David Liddiment: ITV - my role in the dramas

The normally unruffled David Liddiment, ITV's director of channels, has been having a wretched time. The network is said to be in crisis, The Premiership has been publicly relegated, and his future questioned. Here he answers his critics

If you had turned to the broadsheets for news of ITV 1's winter launch last week, you'd have read that I'd conceded defeat to BBC 1 in the ratings war. Seeing the headlines I was slightly confused, because I didn't recall saying that. I know it's been a long year, but I certainly couldn't remember waving the white flag and I was sure it wasn't something I'd forget in a hurry.

Let's be clear. I am not about to surrender ITV 1's position as Britain's most popular channel. It's true that BBC 1's ratings are up this autumn. A more popular peak-time schedule and a stronger daytime performance has pushed up its all-time viewing share, and on a year-to-date basis we are neck and neck. BBC 1's short period of success over ITV 1 in all-time viewing has been in the autumn. Before that we had won almost every week this year. Indeed, many reports of BBC 1's recent "victory" failed to take into account that in peak time, which is the focus of ITV 1's investment and the source of most of its revenue, we are more than seven share points ahead. In fact, we have been more than seven share points ahead on average for the past five years, so given the explosion of competition, ITV 1's ratings have been remarkably consistent.

That's the recent past. What about the future? Unfortunately, a major article in The Independent's Review last Thursday gave little space to analysing ITV 1's schedule going forward. A lavish production of Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga, and Bloody Sunday, an important film from award-winning writer and director Paul Greengrass, were quickly dismissed. There was no mention of Nigel Williams's Bertie and Elizabeth, Jack Rosenthal's adaptation of Kingsley Amis's Lucky Jim, Peter Morgan's gripping drama The Jury, Michael Eaton's portrayal of the story of Doctor Harold Shipman or The British Empire in Colour, to name but a few.

There was no analysis of the creative merits of the programming line-up we'd announced. Instead, conclusions about the health of ITV 1 were drawn purely on ratings and financial grounds. Zenith's Adam Smith saw things rather differently, reportedly commenting that if you were a Martian and had just seen that schedule, you would never believe that this was a network "in crisis".

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that ITV 1 does not have competitive issues with the BBC. It does, and I addressed them at the launch of our winter schedule. First, I was asked, why is BBC 1 doing better in the ratings this autumn? Well, significant changes to the schedule and a major injection of cash were in my view major factors, which commercial competitors had to be realistic about. Next, what was my opinion of ITV 1's position going forward? It's an incredibly competitive market and revenues are under pressure – no revelations there – but I said that I was confident in the programming we've lined up for the rest of the season and for the winter. The best we can do, I suggested, is to create the strongest schedule possible.

None of these seemed to be particularly newsworthy statements when I made them, but once they were united with commentary on BBC 1's recent performance, the scene was set for some pretty dramatic headlines. Chris Blackhurst in The Independent went further, with some fairly uncompromising statements about today's ITV 1.

He enjoyed referring to our so-called ratings "flops", a term that is widely used for anything that doesn't achieve the audiences that the press expects. ITV 1 suffers more of these media flops than any other channel, because it is our stated aim to attract large audiences. As a mainstream mass broadcaster, we do not have the luxury of pretending that we are not interested in how many people watch our programmes.

When we first announced the 7pm scheduling of The Premiership, media commentators hailed it as bold and innovative. We were congratulated for taking a brave risk by pundits in a world quick to deride broadcasters for playing it safe. In editorial terms we have a show of which we're enormously proud, but when the economic climate bit deeper than anyone expected, we had to deal with a Saturday night ratings performance that was unsustainable. Having to move The Premiership was a huge disappointment, and I wish that we could have given this exciting experiment longer, but I don't regret taking the risk. We're proud of the team's achievement. It's still the same show, it's now at a more traditional time, and ITV 1 is back on top in the Saturday-night ratings.

Risk is a factor of ambition and both are crucial, particularly to mainstream channels. If we hadn't taken a risk, we would never have had Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, Bob and Rose, Fat Friends or, later this month, a wonderful adaptation of Othello by Andrew Davies. I'd rather have these shows, and take the criticism if they "fail", than play it safe and avoid the negative headlines.

ITV 1 is not only a commercial broadcaster, but also a public-service broadcaster. If we are to live up to that obligation, ITV 1 has to be about more than just ratings, however important every share point is to our advertisers. It's got to be about range, diversity and our willingness to take risks. Risks which may not always scale the ratings charts, but allow us to innovate and to move the channel forward. It means extensive regional commitments and regulated quotas for every genre, including arts and religion. It means current affairs in peak time, and a high-quality news service, prominently scheduled – important elements that are rarely considered when ITV 1's performance is judged. But I'm a realist, and we live in a world where the ratings war is a reliable story for the popular press, with daily twists and turns. Anyway, there's no rest for a channel controller. Now, where did I put those overnights?