Media / Talk of the Trade: Strange things for breakfast

THE BIG Breakfast has been launched on Channel 4 with a predictable degree of chaos and mixed reviews, with some advertisers saying it is geared too obviously towards children rather than young people. Bruce Gyngell, defeated head of TV-am, apparently predicts it will not be around too long, while GMTV, the new ITV breakfast service taking over in January, refuses to comment.

One of the more curious aspects of the show is the way that ITN, supplying a rudimentary news service, is trying to jazz up its act. 'It is hard to take this seriously,' said the presenter Peter Smith yesterday. On Monday it had an item that ran: 'If having great legs makes you President of the United States . . . then Clinton should win.'

Whatever happens to the show, with its spots for worst traffic jam, My Pet (yesterday a python lover) and true romance, it is to be relaunched in January anyway, when it will be competing head-on for advertising with GMTV.