ITV has announced sweeping changes to its daytime programming schedule, revealing that Lorraine, one of its longest-running morning shows, will be reduced from an hour-long format to just 30 minutes.
This change is part of a larger restructuring effort that is expected to result in more than 220 job cuts across the broadcaster’s daytime shows.
The overhaul, set to take effect from January 2026, will impact Good Morning Britain, Lorraine, This Morning, and Loose Women.
These cuts, ITV says, are necessary to streamline production and make room for reinvestment in other parts of its programming.
To fill the gap left by Lorraine’s reduced airtime, Good Morning Britain (GMB) will be extended by an additional half hour, airing from 6:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. each weekday.
During the 22 weeks of the year when Lorraine is not on air at all, GMB will be further extended until 10:00 a.m., effectively taking over Lorraine’s slot.
This adjustment signals a strategic pivot in ITV’s morning content structure, allowing for more continuous news coverage under the GMB banner, particularly during seasonal gaps.
Lorraine, fronted by Scottish presenter Lorraine Kelly since 2010, currently airs nearly every week of the year, but from 2026, it will only broadcast for 30 weeks annually.
When Kelly is off, Ranvir Singh and Christine Lampard have regularly stepped in to host. Now, however, their appearances will likely be more limited due to the shorter season.
The reduction of the show’s airtime marks a significant shift for the beloved programme and has raised questions about its long-term future on the network.
The job losses represent nearly half of ITV’s daytime team, which currently consists of around 450 employees, according to entertainment outlet Deadline.
The effects will ripple through production teams on all four major shows, with many long-time staffers likely facing redundancy. Loose Women, another flagship programme, will remain in its 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. slot, but will also be slashed to 30 weeks of the year.
Meanwhile, This Morning, hosted by Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard, will retain its full-year, two-and-a-half-hour weekday schedule, remaining unaffected by the seasonal cutbacks for now.
Kevin Lygo, ITV’s Managing Director of Media and Entertainment, attempted to reassure viewers and staff alike, stating, “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 as generating savings which will allow us to reinvest across the programme budget in other genres.”
He added that these moves were not only about cost-cutting, but also about evolving the broadcaster’s approach to daytime TV.
Lygo continued, “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.”
Under this plan, Good Morning Britain will shift from ITV Studios to ITV News at ITN, effectively centralizing national news operations into a single, integrated hub.
ITV hopes that this move will strengthen its journalism and help reduce production redundancy.
Behind the scenes, ITV Studios is now consulting with staff about a proposal that would see Lorraine, This Morning, and Loose Women produced by a single team.
Each show would remain editorially distinct, but would share production resources to increase efficiency.
It’s a significant cultural shift within the broadcaster, and some employees fear that this could dilute the unique voice and identity of each programme.
The exact makeup of this shared production team will be determined following ongoing consultations.
Kelly, who has been a fixture of ITV mornings for over a decade, has yet to release a public statement on the changes. However, insiders suggest she is “deeply disappointed” by the reduction of her show’s airtime.
Fans of Lorraine have already begun expressing concern on social media, many of them worried that ITV’s shake-up could eventually lead to the programme’s complete cancellation.
For now, the network insists the show remains a valued part of its daytime output.
The cutbacks don’t stop with daytime shows. In February, ITV had already announced that its popular soaps, Coronation Street and Emmerdale, would see their content reduced by a combined one hour per week in 2026.
These cuts are part of a broader financial tightening within the channel, which has struggled with declining advertising revenues.
ITV is not alone in facing these pressures, as networks across the UK and beyond grapple with changes in viewer habits and shifting revenue models in the streaming age.
Experts in the television industry point to declining traditional TV viewership and rising costs of production as major factors behind the cuts.
One industry analyst noted, “Advertisers are spending less on linear TV, and stations like ITV are being forced to rethink their priorities. Live content still draws viewers, but it’s no longer the cash cow it once was.”
For a broadcaster that has long dominated daytime ratings, the restructuring signals a move to adapt rather than fall behind.
Despite the shake-up, ITV insists that these are proactive decisions, not reactions to failure. “We’re trying to future-proof the business,” a senior executive reportedly told Deadline.
“This is about creating a more sustainable structure so that shows like Lorraine and GMB can still be around in five or ten years’ time, even if they look a little different.” Whether viewers will accept these new formats remains to be seen.
As ITV moves into an uncertain future, the pressure is now on to maintain viewer loyalty while also balancing the harsh economic realities of modern broadcasting.
The fate of shows like Lorraine and Loose Women may rest on how well this new model performs in 2026 and beyond. For now, though, change is the only constant on the network’s daytime schedule.
