More Piers Morgan on the way as ITV extends Good Morning Britain
The new schedule means that the broadcaster will be live all morning from the start of 2020
Get ready for more controversial comments over breakfast because Good Morning Britain just got bigger.
Starting from 6th January 2020, the morning show fronted by Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid will run for an extra half hour, from 6am until 9am.
This will push Lorraine back to a 9am start, followed by This Morning at 10am which is also getting an additional half hour of airtime that will take it to a 12:30pm finish in time for Loose Women.
The move comes after a controversial year for the ITV breakfast show, which saw Morgan criticised for his comments about gender identity and climate activist Greta Thunberg.
The uproar led to the creation of two rival petitions on Change.org, one calling for his removal from the show (33,900 signatures) and the other supporting his continued involvement (56,700 signatures).
ITV's other extended daytime show, This Morning, recently made headlines for entirely different reasons, bringing original hosts Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan back to guest present in October.
The change to ITV schedules comes months after The Jeremy Kyle Show was pulled from screens in the wake of the death of a guest.
Emma Gormley, Managing Director of ITV Daytime, 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 humour and a bigger and better schedule for 2020.”
Authors
David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.