STRICTLY ‘SWITCH’ AFTER BBC CHIEF RAPS MANAGERS

BBC chiefs admit they boobed by putting Strictly Come Dancing head-to-head with The X Factor and will now change the start time.

Beeb Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons blasted managers, insisting the corporation should not wage a ratings war with ITV.

And sources claim schedulers at both channels are drawing up secret plans to move their shows to reduce the overlap.

Strictly would come forwards 15 minutes, to 6.45pm, and ITV would shift The X Factor back 15 minutes.

BBC chiefs outraged TV fans – and X Factor host Simon Cowell, 49 – with their decision to schedule Strictly directly against X Factor.

The decision backfired as the ITV1 show, where 19-year-old Ethan Boroian wowed judges, attracted two million more viewers at the weekend.

Sir Michael revealed that Director-General Mark Thompson, 51, had been asked to explain the scheduling to BBC trustees last week.

He said: “Viewers were asked to make a choice between the programmes and that choice didn’t go in favour of the BBC.”

But BBC1 scheduling chief George Dixon defended the timing, saying that rival channels’ schedules were only published a few days before transmission.

He said: “Our detailed schedule is planned six months to a year in advance and we don’t have the luxury of knowing where other channels will be pitching their programmes until press day.

“ That only happens 10 days before that week’s schedule actually starts to transmit.

“Of course I’m mindful of the programmes on other channels. But it would be wrong to fixate on one particular programme on a night at the expense of all the others.”

But BBC Vision chief Jana Bennett told staff there would be no climbdown by moving Strictly, hosted by Bruce Forsyth, 81, and Tess Daly, 38.

Strictly Come Dancing is already under fire, with nearly 5,000 fans complaining about 66-year-old judge Arlene Phillips being replaced by Alesha Dixon, 30.

But X Factor’s Cheryl Cole, 26, yesterday defended the newcomer.

She said: “Alesha’s a really strong woman – she’s well qualified. I wish her the best of luck.”

» MORE 'NEWS' HERE...

Share @:Digg StumbleUpon del.icio.us Newsvine reddit

Print This Page

Email To A Friend

Contact Us

Get RSS