Since Ant & Dec went prime time we’d kinda stopped paying attention to Saturday morning TV (come to think of it, of late we’ve stopped paying attention to Ant & Dec). But BBC bosses have been continuing their fight to regain the upper hand on the key slot in childrens’ TV, and last weekend they got very close. Initial viewing figures suggest both ITV’s SM:TV and BBC’s The Saturday Show each had 1 million viewers and a 17% audience share on Saturday.
The Beeb relaunched its show last Autumn, dumping presenters Dani Behr and Joe Mace, and adding a Top Of The Pops segment to the programme in a direct copy of ITV’s CD:UK. Current SM:TV presenters Brian Dowling and Tess Daly remain popular, but without Ant, Dec and Cat the show has lost its sparkle and that, as much as the BBC’s revamp, may explain the equalling out in performance. Expect both sides to step up the fight later in the year.