Where did they go? Loose women

[Saysitmildbutissooooospicy]

The Loose women?

Not been on for ages and not on until April.
I know they have horse racing on some days, but it hasn’t been every day at all.

Has something happened?

No great loss to have less of Loose Women or Lorraine, both of which I’ve almost fell asleep watching. Very tired formats. Women giggling on a panel about their issues.

My nana when she was alive much preferred to watch snooker, formula 1 and wildlife programmes. My step grandmother used to watch Young Doctors. They never watched the LW, Lorraine programmes.

Not far from the truth really! I do watch Morning Live which can also be a bit drab but I quite like Gethin for eye candy so there’s that!

As a PP said, ITV Studios are in financial trouble. The entire UK tv industry is - people’s viewing habits changed dramatically during COVID / Lockdowns and they haven’t changed back. The available audience is spread much more thinly and as such, advertising revenue is down which means production budgets are down.

ITV reduced the production staff across their daytime output by around 50% last year, moved out of big studios and into a smaller one in Covent Garden - hence no audience (and their inherent costs) on LW.

It’s worth saying that TV production staff are freelance and since 2023, around 75% have been unemployed at any one time. It’s an industry in dire straits but because The Telly is on (repeats and recommissions), no one really pays much attention.

@SaysitmildbutissooooospicyBecause she has outstayed her welcome. She had a looonnng run.

I still watch all the 'normal' channels

Way more than I watch any streaming services

And I’m sure loads still do @purpleme12 but You Tube overtook ITV in terms of viewers last year.

Yet here you are in a forum of women talking about women's issues...

It’s pure shite. Bin

So I am. But I’m allowed to criticise this.

That's a blast from the past! Young Doctors. I loved that! And Sons and Daughters, and Neighbours, and Home and Away of course. And Take The High Road.

But yeah, my mum (possibly the same generation as your nan, born late 1930s, sorry if I am wrong!) enjoyed snooker, tennis, athletics, and even football. Also nature shows (she had a soft spot for David Attenborough!) And she enjoyed travel shows. She never had a passport and the furthest she went from home (West Midlands) was Rhyl, Barmouth, and Abersytwyth... So she enjoyed seeing travel shows, like Wish You Were Here with Judith Chalmers....

My dad used to watch the same sports, but he also watched wrestling and boxing (and I used to watch them with him,) We all used to enjoy a few game shows like 3-2-1 (cheeeezy, but a decent watch! 😆) and also The Golden Shot and The Generation Game. (showing my age!) Oh, and Family Fortunes which was good back in the day.. And we all loved Gladiators in the 1990s which was great. The reboot is good too.

Lorraine HAS outstayed her welcome all right. By about 15 years IMO. She seemed bulletproof. DH and I always wondered if she knew where the bodies were buried! 😬👀

I don't think this is sudden or out of nowhere. I don't live in the UK but I do read the papers online. A few months back this was in the news for weeks. Itv cutting the budget and all these shows getting SLASHED!!. How will poor Loraine manage on a part time wage!!..

Oh yes Sons and Daughters my step grandmother loved too! She was Irish and apart from back to Ireland didn’t travel at all. Whereas my nana travelled all around Europe and went to Spain quite a lot.

I’m baffled as to how anyone could bear any of it.

Awful programme, full of screeching stroppy women. 👎

Hopefully, this is the beginning of the end. It’s a dreadful programme. Not sure why it’s still limping on.

Who watches rubbish like that?

Must be because my mother died. She watched both every day religiously, one to slag off the clothing and assorted guests and one to find out what she was supposed to think about everything and pretend she'd made up the comments herself.

my own elderly mother wouldnt dream of watching tv in the morning. she didnt believe in it.
but plenty of people who have carers are put in front of TV with no choice.

I do wonder if Lorraine now wants to stop working so she can spend time with her granddaughter

I'm guessing it still has ratings. I dont watch it but i'd take that over sports. Its just people chatting after all

I don't but remember there is still an audience for Mrs Brown's Boys.

Loose Women is advertised as a chat show which it is, Mrs Brown's Boys as a comedy which the transphobic foul mouthed disgrace it is no comedy by any definition.

TV advertising revenue I expect is reducing given the smaller audience and other ways of marketing.

I think programmes like This Morning and Lorraine have their place. Magazine shows are important to many people. As they are current and live they give a feeling of time and place to people that are at home daily. I think they are actually very under appreciated because they talk about lots of different things and interview a wide range of people that allows people to grow the general knowledge and come across things they would else never have thought about. This kind of thing is being lost for the younger population as they can chain watch their own things and end up having very narrow general knowledge. Something I have noticed recently as well, is that the hosts of such shows do very well on quiz shows as they have usually discussed various topics or issues on their programme.

ITVs live magazine programmes give light relief (mostly) to people's day to day life and keep then engaged in current events without the full doom and gloom of the world. They help you to give markers to the time of day and to give varied and interesting background noise that isn't too taxing and means you dont have to do the constant decision making of what should I watch next. I don't always like the content or what people are saying on these shows but I do think they have a very important part to play in today's society as we loose many things to streaming. The familiarity of hosts and the routine is comforting to many as well. I think it would be quite sad if they cut back on them too much.

Thank heavens for small mercies. Can’t bear this program.