The BBC is bracing itself for a new challenge against Newsnight, its flagship current affairs programme, as ITV prepares to unveil a rival show.

ITV has lined up LBC radio host Nick Ferrari and Emma Barnett, a rising star at the BBC, to present the programme, which will air after the national and local news at 10pm every weekday and is expected to run for at least four weeks.

The programme, which will be unveiled formally by ITV this week, is expected to focus on studio discussion rather than original reporting but, with a range of political guests lined up to appear, it could be a genuine challenger to the grip on late-night current affairs held by BBC2’s Newsnight.

ITV launched The Nightly Show in the 10pm slot for an eight-week run earlier this year. The chat and comedy show was initially derided by critics and viewers, with the average audience tumbling from 2.9m to 1.2m in the first week. However, ITV has not ruled out The Nightly Show returning for a second series after some guest presenters, such as Dermot O’Leary, proved more popular with viewers than David Walliams, who fronted the first week.

Tom Harrington, a TV analyst at Enders, said: “For some time, the 10pm to 11pm slot has been an unsettled and comparatively underperforming one for ITV. On weekdays from 9pm to 10pm, its main channel commands over 13% of all TV viewing but that drops to less than 8% between 10pm and 11pm. The very public failure of The Nightly Show, its attempt earlier this year at a US-style late-night talkshow was the latest piece of inconsistent scheduling.”

Newnight has endured numerous controversies in the past few years, in particular for scrapping an investigation into Jimmy Savile’s sex crimes and then running a separate piece that led to Lord McAlpine wrongly being accused of child abuse. This triggered the resignation of George Entwistle as the BBC’s director general in 2012 after just 54 days in the role.

However, BBC insiders say the corporation is behind Newsnight and have pointed to a string of recent successes, including praise for its coverage of the Grenfell Tower fire, the demise of Kids Company and allegations of bullying within the Conservative party. Last week, it broadcast a report about the 15 residents who lived on the 21st floor of Grenfell Tower – six of whom died.

Harrington said ITV’s new programme was a “clear shift in strategy” by the broadcaster, but added that Newsnight had a loyal following that would be difficult to win over.

“Instead of trying to avoid the BBC and scheduling non-news programming like The Nightly Show, ITV is confronting its main competitor head-on,” he said. “It will be difficult for ITV to coax rusted-on news viewers away from the BBC, but a consistent lineup may well hold on to some of the viewers the channel loses every night at 10pm.”
TopicsNewsnight
BBC