Name change for GMTV in shake-up

GMTV is to drop its name in a £1.5 million shake-up. The early morning show, which is undergoing a major staff upheaval, is to be moved to a new studio and will be rebranded, although no decision has been made on the new title. Adrian Chiles, pictured, was signed up by ITV earlier this year to front the relaunched show after he fell out with BBC bosses over his role on The One Show. Andrew Castle has announced he's leaving the show after a decade, just days after Penny Smith bowed out of the programme. The revamped show will be given new music and will relocate to a studio overlooking the River Thames. ITV director of factual and daytime Alison Sharman has told staff internally that it is "the biggest change" in the programme's 17-year history. ITV took over GMTV last year and has been aiming to transform the programme, which is thought to have been lagging behind competitors. A spokeswoman said: "Change, both on and off screen, is an essential part of the process of restoring one of the nation's great breakfast shows to its former glories. "One of the key objectives is to ensure that the core audience of housewives with children keep watching, but also to attract new viewers to our revitalised breakfast show." Lorraine Kelly's section of the show will also be given a new studio.

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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.