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."
