Churn

The history of morning magazine shows on ITV goes back to 1988, when This Morning was launched by Granada from studios overlooking Liverpool's Albert Dock.  Audiences have averaged 2m ever since. The costs aren't enormous, and the advertisers like the opportunities.  

Philip Schofield had been a regular presenter since 2002; the current editor Martin Frizell has been in charge since 2016. Neither, up until now, have been riddled with self-doubt.  On Linkedin, Martin described himself as "Editor of Britain's most talked about morning show" for his time at GMTV 2000 to 2010; on Instagram he's a "Bad influencer - usually found at Britain’s No 1 Morning Show, This Morning".  There was considerable presenter churn when Martin ran Loose Women for a year in 2014.  Martin was with Philip and Holly Willoughby when they filed passed the Queen's Coffin without experiencing a queue. 

This Morning is full of regular 'slots' with regular presenters/guests/experts. They range from cooks,  make-up and fashion experts, gardeners, interior designers, wellness and scams commentators, etc. The programme provides generous income for the commitment, which often leads to other employment opportunities.  But over 20 years, a presenter can have considerable influence over who's 'good' and 'bad' at these slots - as can an editor.  As at Loose Women, those discarded can maintain high level of resentment for long periods.