ITV to cut jobs, suspend dividend and sell assetsBritish commercial broadcaster ITV, home to CORONATION STREET and EMMERDALE, has suspended its final dividend and is to cut 600 jobs and sell assets after reporting results hammered by the severe downturn in advertising. ITV, which has seen it shares crash around 80 per cent in the last two years, posted a loss of $3.7 billion due to a writedown.
"Current conditions in the advertising market are the most challenging I have experienced in over 30 years in UK broadcasting," said Executive Chairman Michael Grade, who described the downturn as a "short term horror".
CORONATION STREET and EMMERDALE budget slashed by 5%CORONATION STREET and EMMERDALE will have their production budgets cut by about five per cent as a result of the ITV cutbacks. A spokesman for ITV played down the impact on television program, saying viewers would hardly notice the difference.
The broadcaster said it will be cutting drama output from eight hours a week to seven, as it announced its latest financial results. It has already said it will be scaling back production of HEARTBEAT and THE ROYAL, which will lead to the closure of one building at its Leeds studios.
INTERVIEW: Soap vet Réal AndrewsAndrews (ex-Taggert, GH; ex-Walker, ATWT) was a guest on "Brandon's Buzz" last night.
Watching EASTENDERS makes us reach for the bottle, new study claimsWatching people drink alcohol in films and TV ads makes viewers want to drink more immediately, new research shows for the first time. Shows which feature pub environments and characters drinking alcohol - such as EASTENDERS - are likely to leave viewers thirsty for a drink. Audience members watching films and adverts where drinking alcohol featured prominently immediately reached for a bottle of beer or wine and drank an average twice as much as people who watched films and adverts where alcohol didn't feature as much.
BT Vision enlists EASTENDERS star to front online TV guideBT has recruited former EASTENDERS TV star Tamzin Outhwaite to front 'My Vision', a new online guide to upcoming content on the BT Vision video-on-demand service.
(Primetime) Emmy screeners go to iPod, iPhoneAfter leading the charge to put Emmy screeners online, Showtime will show off its wares to TV Academy voters this year on both the iPhone and the iPodTouch. Emmy voters with the Apple mobile devices will be able to screen full episodes of Showtime series including DEXTER, WEEDS and UNITED STATES OF TARA simply by entering a passcode.
Jennifer Finnigan, Jason George land pilotFormer B&B Emmy winner Jennifer Finnigan has been tapped to co-star on ABC's drama INSIDE THE BOX. BOX, from ABC Studios, is set at a Washington network news bureau. Finnigan will play the newly minted White House press secretary who has an affair with the network's D.C.-based news anchor (Jason George).
"Al Diablo Con Los Guapos" wins best Latin soap songThe 17th Annual ASCAP Latin Music Awards were held last night at The Ritz Carlton Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Top Rated Theme Song for Soap Opera: -- "Al Diablo Con Los Guapos" (from AL DIABLO CON LOS GUAPOS) written by Mauricio L. Arriaga and Eduardo Murguia, published by Editora San Angel.
Eddie Cibrian joins WASHINGTON FIELDFormer SUNSET BEACH star Cibrian has been tapped to star in CBS' drama pilot WASHINGTON FIELD. The project, from CBS Par, centers on an FBI squad made up of experts who travel the world responding to crises that concern U.S. national interests. It centers on a husband-and-wife duo of experts, played by Cibrian and Teri Polo. Cibrian's character, Tommy, is the evidence response team coordinator and hazmat expert.
Heartbeat actor Peter Benson died on September 6 after a short illness. He was 75.