ITV4 and CITV to get more hours and cash

ITV4 will become a 24-hour channel while CITV will move to a new Freeview slot that was previously home to Disney's ABC1.

CITV and ITV4 currently share a slot on Freeview, with the former running from 6am to 6pm Monday to Friday and from 6am to 12.30pm at weekends. ITV4 airs the rest of the time.

ITV Channels director of operations Jonathan Rogers told Broadcast: “In the past 18 months ITV4 has really started to get it right, so we wanted to give it a bigger arena and offer viewers more. We are trying to make more of an impact and increase its share. The budget has increased this year and we want to move into original commissions.”

Archive shows such as The Professionals and Minder that traditionally aired in peak will be moved to daytime, clearing the way for original output.

ITV4 has traditionally pulled in its biggest audiences for films and sports events, often attracting in excess of 500,000 viewers. It has built up audiences across all hours over the past year and its programmes attracted an average of 105,000 viewers this January - close to double that for the same period last year. However, ITV will hope the injection of cash will challenge the success of hit men's channel Dave, which in recent weeks has ranked just behind ITV2 and ITV3 in digital homes.

CITV's move to a new channel slot with extra hours will mean it runs from 6am to 6pm at weekends as well. Its extra funding for original commissions is something of a volte face for the network, which has not commissioned any new kids shows for more than 18 months prompting fears it was winding the station down.

Rogers said: “CITV is doing really well - it is the most successful commercial children's channel. We have found a new business model for it and my view is that you can't just run a library, so there is money for new shows.”

He would not be drawn on how much extra cash there would be but warned commercial realities meant CITV controller Emma Tennant would not be commissioning as much as before. When CITV launched it was thought the channel spent around£30m but the new budget is unlikely to be anywhere near that.

ITV's decision to return to children's programming will please kids producers and campaign groups, which had feared the broadcaster was planning to leave the market altogether. It is understood that CITV generated around£4m profit last year and ITV bosses are keen to capitalise on its success after a strong performance last year, when it increased its average share of kids viewing to 3.91% from 3.08% in 2006.

CITV's airtime sales will be brought in-house with plans to as much as double the price for on-air adverts.

ITV4 hitlist: what controller Dave Fewings wants

Action-packed, escapist programming for men, for viewers who go to the channel in a “thrill-seeking mood”;

Documentaries, reality, factual entertainment and sport-led programming. Also, lifestyle and gadget shows or Top Gear-style shows;

Series that complement ITV4's existing brands to help maximise audience inheritance and cross-promotion;

Strong celebrity faces to front shows that help establish the channel's identity.

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