Media: Talk of the Trade: News at when?
SOME ITV companies are again flying that battered old kite about rescheduling News at Ten, on the grounds that it interferes with the sex-and-violence films they are not allowed to start showing until 9pm.
Under the terms of their licences, they are obliged to put out the news in peak time (6pm to 10.30pm), which means it cannot be shown any later. The trouble with doing it much earlier is that it would get uncomfortably close to the early-evening bulletin - currently at 5.40pm - which is also part of their licence commitment.
Why not do it at 9pm, directly opposite the BBC's? That would allow proper competition between the two and would also benefit viewers, because not many of us want to watch the news twice.
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