ITV Daytime has today (May 20) announced a huge change to its schedules. And Lorraine Kelly’s breakfast show has sensationally been cut to just a 30-minute broadcast.
It will also only run seasonally – for 30 weeks of the year. Loose Women will also run on a seasonal basis, for 30 weeks of the year.
ITV Daytime announcement as huge cuts announced
The announcement was made today, 30 minutes after a meeting with ITV Daytime staff.
A press release announced: “ITV today announces changes to the scheduling and production of its award winning Daytime shows.
“From January 2026, Good Morning Britain will be extended by 30 minutes to run from 6am to 9.30am daily, and will transfer to be produced by ITV News at ITN at their base at Gray’s Inn Road in London.”
New studios for Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women
It then added: “GMB will be made by a dedicated team within ITV News at ITN. This change will see ITV bring all its national news gathering into one hub, with Good Morning Britain benefitting from the journalistic and production resources already in place for national news bulletins, for the website and for digital platforms including ITVX.”
Moving forward, the statement continued: “Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women will continue to be produced by ITV Studios and will be broadcast from a new location in central London. ITV Studios is consulting with its Daytime teams about a proposal that from 2026 would see the three editorially distinct shows produced by one team sharing resources and operations.”
What the changes will fund
The statement then explained where the savings from the cost-cutting would be spent.
“The efficiencies gained from the changes in the production of these shows will be reinvested in other genres while ensuring viewers will continue to see all of the live, topical Daytime shows they know and love.
“The changes will fund additional investment in dramas like Mr Bates vs The Post Office and in coverage of the biggest sporting events like next year’s football World Cup as well as the UK’s biggest reality and entertainment shows.
“And will strengthen ITV’s ability to continue to attract the biggest commercial audiences both on linear channels and online through ITVX.”
Huge cuts to Lorraine
However, it’s bad news for Lorraine – who recently underwent surgery. Her hour-long show has been cut in half. As a result, Lorraine will air in a 30-minute slot from 9.30am till 10am, when This Morning starts.
Kevin Lygo, Managing Director of ITV’s Media and Entertainment Division, explained the changes. He said: “Daytime is a really important part of what we do. And these scheduling and production changes will enable us to continue to deliver a schedule providing viewers with the news, debate and discussion they love from the presenters they know and trust. As well generating savings which will allow us to reinvest across the programme budget in other genres.
“These changes also allow us to consolidate our news operations and expand our national, international and regional news output. And to build upon our proud history of trusted journalism at a time when our viewers need accurate, unbiased news coverage more than ever.”
In ITV’s 2026 Daytime schedule, Lorraine will run from 9.30am-10am. This will be on a seasonal basis for 30 weeks of the year. This aligns with the lead Daytime presenters. They host their shows around a seasonal pattern rather than throughout the year. During the weeks Lorraine is not on air, Good Morning Britain will run from 6am to 10am.
Loose Women to air on a seasonal basis, too
This Morning will remain in its 10am-12.30pm slot on weekdays throughout the year. Loose Women will be in the 12.30-1.30pm slot, again on a seasonal basis for 30 weeks of the year. This is the schedule it occupied for over a decade until 2016.
Kevin Lygo added: “I recognise that our plans will have an impact on staff off screen in our Daytime production teams. And we will work with ITV Studios and ITN as they manage these changes to produce the shows differently from next year, and support them through this transition.
“Daytime has been a core element of ITV’s schedule for over 40 years. And these changes will set ITV up to continue to bring viewers award winning news, views and discussion as we enter our eighth decade.”
GMB expansion explained
The expanded Good Morning Britain will continue its mix of news, interviews, debate and competitions. It’ll also allow for the inclusion of more regional news, more agenda-setting investigations and exclusives and more reporting on and analysis of the biggest stories of the day around the UK and the world.
Together with the 30-minute expansion of ITV’s early evening news in 2022, this means ITV will have provided a 20% increase in scheduled national and regional news each week day.
The change will form part of a renewed agreement between ITV and ITN, for ITN to produce national, international, London and digital news for ITV for the next five years, with options to extend.
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