[RDJ]

ITV very easily get stuck in a rut with a show when they don’t have any other ideas. I think with the commissioners it’s a case of “unless you have a better idea then don’t say anything at all”.

In my opinion it’s quickly gone quite stale because they didn’t give it long enough a break after its initial run. It barely seemed any time since it was announced that it would be the “last series ever” before it came back again (it was 4 years). Though we are close to approaching the length of its initial run with the second incarnation. And in this resurrection, the charm has been lost that Strictly oozes and that DOI had at some level in its previous incarnation.

The problem for ITV is that many of its recent entertainment formats haven’t performed well.
The Voice is stringing along somehow but I’ve no idea how.
Love Island really is dying a death, but ITV refuse to let it go.
Saturday Night Takeaway did perform well, but the boys want to rest the series after the next one which I imagine ITV were pretty reluctant to.
Its recent additions like Wheel of Fortune are panned by critics and viewers alike.
I’m A Celeb is helped by its scheduling but viewers are waning for that also.
They tried and tried with X Factor also which really should have been axed about 5 years before it did.
And then you have Dancing on Ice…

Gladiators for the BBC show that the ratings are there if you do something right and produce something that viewers actually want to watch. With respect, ITV partially demonstrated this with Big Brother last year which proved so popular it very quickly got moved from ITV2 to ITV1.

The best thing ITV could do is give it up. But in the absence of something they know would rate higher, bar showing The Masked Singer ad nauseam and consequently it kills that off too, I don’t think ITV really know what to do for the best.