Editing ITV (TV network) (section)

==Criticism==
Since the launch of ITV, there have been concerns from politicians and the press that ITV faced a conflict concerning programme audiences and advertisers. As advertisers are reluctant to buy advertising space around low viewing programmes, there is a pressure on ITV to broadcast more popular programmes in peak times.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024|reason=Was this true in the 20th century? Is this still true presently?}} This became more profound in the early 21st century, following a relaxation in regulation and significantly more competition in the advertising market following the huge increase in commercial channels.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024|reason=When did these relaxations occur?}} In the 2000s, programmes from the reality television genre including the celebrity and talent show subgenres became a dominant presence on the channel. This led to accusations of ITV 'dumbing down' their programmes and appealing to the '[[lowest common denominator]]', accusations that are at odds with the network's status as a [[Public broadcasting|public service broadcaster]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Murray-Watson|first=Andrew|title=ITV 'dumbing down' threatens ad revenues|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2947061/ITV-dumbing-down-threatens-ad-revenues.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2947061/ITV-dumbing-down-threatens-ad-revenues.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=6 January 2013|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=10 September 2006|location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=ITV Cultures: Independent Television over Fifty years|year=2005|publisher=Open University Press|location=Maidenhead|isbn=9780335217298|pages=159–176|author=Sherryl Wilson|editor=Catherine Johnson and Rob Turnock|chapter=9}}</ref> ITV was/is also heavily criticized for scaling back its regional programmes, including regional news.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024|reason=Is this actually true? When did this occur?}}