Daybreak staff fear for the future amidst ITV cost cutting
ITV is to embark on a radical overhaul of its Daybreak breakfast show after losing patience with the struggling formats efforts to claw back audience share – still hovering at the 700k mark.
Co-hosted by Adrain Chiles and Christine Bleakley the format has failed to take off, frustrating the broadcaster which shelled out £3m apiece on their contracts.
The cost of these contracts mean they can’t be torn up bat backroom staff aren’t so lucky, they will be merged with those working on ITV stablemate Lorraine potentially leading to significant job losses in the medium term.
A member of the shows production team told The Mirror: “We are going to be part of a bigger group which makes us more susceptible to the axe. There is a growing fear that changes will hit us as well as onscreen talent.”
In a letter to staff ITV boss Peter Fincham wrote: “We’re working on plans to integrate Daybreak and Lorraine and their teams into ITV Studios. This proposed change is about sharing the best of our daytime production expertise.”