[nwtv2003]

One unknown is whether the BBC would still have moved their News to Ten, and still overtaken them in the ratings.

I can not imagine a time now where all the channels put their biggest stuff on at 9pm but BBC One persisted with putting all their big stuff on at 9:30pm. It was a completely different era.

I think this has damaged ITV more in the long run. Yes the BBC ran new dramas and comedy at 9:30pm, but it was never a constant thing, quite often, especially in the earlier half of the week the schedule went off on a tangent after that time when you had the likes of Panorama and Sportsnight. Prior to March 1999 the 9pm slot was essentially ITV’s to dominate.

Whereas since 2000 the BBC have put their big guns out at 9:00pm every night of the week, and this has stuck. I could not imagine the BBC reverting back to a 9:00pm news now.

If they had to insist on moving News at Ten, then fine but I believe they did it too quickly. The confirmation of the axe occurred in December 1998, and was in place by March 1999. The first few weeks of the 10-11pm weren’t too badly scheduled as there were enough new series to show long with some movie premieres along with new dramas such as Taggart and Morse but it went downhill too quickly.