In one of the most baffling decisions by a TV broadcaster for a long time, ITV has decided to only show 8 of the 9 episodes of new US comedy drama Pushing Daisies, so that the series will finish in time for Euro 2008.
More odd still, the episode they’re banishing is No.2, the one that should have been shown this Saturday.
Now it’s too early to say whether I’m a massive fan of the show, but this strikes me as one of the weirdest things I’ve heard in a long time.
If a show isn’t performing well in the ratings, it’s standard practice to shift its time slot, so it doesn’t hurt overall viewing figures or advertising revenues, but Pushing Daisies has only been on one week so far.
It’s also weird, given that this is the first US import that ITV have bought and scheduled in a primetime evening slot since the 90s and their head of commissioning was waxing lyrical about it at the press launch only the other week.
Dare I venture that it’s no wonder that ITV is faring so badly in the ratings war when they’re willing to make crass decisions like this?
