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ITV 'PANIC'
This Morning and Loose Women stars fear huge cull as ITV plans massive cuts
ITV announced 200 jobs are to go in a £50million a year savings drive
ITV stars fear a huge cull as bosses look to make further cuts amid falling ratings and advertising revenues.
Sources say it’s “panic stations” with big-name contracts reviewed and shows such as Good Morning Britain frantically getting re-jigged.
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Loose Women presenters could also be at risk following a recent diversity drive as ITV looks to save money, and keep backroom staff jobs safe.
A source yesterday said: “It’s panic station time. The presenters’ contracts are under major review when they come to expire — normally in August or September — and further cuts have been warned of.”
GMB’s Adil Ray and This Morning’s Dermot O'Leary are among those “on 12-month contracts so theoretically most likely to be in the firing line”.
But the source said: “Dermot polls really well with viewers and absolutely no one wants him to go anywhere. So he’ll be safe.
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“Editors are so concerned that they are sending staff daily ‘heat maps’ on ratings, showing which items lost viewers.
"A few of the Loose Women panel are worried too, as so many new faces have been brought in and some have worked better than others.”
Meanwhile, GMB has undergone several changes in recent weeks. The source added: “It’s pretty frenetic.”
It comes three weeks after ITV announced 200 jobs are to go in a £50million a year savings drive.
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A spokesman said: “We’re very proud of our teams, on and off screen, who produce 71⁄2 hours of brilliant live content every weekday.
“ITV’s daytime shows reach 7.5million viewers weekly.”
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