GMTV - just the facts

GMTV just the facts ( A article written in 2007 )

GMTV (Good Morning Television) is a national British breakfast television station owned by ITV plc (75%) & The Walt Disney Company (25%).

Overview GMTV has held the licence for the breakfast Channel 3 franchise since 1993, when it outbid the previous 6am-9.25am Channel 3 licence-holder, TV-am. It was first intended to be called Sunrise Television, but as Sky News's breakfast programming also went by that name (and still does to this day), Sky protested, resulting in the change of name. SMG, owner of two of the three Channel 3 regional licences for Scotland (Scottish Television & Grampian Television) previously owned 25% of the company; however, this stake was purchased by ITV plc for £31 million in 2004.

GMTV broadcasts from Studio 5 at The London Studios on the South Bank; as of 2005, the station claims to have the highest breakfast-time audience in Europe.

The station claims to reach approximately 13 million viewers a week, transmitting daily from 6.00am until the regional Channel 3 franchises (the ITV Network) take over at 9.25am. Since the switchover is now practically seamless & the station is 'surrounded' on both sides by ITV Network continuity, most viewers perceive GMTV simply as a programme on ITV1; however, due to Disney's minority stake in the station, it essentially remains an independent broadcaster with its own news-gathering operation, sales & management teams & in-house production facilities. Very occasionally, in the event of a major sporting fixture or such-like occurring early in the morning, the ITV Network may seek permission from the regulator, Ofcom, to broadcast during GMTV's airtime, although GMTV always reclaims such time from ITV (normally on the Sunday, following such an event).

GMTV's main rivals include BBC Breakfast (which is more news-oriented), Sky News's Sunrise, & Channel 4's morning schedule (which includes Friends). Due to its part-Disney ownership, it also occasionally finds itself in conflict with its own majority owner; for example, it was reported that ITV plc's year-long negotiations to launch a children's channel with Nickelodeon were ultimately thwarted by GMTV, who felt that the viewing figures for its own children's programming would be threatened by such a venture. The plans were scrapped, & instead ITV launched the CITV Channel in partnership with GMTV. ITV plc has attempted to buy out Disney's stake in GMTV, in order to secure 24-hour control of Channel 3, but has so far been unsuccessful.

In 2005, anchor presenter Eamonn Holmes decided not to renew his contract because he considered GMTV to be 'celebrity-oriented', & stated that the channel did not broadcast sufficient news & current affairs output; he also supposedly disagreed with how the directors ran the programmes. He joined Sky News's Sunrise in October 2005.

GMTV Line-up
GMTV's programming is designed to reach a large cross-section of the viewing public. On weekday mornings the station attracts a largely female audience; following the News Hour from 6am-7am, the daily magazine show GMTV Today is aired, featuring a combination of news, human interest & showbiz items, as well as competitions; Lorraine Kelly usually takes over at 8.35am (Mon-Thu) with fashion & celebrity items, while Fridays include Entertainment Today with Ben Shephard & Jenni Falconer. At weekends, the focus moves to children, with the pre-school strand Wakey! Wakey!, followed by Toonattik for older kids. As a nationally available analogue terrestrial station, GMTV is required, by the terms of its licence, to fulfil various public service commitments, including substantial broadcasting of news & current affairs output, as well as the aforementioned children's programmes, & also party political broadcasts over election periods. It has been critcised for its poor journalistic quality (for instance placing a soap opera storyline in its headline news) & an over-reliance on phone-in competitions.

Phone-in controversy On 23 April 2007, a BBC Panorama investigation disclosed that callers to GMTV's phone-in competitions may have been defrauded out of around £40 million, because the telephone system operator, Opera Interactive Technology, had determined the winners before the phone lines had closed. GMTV responded by suspending the phone-in quizzes, & while they initially claimed that "it was confident it had not breached regulators' codes", they subsequently terminated their contract with Opera Interactive after their own investigations discovered "irregularities". Opera Interactive also denied any wrongdoing. This was in a period when many TV programmes had been seen to be involved in this sort of confusion quite a few.

Past presenters
Fiona Armstrong (1993)
Simon Biagi (weather)
Fearne Cotton (Kids show - Diggit) (1998-2001)
Anne Davies (1993-2001)
Alan Fisher (Chief Correspondent until 2005)
Eamonn Holmes (1993-2005)
Ross Kelly (1993-2000)
Sally Meen (weather) (1993-1997)
Anthea Turner (1994-1996)
Michael Wilson (1993-1995)

Current presenters
Fiona Phillips - (Main presenter - GMTV Today (Mon-Wed)) Andrew Castle - (GMTV Today - Mon-Wed) Kate Garraway - (GMTV Today - Thur&Fri)
Ben Shephard - (GMTV Today - Thur&Fri & Entertainment Today) Penny Smith - (Newshour & Newsreader/Stand in of GMTV Today)
John Stapleton - (Newshour) Lorraine Kelly - (LK Today - Mon-Thur) Jenni Falconer - (Entertainment Today - Fri) Andrea McLean - (Weather) Clare Nasir - (Weather)

Breakfast time in Channel 3 As a Channel 3 licensee, GMTV also has the right to broadcast during the same slot alongside ITV's digital channels; its sister service, GMTV2, follows the same broadcast slot with mostly children's programming, on the same channel number as ITV plc-owned digital channel ITV2. The company also has broadcasting rights on the same frequency as ITV3 (and even holds a 'GMTV3' license), but has so far foregone its chance to launch a third station, preferring to sell its airtime to ITV plc, to allow ITV3 to broadcast around the clock.

Most recently, GMTV has acquired a further channel slot in the form of the CITV Channel, whose programming between 6am & 9.25am is simulcasted with that of GMTV's children's output on its other two stations: on GMTV2 throughout the week, & on GMTV1 at weekends. GMTV also sells advertising time for the entire output of the new channel. Since its involvement with the CITV Channel, GMTV has adopted CITV branding on all its CITV-simulcast children's output over GMTV1 & GMTV2, in order to simplify the simulcasts, leading to the disappearance of any on-screen reference to GMTV during these times.

Time Changes The show is always broadcast from 6am - 9:25am, but has had to change times on several occasions. During the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the show was moved to a later slot, & on more than one occasion, the show sometimes never broadcast. The show is also heavily affected by Formula One races which are live from Asia, which also push GMTV back to a later time, normally it broadcasts on these Sundays from 10am - 12 noon.

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