe Ayling Story, and The Chelsea Detective.

Itvx Hits Growth Record

ITV’s streaming platform Itvx has hit a new audience record, according to the broadcaster. The streaming platform has become the UK’s fast growing platform,...

“This Morning” boss Martin Frizell is exiting from the ITV morning show after ten years in the role.

It is the latest blow for 37-year-old magazine format show “This Morning,” which has suffered a series of controversies over the past 24 months after its long running anchors, Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, stepped down in quick succession.

Frizell is the show’s longest-running editor, having joined ITV in 2014 as the editor of fellow daytime show “Loose Women.” He is set to step down next spring. His successor has not yet been announced.

“Next year I’m expecting my family priorities to change so I need to free up time for them,” said Frizell. “I love my team at ITV and will miss them and the thrill of live telly but it’s an always on, 24 hours a day, seven days a week commitment and I won’t be able to do both.

“Welcome to this week’s edition of Deadline International Insider! As we navigate through the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, it’s clear that AI is not just a buzzword but a transformative force reshaping industries worldwide.”

If you hadn’t guessed already — and I hope you had — the intro above was written by a robot. But it feeds nicely into what we’ve been writing about in the film and TV world this week, so the real Max Goldbart is here and the non-ai-created newsletter is below. Or is it? Please do sign up.

Analyzing Artificial Intelligence

Millions of strands: Each week it feels as though there are immeasurable AI-themed strands we could be pulling on and the last couple have certainly been no different. Debates continue to rage within local and global industries around the ethics, usefulness and necessity of artificial intelligence and the developing, invasive tech...

Michael Jermey, ITV’s director of news and current affairs, has resigned after 16 years to chair the Disasters Emergency Committee.

Jermey will remain at ITV until the end of the year, at which point the British broadcaster hopes to have hired his successor. The role will be advertised in the coming days.

One of the UK’s most senior news executives, Jermey was influential in bringing election debates to Britain in 2010 and overhauled the Tom Bradby-fronted ITV News at Ten.

He launched ITV’s Exposure strand, which is perhaps best known for the 2012 documentary The Other Side of Jimmy Savile, which exposed the former BBC presenter as a monstrous sex offender.

During his tenure, Jermey has overseen coverage of five general elections, seven prime ministers, three U.S. presidencies, Brexit, Covid, the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

ITV CEO Carolyn McCall...

UK broadcasting bosses have been branded “callous” and “cloth-eared” by the head of Pact for the way in which they publicly proclaimed the death of the mid-budget programing market.

Last month’s Edinburgh TV Festival was dominated by chatter about the “squeezed middle,” with BBC content boss Charlotte Moore saying the pubcaster was “rightsizing” in the area, ITV’s Kevin Lygo questioning, “Why would you watch the [mid-range] when you have Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen?,” and Channel 4 head honcho Ian Katz challenging producers to make bingeable, streamer-first content.

Speaking at yesterday’s Pact census briefing, John McVay cited a lack of sensitivity given that the mid-range market is “where my members live.”

“I thought some of the way that was presented in Edinburgh was I think a bit callous,” he added. “It was like, ‘Oh well, that’s how it will be, that’s it’. Using phrases like ‘rightsizing...

The 2024 Edinburgh TV Festival draws to a close today, and this year’s event has been full of talking points, some positive and other not so much. While execs and creatives on the ground said there was a relatively subdued feel compared to some years when there have been real fireworks, there was a cautious sense that the brutal financial landscape for the British television market might finally be turning into a brighter picture. Indeed, Channel 4 content boss Ian Katz raised spirits and eyebrows in equal measure when he wrote on the eve of the fest that the network’s spending level is back to 2019 levels, while the likes of Charlotte Moore and Anne Mensah shared optimistic views about the future. Here are our five key takeaways from the Scottish capital.

Risky Business

Writer James Graham delivers the James MacTaggart Lecture

Sherwood and Dear England writer James Graham set British TV gatekeepers a major task in the festival’s key James MacTaggart Lecture slot on Wednesday night: To find a space for “new universes” akin to Harry Potter or the MCU. That means one thing, as he noted: “Taking risks.” The problem is, at the moment, networks aren’t taking risks, as the tough economic conditions of recent years have led to glut of tried-and-tested program decisions. Graham criticized commissioners for opting for “source material, adaptations and expanded universes,” adding that new stories should be central tenant to commissioning “even in the most difficult climate.” He wasn’t the only one addressing risk taking — or the lack of it — with well-known exec and Edinburgh Exec Chair Fatima Salaria opining that “some of the stories I grew up with wouldn’t make it onto a platform now” during a sombre state of the nations debate. Marianne Buckland, development chief at Downton Abbey maker Carnival, warned it was getting harder to persuade networks to gamble on writers that are “maybe just on the cusp” of success, while former HBO programs chief Sue Naegle cautioned that around the world, there is “fear in the marketplace” that leads buyers to stick with known IP. Some heart will be taken from Channel 4’s Katz, who said British IP would be under threat if broadcasters stop taking risks, while suggesting the UK industry is too reliant on American I.P., a potentially harmful situation as market contraction continues across the pond.

The Middle In A Muddle

ITV’s Kevin Lygo questioned why audiences would seek ‘middle-ground’ content when the likes of ‘The Gentlemen are available on-demand

The middle has gone from the market. That was the verdict of virtually every British TV boss who spoke at Edinburgh. In practice, what this means is that those ‘schedule filler’-type shows that used to be consumed by millions in 7pm and 8pm slots are no longer viable in the streaming age. The networks are interested in low-cost TV series to keep things ticking and the high-end premium stuff – mostly drama and docs. The streamers have, of course, never played in this mid-range game. “Why would you watch the [mid-range] when you have Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen?” crowed ITV boss Kevin Lygo plainly. “The slightly soft middle ground we used to make a lot of has gone from ITV.” The reality of the shift is proving painful, with numerous production companies shutting up shop the year and more indie closures forecast. When a trio of leading execs were pushed on whether there are too many production companies, the answer was an almost overly resounding ‘yes’, with little room for doubt. “There isn’t enough money and hours to keep everyone alive,” said the BBC’s Dan McGolpin, equally as plainly as Lygo. Edinburgh Exec Chair Salaria worried that the shift will create “an elite class of people who will make elite, high-class premium factual and drama.” On the ground the view was mixed, with a broad but gloomy acceptance that while the shift is causing pain, it is necessary. BBC Chief Content Officer Charlotte Moore said the industry was “rightsizing,” and that indies will need help to find a route forwards. Broadcasters have to build up their streaming services in order to compete, and these platforms do not sit particularly well with the mid-range, so there is more structural work ahead to make the business fit for the future. But more pain is likely coming. Indies have often posited that they need to “survive till 25,” but these intense structural shifts mean that this may be tricky. They’ll certainly be hoping that former NBC entertainment president Warren Littlefield’s assertion that “we’re probably two years out from getting through this particular challenging time” isn’t correct.

Fraught Times For Freelancers, Classism Questioned

Carol Vorderman, presenter and commentator, slammed the UK TV’s industry’s approach to the working class

The middle dropping away is not good news for the ailing freelance workforce, and many at Edinburgh were on hand to reiterate this point. Freelancers tend to use mid-range shows as a way of learning the trade, and without them this nursery slope is destroyed. Freelancers are struggling, recognized by the creation of a new body, Action for Freelancers, unveiled in a session on Wednesday, which is seeking tangible outcomes including better recruitment, improved mental health and enhanced working conditions. The Coalition for Change body, which had been fighting for improvements via a carefully-forged charter, has been closed by its founder, Adeel Amini. Freelancer woes come with working class representation in the spotlight following Graham’s MacTaggart, which argued passionately for greater representation. The industry now needs to ask itself how this can be done amid market contraction and all the usual barriers faced by the demographic. Things ramped up a notch on Friday morning, when the two keynote speakers, consumer champion Martin Lewis and former Countdown icon Carol Vorderman, railed against the TV industry’s treatment of working classes. “We bear a responsibility for not giving the working class a voice within the industry and that has its knock on effects whether you like it or not,” said Vorderman. Will the gatekeepers listen?

Controversies Avoided

Jermaine Jenas was fired from his presenting roles at the BBC yesterday over alleged inappropriate behavior

This year’s fest was as much about what wasn’t said as what was said. While there was a laudable focus on class and existential questions about British content, at least three major themes were missing from the agenda. First among them was abuses of power. There is an irony in the fact that, within minutes of BBC content chief Charlotte Moore stepping off stage, The Sun revealed that Jermaine Jenas had been fired by the BBC for allegedly sending inappropriate messages to a female colleague on The One Show. Jenas denies wrongdoing, but he is the fourth BBC star in recent months to be accused of professional misconduct following the Huw Edwards and Strictly Come Dancing scandals. Is there systemic ill-discipline among male BBC stars? And after the Russell Brand and Phillip Schofield sagas, why does the industry continue to be plagued by abuse of power problems? These questions were not given serious consideration. Secondly, Lisa Nandy, the UK’s new culture secretary, was in Edinburgh this week, but did not attend the TV festival. Deadline is told that organizers attempted to secure time with the Labour minister, but it did not result in a speech or a Q&a. She is now expected to deliver an address at the Royal Television Society London Convention next month. In the event of the Nandy no-show, an industry discussion about the first change of government in 14 years would have been welcome. Then there was the reindeer in the room. The biggest British TV series on the planet this year has been Baby Reindeer, but the Richard Gadd stalker drama’s extraordinary success has also raised searching questions about duty of care and compliance. Netflix UK chief Anne Mensah gave deeply corporate responses about these issues during her Spotlight session, but could they have been explored elsewhere? A panel titled ‘Based On A True Story: Getting Factual Drama Right’ appeared to be the perfect vehicle for such a discussion. Remarkably, Baby Reindeer was not mentioned once. Elsewhere, Channel 5’s spotlight session was dropped from the schedule on the news Ben Frow was suffering from illness and couldn’t make the trip to Scotland. Others such as comedian and actor Sophie Willan missed sessions as the UK’s sickness season came early.

Premium Docs Dominate As Drama Droops

Gordon Ramsay and Victoria Beckham will both feature in premium docs for Netflix

Turns out what the industry actually needed was a heavy dose of 1990s pop music notaglia. A total of three premium doc programs featuring some of Britain’s biggest musical icons of the era were unveiled during the fest — a strong example of the series that now dominate a British TV market missing its middle. Netflix revealed what might be called a Beckham ‘sequel,’ in which Spice Girl Victoria Beckham’s fashion brands empire is explored, and an exploration of boyband Take That from producer du jour Fulwell73 that will include insights from all of its current and former members, including Robbie Williams. Not to be outdone on musical nostalgia, Sky had unveiled Boyzone (working title) on the eve of the fest. It will explore everything from the rise of Take That’s fresh-faced Irish rivals to the sad death of band member Stephen Gately in 2009 — an incident that changed the group forever. There were also announcements about new doc series from celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay for Netflix and Queen consort Camilla, about the victims of domestic and abuse, for ITV. While premium docs dominated, it was a more muted affair in terms of drama announcements, with Michaela Cole’s BBC and HBO drama First Day on Earth, Prime Video’s Keeley Hawes and Freddie Highmore thriller series The Assassin and Netflix’s How to Kill Your Family, starring Anya Taylor-Joy, the orders unveiled. In years past, British networks used Edinburgh to reveal plans for dozens of scripted projects, but unscripted took center stage in 2024.

Read our full Edinburgh TV Festival coverage by clicking here.

The TV industry must accept some responsibility for its role in the recent UK riots, alternative MacTaggart lecturer Carol Vorderman has proclaimed.

The former Countdown icon delivered a broadside against the industry’s treatment of working class voices – a theme at this year’s Edinburgh TV Festival – along with the way in which the mainstream media and public broadcasters have failed the nation.

Vorderman, who has turned to political activism in recent years, did not hold back, and drew on the recent riots as an example.

She said: “After 14 years of austerity and lying by the privileged political class, this country is in an absolute mess and the TV industry must accept part of the responsibility for that too, including the riots. We used to be the message makers, the ones who tried to determine the conversation of the country and how responsible have we been with those messages? Not very,...

ITV is yet to find itself in a position where it is “turning stuff down because we can’t afford it,” according to programs boss Kevin Lygo, who nonetheless acknowledged “the middle ground has gone” from the the market due to massive hits like Netflix’s The Gentlemen.

Addressing the Edinburgh TV Festival, Lygo attempted to calm nerves among the producers watching his session over a lack of work, coming after a panel during which a number of execs said there are far too many production companies in the ecosystem.

Lygo said his commissioning team is constantly thinking about the balance between not wanting to “mortgage the whole future” and commissioning a producer “walking in with something that you suddenly want to do next week.”

In the face of market contraction and dozens of layoffs, he said he “understands how hard it is for small indies to get business away...

The head of programs at ITV has criticized the BBC for the “peculiar” decision to buy splashy U.S. shows like Suits and Gossip Girl amid the downturn.

Kevin Lygo said he was “surprised” to see airtime during the BBC’s coverage of the Euros soccer tournament given to promoting these U.S. shows, which the corporation has been in the market for of late.

“I don’t quite understand why when the BBC are falling on difficulty with money and costs of programing, and are struggling to fund [original shows like] Newsnight, they can find the money to buy Suits and Gossip Girl and things like that,” said Lygo. “I think it’s a question for them. I don’t know why they choose to do that – it seems peculiar.”

The BBC has struck a number of major content deals with U.S. sellers of late, including for Suits, which was the...

ITV profits improved in the first half of 2024 following the revelation that it would be making significant staff layoffs.

The commercial net’s adjusted Ebita was up 40% to £212M ($273M), although revenues dipped slightly to £1.9B.

CEO Carolyn McCall said “we are confident of delivering increased adjusted Ebita this year, following the year of peak net investment in 2023.”

Within ITV Studios, the production giant that just announced it was buying Sherlock producer Hartswood Films and selling its share in Blumhouse TV, turnover was down 13% to £869M, however, impacted by the 2023 U.S. writers’ and actors’ strikes. The strikes will delay around £80M of revenue from 2024 to 2025. The turnover dip included the benefit of £30M of revenue following the transfer of sports production from the media and entertainment division.

ITV Studios profits were up by around 5%, according to the just-released H1 results, and ITV said that over the full year the...

ITV is set to lay off dozens of staff as it ramps up cost-cutting measures worth £50M (£63M) per year.

Deadline understands the number of layoffs at the Mr Bates vs the Post Office network could reach around 200, approximately the same as rival Channel 4’s recent redundancy program, representing around 5% of ITVs staff base. Some divisions including news will be protected from the layoff program.

ITV has kicked off a 45-day redundancy consultation process, coming a few weeks after it announced a “strategic restructuring and efficiency program” targeting £50M savings per year, with that figure set to reach around £30M this year, we understand. The number made redundant is not set in stone but is dependent on the amount who choose to take voluntary redundancy and will follow analysis during the consultation.

CEO Carolyn McCall sent an all-staff memo about the layoffs this morning and programs boss Kevin Lygo...

Despite its “particularly British” nature, Mr Bates vs the Post Office has now sold to a dozen territories around the world, ITV bosses revealed this morning.

The show, which is the network’s biggest hit since Downton Abbey, has sold to PBS Masterpiece in the U.S., four BritBox Nordics territories, Benelux pubcaster Npo for Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, Australia’s Seven, New Zealand’s Tvnz, Pccw in Hong Kong and Virgin Media Ireland.

Deadline understands one more sale will be announced imminently.

ITV Studis/Little Gem’s Mr Bates only launched in January and the deals are being celebrated by ITV and its distribution arm given its highly localized nature, CEO Carolyn McCall said today. During its first week of release, Head of Drama Polly Hill told Deadline shows like Mr Bates are becoming “increasingly” hard to fund in the current climate.

McCall said today: “British dramas like...

U.K. commercial broadcaster ITV’s annual results for 2023 were revealed Thursday.

Total group revenue was down 2% and total external revenue was down 3% to £3.6 billion ($4.6 billion). Total revenues at ITV Studios, which produces shows including “Fool Me Once” and “Love Island,” grew 4%.

The U.K. media conglomerate also revealed linear advertising had dropped by 15%. The group adjusted Ebita was down 32% to £489 million, reflecting the decline in linear advertising revenue and investment in streamer Itvx. Ebita was £404 million, down from £668 million in 2022. Statutory profit before tax was £193 million down from £501 million in 2022.

There was positive news on the digital front, with streamer Itvx performing strongly. Monthly active users were up 19%, and total streaming hours increased by 26%, which drove 19% growth in digital revenues to £490 million. ITV said it is on track to deliver at least £750 million of digital revenues by 2026.

The company said that it expects to marginally reduce content cost in...

Nigel Farage has hit back at ITV programs boss Kevin Lygo for “rude, one-handed gestures” and “making life quite unpleasant for me” during his time on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!.

Farage, who came third over the weekend as the ITV juggernaut series concluded, used his Gb News show last night to issue a stern warning to Lygo, appearing to reference the executive mocking him during the ITV Palooza event late last month.

“It seems whilst I was in [I’m a Celebrity], one or two people up at the top of ITV were doing their best to make life quite unpleasant for me,” said Farage, who became the second controversial politician to enter the jungle in the past two years following Matt Hancock’s 2022 turn.

“So I would suggest, Mr Lygo, that I am prepared to ignore your rude, one-handed gestures, the pathetic attempts by...

The 2023 edition of the Edinburgh TV Festival is drawing to a close after four days of intense industry talks, gossip and Louis Theroux lectures. The halls of the Edinburgh International Conference Centre were buzzing as UK execs, creatives and talent took the chance to get together and talk shop. Here we outline six key themes that emerged.

“Ripple effect” of the strikes

No TV industry confab would be complete at present without a bit of strike chatter. As the writers strike moves way beyond 100 days and the actors’ action rumbles on, the “ripple effects” continue to be felt around the world, according to Lindsay Salt, the BBC’s new Drama Director. There was a small American presence at Edinburgh plus numerous UK commmissioners from the U.S. streamers’ hubs but, somewhat surprisingly, the labor action was not raised during panel sessions with both Netflix and Disney execs. Universal’s Pearlena Igbokwe,...

There should be “no great moral panic” over the recent spate of BBC presenter exits, according to content boss Charlotte Moore.

While numerous high-paid presenters have left the BBC in recent times, including the likes of top radio host Ken Bruce, Emily Maitlis and Andrew Marr, Moore shrugged off concerns about an exodus, stating that “there is a more even relationship [between talent and the networks] than people think.”

“When someone moves on it’s not the great moral panic everyone thinks it is,” she added. “If we remember that then the balance becomes more evenly placed.”

Presenter behavior off air has been in the spotlight of late due to the Huw Edwards and Phillip Schofield scandals and Moore revealed she has had to have conversations with both on and off-screen talent about their behavior in the past.

“There is a big gulf between what people are paid and the power that exists on any production,...

Channel 4 has “perhaps been a bit more honest” than its rivals about the recent commissioning slowdown, according to programs boss Ian Katz, who said there has been a “perception” that his network’s financial picture is “more dramatic than elsewhere.”

Katz was grilled at the Edinburgh TV Festival about its heavily-reported commissioning slowdown and the exec said Channel 4 has “perhaps been a bit more honest” about financial woes than other broadcasters, all of whom he claimed have been impacted.

He blamed the slowdown on the ad revenue slump, the U.S. strikes and “streamers pulling billions from their budgets” and said that much of the press around Channel 4 canceling shows due to its own financial picture is “not true” but was due to the natural cycle.

“The commissioning slowdown has hit the whole industry and every commercial broadcaster has been affected by the ad revenue slump,” he said. “Other...

ITV programs boss Kevin Lygo has urged no “hasty judgement” before the independent report into Phillip Schofield is published, citing “enormous pressure from press and social media.”

The independent probe into the disgraced This Morning host will likely be published next month, the exec confirmed today at the Edinburgh TV Festival.

The commercial broadcaster drafted in Jane Mulcahy Kc to examine the facts around Schofield’s relationship with a much younger runner in late May.

Lygo said Mulcahy has been “talking to everyone involved, taking our phones and looking at every text we’ve sent, including emails and WhatsApps,” as he joked: “I’m sure nothing relevant to this inquiry will be revealed [by my WhatsApps].”

Lygo confirmed the report will most likely be published at the end of next month and urged calm until then.

“The most important thing is to get facts and truth, not a hasty judgement,” he added. “There...

More individuals have raised concerns over toxic working cultures, bullying, discrimination and harassment on This Morning since ITV bosses appeared for a grilling over the Phillip Schofield saga, the UK Committee reviewing it has said.

In a letter published today from Committee Chair Caroline Dinenage to ITV CEO Carolyn McCall, Dinenage said “a large number of individuals” have been in touch since the June hearing.

Dinenage, whose letter was sent in late July, said individuals “speak with great pride” about working at ITV and are “hugely positive” about many colleagues. But “they also raise claims of toxic working cultures, bullying, discrimination and harrassment,” she went on to write.

Dinenage queried McCall and fellow ITV bosses’ claims that there have been only two complaints from people working on the show in five years. This came up during the June hearing, when committee member John Nicolson said he had personally received many more than two.

ITV’s evidence during a parliamentary inquiry into the Phillip Schofield scandal has been branded “inconsistent” and “contradictory,” letters reveal today.

Earlier this summer ITV boss Carolyn McCall, head of media Kevin Lygo and the network’s general counsel Kyla Mullins appeared before the committee for Culture, Media and Sport (Cms) to discuss Schofield and the events that led to him resigning from the network earlier this year.

The former “This Morning” anchor was one of ITV’s best known faces until his fall from grace, triggered by an admission he had had an affair with a young member of staff on the show.

In a letter sent by the Culture Committee chair Caroline Dinenage after the inquiry, she asked McCall to clarify whether Schofield had stepped down voluntarily from the network or was pushed, describing Lygo’s responses on the point as “at best inconsistent.”

During the Q&a session at Westminster in June,...

Exclusive: On-the-block super-indie All3Media saw revenues rocket to £1B ($1.3B) last year, as accounts reveal it has taken majority voting control of The Traitors producer Studio Lambert.

According to a Companies House filing for the outfit’s holding company Dlg Acquisitions, All3Media boosted sales by 17% for the 2022 calendar year, with revenues just topping the £1B mark.

Ebitda shot up by a similar proportion to £100M and total group operating profit was up from £26M to £40M. In 2022, All3Media produced more than 4,000 hours of programing including the likes of The Traitors, The Tinder Swindler and The Tourist.

The group said the “current macro-economic climate including the continued impact of Covid-19 and the impact of inflation presents a risk and challenge,” however.

The issue is being managed by “reviewing production protocols and analysing opportunities to produce content more efficiently,” amongst other approaches, it added.

Studio Lambert

Today’s record results...

Exclusive: In a move that would have shaken up the UK broadcasting landscape, ITV attempted to poach Channel 4’s Gogglebox earlier this year, just a few months before saying it was mulling a bid for the show’s production outfit.

Deadline can reveal that ITV programs boss Kevin Lygo, who is said to be a huge Gogglebox fan, held exploratory conversations with Studio Lambert over switching the show from one commercial broadcaster to the other several months ago.

Gogglebox’s contract is renewed roughly once every three years, we understand, and it was mid-contract when Lygo made contact. At present, the show is staying put on Channel 4.

Were Gogglebox to move to ITV, the deal would undoubtedly be the biggest in UK broadcasting since The Great British Bake Off switched from the BBC to Channel 4 in 2017. Shows moving channel has popularized in recent years, with Channel 4 also picking up...

On Wednesday morning, ITV boss Carolyn McCall appeared in front of a Parliamentary committee to be grilled over the network’s culture and duty of care in the wake of the Phillip Schofield scandal.

Schofield, a long-time anchor on ITV’s flagship daytime show “This Morning,” resigned last month in ignominy shortly before admitting to an affair with a young male runner on the show while he was married.

Some have questioned the intensity of the coverage, which has unsurprisingly taken a mental toll on both Schofield and his former lover, especially since the affair was, in the anchor’s own words, “unwise but not illegal.” But there are a number of elements – not least the runner’s age – that catalyzed the media tsunami that now threatens to take down not only Schofield but his former co-host Holly Willoughby as well as various network executives including McCall.

When McCall took...

ITV has provided a timeline of how it responded to rumors of This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield’s relationship with a younger runner three years before the story burst into the public domain.

The broadcaster gave evidence to UK Parliament’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee on Wednesday morning, with CEO Carolyn McCall saying she welcomed the opportunity to put right “misinformation” about a scandal that has dominated headlines in Britain.

Schofield, one of the UK’s best-known presenters, stepped down as the host of This Morning last month and later admitted to having a relationship with a younger runner, referred to as Person X in ITV’s evidence to lawmakers.

The relationship was the source of rampant speculation at ITV and there have been questions about how senior managers could not have known about Schofield’s potential abuse of power.

McCall — flanked by content chief Kevin Lygo and general...

“We do not recognise a toxic culture at This Morning,” ITV boss Carolyn McCall has said bullishly during her committee hearing on the Phillip Schofield affair.

The CEO said she has “tangible evidence” that the vast majority of people working on the show and on ITV’s roster of daytime programs “are extremely engaged and very motivated.”

She was responding to a barrage of questions relating to toxicity on This Morning since former host Schofield resigned in disgrace after admitting he had an affair with a much younger runner over a period of years. The runner is not being named but referred to as Person X.

“We do not recognise a toxic culture at This Morning,” said McCall. “[The accusations] deeply disappoints me.”

McCall said she has had two complaints about issues of toxicity on This Morning during her ITV stint, one of which was private and the other publicly disclosed by former contributor Ranj Singh,...

ITV boss Carolyn McCall has said “no evidence” was brought to her and her team during Phillip Schofield’s affair with a much younger runner as she indicated the relationship was “deeply inappropriate.”

Appearing in front of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee (Cmsc) this morning, McCall said “we had no legal reason to go any further” with informal investigations into the years-long rumors of the affair between the former This Morning host and a runner, who is being referred to as Person X.

“We had no legal reason to go any further and if we had a reason then we would have done a formal investigation,” she said. “It’s not in our interest in any way not to investigate anything that we know has evidence to support it.”

A number of former presenters such as Piers Morgan and Eamonn Holmes have come out publicly since Schofield resigned in...

ITV boss Carolyn McCall said former “This Morning” anchor Phillip Schofield’s relationship with a young runner on this show was “deeply inappropriate” due to the “imbalance of power.”

McCall was appearing before a U.K. Culture Media and Sport Committee (Cms) parliamentary inquiry on the working culture and duty of care at ITV following the controversy around Schofield and his time on the long-running daytime show.

McCall was joined by ITV’s MD for media and entertainment Kevin Lygo and general counsel Kyla Mullins.

Mullins detailed the company’s investigation of Schofield’s affair, telling the Cms committee the runner – who is being referred to during proceedings as “Person X” – was asked by ITV 12 times about his relationship with Schofield and denied it each time. She said Schofield also repeatedly denied the claims until he resigned last month.

“We asked multiple times of both individuals both formally and informally,...

Marcus Plantin, a British TV executive best known as ITV’s first Network Director and as a producer on The Two Ronnies, died Friday. He was 77.

The news was confirmed by Plantin’s family this afternoon. He passed away following a long illness, according to a former colleague who posted on social media.

Born on October 23, 1945, in Surrey, Plantin was a storied program maker and decision taker, known for producing beloved British comedy series The Two Ronnies and light entertainment hits such as The Generation Game, where he began his career.

He produced and directed hundreds of shows during a 14-year run at the BBC before moving to ITV affiliate London Weekend Television in 1985, where he developed a reputation as a light entertainment expert, working to create popular shows such as Blind Date.

In 1992, he was named network head at ITV, making him the most powerful player in UK commercial TV.

As U.K. network ITV launches an external review into the circumstances surrounding “This Morning” anchor Phillip Schofield’s “unwise but not illegal” relationship with a young employee, many are wondering how the long-time host – a staple of British daytime television – went from ITV golden boy to Tellyland exile in a matter of weeks.

It’s a storyline that could have been ripped from Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon’s Apple TV+ hit “The Morning Show.” An older male anchor handpicks a glamorous, younger and – according to unkind whispers – malleable blonde to be his co-host after falling out with her predecessor.

Fifteen years later the young blonde (reportedly) turns on him, ousting him from the show following a string of scandals that were beginning to taint her brand. But her victory may be short-lived as the married male anchor drops the bombshell that he had an affair with a young...

ITV is standing by one of its most popular anchors after he controversially stepped down from daytime show “This Morning” on Saturday.

ITV’s head of entertainment Kevin Lygo confirmed the network is working with Phillip Schofield on a new prime time series as well as the British Soap Awards, which Schofield is set to host next month and is broadcast by ITV.

In a statement, Lygo said: “Phillip is hands down one of the best broadcasters of his generation and we thank him for his two decades’ worth of absolutely terrific television on the ‘This Morning’ sofa. We look forward to continuing our relationship with Phillip starting with the British Soap Awards in June and a brand new peak time series to come.”

Schofield, who has worked on “This Morning” since 2002, confirmed he would be quitting the show on Saturday after rumors intensified over the past few weeks that...

Phillip Schofield has stepped down as co-presenter of ITV daytime show This Morning.

The presenter on many of Britain’s most-watched shows posted an Instagram Stories message today announcing he was leaving the ITV show, which he has helmed since 2002. A brand new “peak time ITV series” helmed by Schofield is to come, however, according to ITV’s content boss, who called him “one of the best broadcasters of his generation.”

Schofield’s partnership with This Morning co-presenter Holly Willoughby is one of British TV’s longest running but has reportedly turned sour in recent months, and their on-screen chemistry in recent weeks has noticeably dipped. Schofield was rocked this week by the jailing of his brother, Timothy Schofield, who was convicted on child abuse charges and given a sentence of 12 years.

Last year, Schofield and Willoughby were last year forced to deny queue-jumping to see Queen Elizabeth II’s...

Ant & Dec are to take an indefinite break from Saturday Night Takeaway following next year’s 20th series.

The ITV stalwart duo’s 2024 edition will be their 10th in a row after they took a four-year hiatus from 2009 to 2013.

ITV said the show will be paused after 2024, while Ant & Dec will continue presenting I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!, Britain’s Got Talent and Limitless Win as part of their exclusive relationship with the broadcaster.

Produced by ITV Studios-backed Lifted Entertainment, the variety-style show Saturday Night Takeaway is one of ITV’s biggest entertainment hits and has won multiple BAFTAs since launching in 2002.

“We love making Saturday Night Takeaway, but reaching the milestone of 20 series seemed like the perfect time to pause for a little while and catch our breath,” said Ant, whose full name is Anthony McPartlin.

ITV Media & Entertainment MD Kevin Lygo added: “When you...

ITV primetime hosts Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly – better known by their joint moniker Ant and Dec – have said they plan to “take a break” from their long-running variety show “Saturday Night Takeaway.”

The duo have hosted 19 seasons of the show, which features entertainment and quiz segments, since it launched in 2002. It is produced by ITV Studios-owned Lifted Entertainment and Mitre Studios

This doesn’t spell the end for “Saturday Night Takeaway” however. In 2009 the two hosts also took a break from the show before returning four years later.

Broadcaster ITV – which recently extended its deal with the duo for a reported £30 million ($37 million) for three years – reassured viewers Ant and Dec would continue to front other primetime shows including “I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!,” “Britain’s Got Talent” and “Limitless Win.”

“We love making ‘Saturday Night Takeaway,’ but reaching the milestone of 20 seasons seemed like...

Update 6.20 a.m. Pst: ITV is pushing on with the latest season of Paul O’Grady For the Love of Dogs and has changed its upcoming schedules to commemorate the TV star, who died unexpectedly Tuesday evening aged 67.

The UK network will repeat an episode of Paul O’Grady’s For the Love of Dogs: A Royal Special at 5 p.m. GMT (9 a.m. Pst) tonight in place of The Chase, before For the Love of Paul O’Grady airs on Sunday April 9 in tribute to the star.

The new series of Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs, his hit ITV animal show which programs boss Kevin Lygo called “one of our best-loved series,” will air as planned from Thursday April 13.

Previously: British TV host, comedian and actor Paul O’Grady died “unexpectedly but peacefully” on Tuesday evening according to a statement by his husband which was provided to local media.