Recent scheduling of local programming on ITV 1

If you live in Wales or Northern Ireland you may have noticed some strange scheduling on ITV 1 lately.

Different weeks have brought feasts or famines of local programming.

Recently, there has been up to 90 minutes of regional output at peak times on Fridays some weeks.

But anyone who imagines a resurgence of the glory days of regional output on the third channel is mistaken.

The glut some weeks has been balanced out on other weeks.

The amount of “local” programming on the third channel in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland is mandated in ITV and STV’s licences to broadcast.

As well as news, an average of 45 minutes of local programming needs to run at peak time each week. 

STV and ITV 1 Wales need to run 90 minutes’ worth in total while UTV is legally bound to screen two hours’ worth.

The licences also spell out how much of the output must go in “near peak”, which in practical terms means starting at 10.40pm.

It should be remembered that these quotas are floors not ceilings. It should also be remembered that repeats do not count towards the quotas – any repeats are additional. 

All the weekly quotas actually represent averages taken across the year so the feasts actually do balance out the famines.

But what is going on with the schedule at present?

Since the ITV Evening News was extended in 2022, there have been two regular slots set aside for output in the nations: 8.30pm on Thursday and 7pm on Friday.

This week neither of these slots are available. On Thursday it’s the Pride of Britain Awards and on Friday there’s live football.  

So regional programmes, inevitably, get kicked around.

Nobody should blame ITV for this. It is a commercial broadcaster and has to produce an attractive network schedule.

But when the regional slots start to disappear regularly, it starts to beg questions over whether the current arrangements could be improved. 

Topical programmes like UTV Life need a consistent slot. If they are to succeed, the audience needs to know where to find them. 

Suddenly appearing in a late evening slot or on a random Saturday night – as happened recently – helps nobody. 

I’d argue that it’s better to give a programme like that a week off than show it at stupid o’clock.

But what about other regional series?

If a recorded series takes apparently random breaks or appears on different nights during the course of the run, it gets harder to build audience loyalty.

If the recent scheduling shenanigans become a regular practice, do solutions need to be found?

For instance, should a series like Mahon’s Way drop first on ITV X?

I have my reservations about the declining importance of the linear schedule but “digital first” is now the way of things and there are genuine pros as well as cons.

If ITV can drop Coronation Street or Emmerdale early, why not recorded regional programmes?

The Media Bill will make it easier for commercial broadcasters to deliver some of their public service commitments online.

Here’s an obvious practical step. 

Allow entire series of regional programmes to drop online first but still count towards the channel 3 licence commitments. 

Better to binge watch the next series of Rare Breed if that’s your thing than see it thrown around. 

Acknowledgements