[ACTV]

I think the lack of any decent programming didn't help ITV's fortunes either. It was almost always 9pm films, 2 hour dramas like Midsomer Murders, generic factual output of the Neighbours from Hell mold, Tonight with Trevor McDonald (commissioned I imagine to soothe critics of the loss of Trevor at Ten as well as replacing World in Action) and repeats of Tarrant on TV.

Perhaps ITV could have succeeded at 10pm had they put more effort into what went there, I seem to remember reading there was an experiment in the autumn of 1998 to skew younger after 10.40pm, led by the American sitcom Veronica's Closet, which came from the producers of Friends and was massive in the US at the time and shown on NBC on Thursdays between the top shows on all of US TV at the time, Seinfeld and ER. It probably would have been more successful here on Channel 4, but it failed to make any impression here, probably due to it's awkward timeslot.

Alongside that there were a few other things, I think there was a topical comedy show called Stuff the Week and another US sitcom (Dharma & Greg?) that made up that slot.

Surely that mix of programmes would have been better than Julian Clary's Mr and Mrs, and actually picked up a younger audience? Although chances things still would have ended up the same way for ITV, and News at Ten would eventually be back.