Princess among seven indies invited to pitch for daytime show
Channel 5 is to revamp long-running morning debate show The Wright Stuff after putting the show out to tender.
The Viacom-owned broadcaster has invited seven indies, including current producer Princess Productions, to pitch for the show, which runs for 250 episodes per year.
It is thought the initial 12-month contract, which begins in January 2018, is worth up to £10m per year.
A decision is expected to be made in the summer.
The move could be a blow to Princess Productions, whose managing director Emma Hardy is to leave the broadcaster in July after 20 years.
The two-hour programme is one of C5’s longest-running shows, and has aired since September 2000. The talk show, in which presenter Matthew Wright and guests discuss current events, airs weekdays from 9.15am to 11.15am.
Anglia Television produced the series for two years, before handing the reins to Endemol Shine Group indie Princess Productions, which has made the show for 15 years.
It is understood that Wright, who has presented the series since its inception and is represented by John Noel, will continue to host.
A C5 spokesperson said an “increasingly competitive scheduling environment” had made it a “natural time” to evolve and refresh the format.
Over the past few years, the show has seen a gentle erosion of viewers.
In the first three months of 2014, it drew a consolidated audience of 289,300 (5.35%), gradually slipping to 226,400 (4.37%) over the same period in 2017.
C5 has handed oversight of The Wright Stuff to new commissioner Lara Akeju, who joined C5 in March. It was previously overseen by factual commissioner Ninder Billing, who left the broadcaster in January to return to production. Akeju’s remit spans news and factual.
In addition to The Wright Stuff, she oversees 5 News and a handful of factual programmes such as The Dog Rescuers and Winter Road Rescue.
She was previously at Channel 4, where she worked on the Paralympics and was a development manager for creative diversity.
The Wright Stuff marks C5’s most significant tender in a number of years.
Earlier this year, it tendered a new 8 x 60-minute history series on Rome, inviting a select group of indies to submit proposals. October Films won the commission to produce 8 Days That Made Rome, fronted by Bettany Hughes.
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