ITV's entertainment backlash

Saving grace: Chris Tarrant's Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

ITV has come under fire from television regulators for failing to produce popular new entertainment shows.

The Independent Television Commission criticised the network for relying too much on tried and tested winning formulas and not creating enough fresh and exciting programmes.

Old favourites like Blind Date and This Morning were praised for maintaining their high standards, but on the whole, the commission felt ITV had "failed to hit top form".

The findings were announced in the ITC's annual performance review.

Denise Van Outen's Babes in the Wood came under fire from the ITC

The report said: "Despite the ongoing success of evergreens like Blind Date and The South Bank Show, ITV failed to hit top form with much that was new in arts, comedy and entertainment.

"Some music-based programmes such as Abbamania proved highly watchable event programming but attempts to find new, potentially long-running 'bankers' were largely disappointing.

"Without Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? the year would have been rather thin."

Derivative

Talent show Give Your Mate A Break was one of the shows that came under fire. It was described as being "failed" and "derivative".

Denise Van Outen's sitcom Babes In The Wood, meanwhile, was said to have "failed to live up to the faith ITV had shown in it".

The increase in factual programmes was a plus point for the ITC, but even then it was unhappy with the "sameness" in much of the material and tone.

Not so clever for Trevor: ITC report said Tonight programme had "some way to go"

And while Trevor McDonald's Tonight show was praised for showing "some signs of real journalistic ambition", it focused too much on celebrity experience and had some way to go before it could be considered a flagship series, the commission concluded.

This year's report was delayed while the ITC completed its review of the first 12 month period since News at Ten was scrapped.

ITV has been given a month to come up with more proposals to increase ratings for their early and late evening news bulletins, after the channel's original plans were rejected.