John Stapleton and Penny Smith to leave GMTV?

GMTV's John Stapleton and Penny Smith could be facing the boot if ITV combines their newsroom with ITN. ITV Chairman Archie Norman wants to make savings of 20 per cent on the show which may include getting rid of the separate GMTV news team. This could cut John and Penny's news-based hour between 6am and 7am each morning from the schedule. A source told The Mirror: "Discussions about this process are already at an advanced stage. It makes sense for ITN to do all the news on GMTV, including bulletins and broadcasts live from breaking stories." As well as the presenter duo, insiders are claiming that at least 50 journalists at GMTV may also be affected. A newsroom source told the paper: "At the moment there is a situation where during big news events we are doubling up with journalists from GMTV and ITN both on the scene. It doesn't make any financial sense and it is such an obvious and easy way to make cuts." An ITV spokesman said: "The review at GMTV is still going on, so it is too soon to confirm any details at this stage."

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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.