
ITV is giving President Donald Trump’s pal Piers Morgan an extra half hour in the mornings as it refreshes its daytime schedule.
The British broadcaster has extended its collection of live daytime shows in the morning schedule following the cancellation of The Jeremy Kyle Show.
The Jerry Springer-esque studio format was axed earlier this year after a contributor committed suicide shortly after appearing on the show.
From January 2020, Good Morning Britain, which is fronted by Morgan and Susanna Reid and has regularly aired interviews with the U.S. President, will be extended to run from 6am to 9am. This will be followed by Lorraine, hosted by Lorraine Kelly, running from 9am to 10am and This Morning, hosted by Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, also being extended by half an hour from 10am to 12:30pm with talkshow Loose Women running until 1:30pm.
Currently, the extra hour has been taken up by repeats of Judge Rinder, a Judge Judy-style format hosted by Robert Rinder.
Emma Gormley, Managing Director ITV Daytime, which produces the morning shows, said, “The ITV daytime teams consists of the very best on screen and off screen talent in the business, enabling us to set the agenda from early morning until the afternoon, as we pass the baton from show to show. We can’t wait to bring our audiences an even greater abundance of personalities, surprises, warmth and humor and a bigger and better schedule for 2020.”
Kevin Lygo, ITV Director of Television, added, “Live television is at the core of what ITV does and what we bring to viewers. Our new schedule presents the opportunity to engage with our audience throughout the first part of each day, with some of the most well-known shows on television, in a way that no other channel does.”
Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy.