BONG! - News At Ten has been in the same slot since 1967. It draws audiences of between 5.5 and 6 million.

BONG! - The Big Ben headlines and the lighter And Finally item are television institutions.

BONG! - Anchorman Trevor McDonald is one of the most recognisable and popular figures on television. But he has been signed up to anchor a new hour-long weekly ITV current affairs programme.

BONG! - ITV is losing viewers year on year and says a third of its audience switch off or over when News at Ten comes on. Younger viewers are particularly likely to reach for the remote control.

BONG! - For a channel that relies on advertising income, smaller audiences are bad news.

BONG! - ITV programming boss David Liddiment vowed to change the "architecture" of the weekday primetime schedule when he joined a year ago.

BONG! - Eight of ITV's 15 licence-holding companies had promised a news bulletin at 10pm as part of their franchise bids, so they have had to go back to the Independent Television Commission to vary their licences.

BONG! - Viewers are resistant to the idea. An NOP poll this week showed 47% actively opposed a move.

BONG! - The Prime Minister, Tony Blair and the Culture Secretary, Chris Smith also spoke out against the changes, but later stressed they were expressing personal opinions.