GMTV

History

By 1990, TV-am, which held the ITV breakfast franchise, was one of the most profitable TV stations globally. This success drew competitors during the 1991 ITV franchise auctions, where GMTV won the contract by offering £34 million, outbidding TV-am. The consortium behind GMTV included LWT, STV, Disney, and the Guardian Media Group. Its pitch promised a "cheerful morning and with more information," a concept they called the "F-factor." Among the planned features were a daily children's news bulletin at 7:20 am and a weekday female-led format at 8:50 am. In November 1991, Carlton acquired a 20% stake in the group. Originally, the station was to be named "Sunrise Television," but Sky News—which used that name for its own breakfast show until 2019—objected, forcing a change.

In May 1992, GMTV drew criticism after announcing a more family-oriented schedule that eliminated business and city news. Lis Howell, the Director of Programmes, defended the decision. The station also turned down an offer from David Frost to keep his Sunday morning programme, opting instead for a new leisure show about family life, on the grounds that "TV-am flung its audience away on Sundays." The first broadcast aired on 1 January 1993, with Eamonn Holmes and Anne Davies as hosts. The main weekday presenters at launch were Fiona Armstrong and Michael Wilson (Monday to Thursday), and the show came from Studio 5 at The London Studios on the South Bank.

Within six weeks, GMTV had lost two million viewers. Mark Lawson of The Independent labelled it "Grinning Morons Television." Channel 4, which had been a minor rival to TV-am, had grown significantly popular since September 1992 with The Big Breakfast and kept gaining viewers. Greg Dyke was brought in as chairman of the GMTV board to revamp the format, focusing on "more popular journalism." His role was to generate fresh ideas without handling daily operations. Three days later, Howell resigned after Dyke refused to support her programming strategy; Peter McHugh took her place. On 8 February, due to ongoing low ratings, Wilson moved to a new news-focused slot from 6 to 7 am (which became the "Reuters News Hour" in 1994). Armstrong continued co-hosting with Holmes until 12 March, when Lorraine Kelly replaced her. Fern Britton then took over the post-9 am slot, Top of the Morning.