ITV has announced a major rehaul of its daytime schedule with episodes of Lorraine shortened to 30 minutes with the remaining half-hour added to Good Morning Britain’s runtime.
From January 2026, Lorraine Kelly’s eponymous breakfast programme, which she has hosted for the past 15 years, will air from 9.30am until 10am for 30 weeks – instead of filling its usual 9am to 10am. Good Morning Britain will run from 6am until 9.30am instead of 6am to 9am.
Kelly’s programme will only run seasonally, with Good Morning Britain entirely taking over her 9-10am slot for the remaining 22 weeks of the year. The TV host will present her programme five days a week, with her Friday stand-ins Ranvir Sign and Christine Lampard no longer needed.
This Morning and Loose Women will be unaffected by the scheduling changes and remain in their usual respective slots of 10.30am to 12.30pm and 12.30pm and 1.30pm.
The reshuffle, which comes amid a cost-cutting drive at the broadcaster, will also impact some production staff.
Kevin Lygo, Managing Director of ITV’s Media and Entertainment Division, said: “Daytime is a really important part of what we do, and these scheduling and production changes will enable us to continue to deliver a schedule providing viewers with the news, debate and discussion they love from the presenters they know and trust as well generating savings which will allow us to reinvest across the programme budget in other genres.
“These changes also allow us to consolidate our news operations and expand our national, international and regional news output and to build upon our proud history of trusted journalism at a time when our viewers need accurate, unbiased news coverage more than ever.”
It comes after ITV announced earlier this year that it would be minimising its soap schedule to try and reduce costs on Coronation Street and Emmerdale. From January 2026, the two much-loved dramas will air as half an hour episodes in a so-called soap “power hour” from Monday to Friday each week.
RedBird IMI and Banijay have reportedly approached the broadcaster with offers for its ITV Studios production arm, which makes programmes including the reality dating show Love Island, talent competition The Voice, and Jilly Cooper adaptation Rivals, among others.
Andrew Cosslett, ITV chairman, said at the broadcaster’s AGM last week, per The Sun: “If someone approaches the company with an offer to talk, that’s something we have to take seriously because we’re representing your interests.
“And it’s very clear from the room that there is a high level of interest in the share price and the value of the business. So we have to accommodate any requests and conversations that take place.
“But our current strategy is very clear and it's making the best of what we have in combination.”
