Less than two years after it was launched to the tune of £10 million and some serious fanfare, Daybreak was finally axed last night.
Things may have started well in September 2010, but within weeks legions of viewers had deserted the show for BBC Breakfast and thousands more were calling for the return of GMTV.
It appears that they may now get their wish as ITV are thought to be considering a return to a cosier format that brought such success in the years before Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley were poached from The One Show.
Last night a source told The Mirror that ITV have finally cracked under viewer pressure and pulled an almighty U-turn. “If anything this shows that GMTV wasnât a failing formula after all and should never have been axed.â?
Apparently the decision to ditch the Daybreak came after bosses realised that the name ‘Daybreak’ had become ‘toxic’ and associated with failure, despite the popularity of new hosts Dan Lobb and Kate Garraway. There are rumours that a replacement could be titled ‘Lorraine’ after likely host Lorraine Kelly.
âOne working title is Lorraine but thatâs not popular with everyone and may not stay,” added the insider. “There are plenty of other possibilities. It wasnât the name that didnât work out, but the programme itself. All the focus is on getting the show right this time.â?
Current Daybreak presenter Dan Lobb could be man to join Kelly on the sofa for the as yet unnamed show, but ITV are determined not to make the same mistakes of autumn 2010, when they launched Daybreak with more hype than an X Factor final. This time they’re planning a very quiet switch-over in September of 2012, after deciding that it would be too difficult to compete with the BBC during the summer due to the Olympics.
Yet there can be no denying that ITV are planning a complete overhaul of the early morning slot, after viewers complained about pretty much everything on Daybreak. We’ll be treated to a cosy new set, a new production team and a new studio.
The first hour of the new show will be dedicated to news and could be anchored by either of the current Daybreak presenters Dan Lobb or Kate Garraway and GMTV favourite Richard Arnold will return with a section on celebrity news and gossip, but whether the viewers return will return is another matter..
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