[Score]

My post wasn’t really about this particular pack which I’d agree is probably about as much new content as there’s ever been in the Summer. It was about the lack of new hits more generally, and attempts to launch big new entertainment shows. They’ve still never really replaced The X Factor and now Takeaway is gone too, but they aren’t really trying big new weekend formats.

They’ve had a good year for drama to be fair (Mr Bates, After the Flood, Trigger Point and Red Eye all big hits) but unscripted feels weak at the moment and the ongoing cost cutting seems to be hurting there.

The Summer press pack is the sort of lineup you’d expect for Summer, with a few of the Autumn dramas creeping in as they probably launch in September (Joan, Grace, McDonald & Dodds). The ITVX stuff is probably taking slots that in Summers past would have just been filled with repeats anyway (eg Friday 9pm).

@Brekkie it’s definitely a change in strategy for the sitcoms. They seem to have done away with ITVX first releases for commissioned content (just acquisitions now) which makes sense as boxsets aligned with the linear release seems to work best. It does risk them getting lost in the schedule but with G’wed earlier in the year that’s 3 sitcoms on ITV so far this year, which is 3 more than a few years ago.