ITV’s new TV chief is to take a more “relaxed” attitude to occasionally airing News at Ten at a later slot, a strategy that would free up more primetime space and make for fewer clashes with the BBC’s 10pm bulletin.
It is understood that Kevin Lygo, the ITV Studios boss who replaced Peter Fincham as ITV director of television earlier this year, has no intention of permanently moving its nightly news bulletin to avoid the so-called “battle of the bongs” with the BBC.
ITV has already occasionally shifted News at Ten back to make space for shows such as I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!, Champions League football and Britain’s Got Talent.
A report in Broadcast magazine suggested that Lygo is “keen” to permanently move News at Ten to a later slot to maximise an extra half-hour of primetime for programming including 90-minute dramas or 30 minutes of reality, comedy, chat or panel shows.
However, according to one senior source Lygo is to take a more “relaxed approach” to the relatively fixed opportunities to shunt News at Ten to 10.30pm.
A permanent change of slot would cause major ructions with ITN, which produces ITV News for the broadcaster, given that the new-look programme only launched in October last year.
“We are not moving News at Ten,” said a spokesman for ITV. “There are occasions when the main bulletin moves for big entertainment event programming or sport, but we have no plans to permanently move it from the 10pm slot.”
In June 2015, ITV announced a radical shakeup at News at Ten, with political editor Tom Bradby named as the main presenter.
