So profits are down, ad revenue is down, and the ad market is “challenging” according to Michael Grade. The ink had scarcely dried on my “So, are people watching more or less TV?” post yesterday when ITV announced its figures. The key media soundbites were focussed on the profit drop, but the ITV revenue drop was the other big story; because revenue is driven by viewing figures and they reflect the size and quality of audiences being delivered. And the size and quality of the audiences in turn reflect the quality of the programmes being made and transmitted.

In my view both the BBC and ITV have produced some dire programming over the last few years. Reality TV has been a short term fix; it costs very little to produce (compared to real drama) and delivers reasonably good audiences - in other words it’s a highly profitable genre of programming.

Now whilst reality TV may be profitable, profitable programming does not build and maintain audiences. That’s the job of quality programming. In fact, there’s a positive correlation between the amount a programme costs to produce and the size and quality of audience it delivers.

Short term fixes, as profitable as they may be, carry long term consequences. I believe that this type of programming has changed consumers’ relationship with, and respect for, these broadcasters - particularly ITV. They are now perceived by many as peddlers of meaningless drivel. The problem is that once perceptions are set in one direction, they can be hard to shift to another. In other words these brands have been seriously damaged by this programming, possibly irreparably damaged. So even if Michael Grade can get his “eye back on the programming ball”, the audiences that ITV previously had for high quality programming will not necessarily return.

In addition, and most unfortunately for these broadcasters, this shift in the popular attitude to TV has coincided with an explosion of growth in self-scheduled media; the Internet, mobile media, ipods and pod casts. People’s expectation of media entertainment have also shifted - to a higher plane of personal satisfaction and reward.

Michael Grade is probably the only person in TV who can turn the ITV behemoth around. But the question is even when it’s pointing in the right direction, will it be able to catch up with everyone else?