ITV's biggest daytime TV hosts 'face pay freeze' as channel holds 'crisis ... trends now
ITV's biggest daytime hosts are reportedly facing a pay freeze as the channel holds crisis talks after ratings plummet on some of their iconic daytime TV shows including Good Morning Britain and This Morning.
Production teams and staff on shows, that are faced by stars such as Susanna Reid, 53, Cat Deeley, 47, and Ben Shephard, 49, will have their salaries frozen, according to The Sun.
Cat and Ben took over the helm of This Morning earlier this year, after the departure of Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby and reportedly signed contracts for a cool £555,000, while Susanna is said to have a £1.1 million per year deal.
ITV are said to have warned there could also be job cuts which will impact both permanent members of staff and freelancers.
The channel is believed to also be switching long term roles in the company to just three-month contracts.
And it is not just employment they are targeting as it is believed the company's big summer party - which attracts some of the biggest stars in the business- is also at risk.
ITV is reportedly suffering after their ratings plummet on some of their iconic daytime TV shows including GMB & This Morning
Production teams and staff on shows, that are faced by stars such as Susanna Reid , 53 (pictured), Cat Deeley , 47, and Ben Shephard , 49, are facing a pay freeze, according to The Sun
Four of their flagship shows - Good Morning Britain, This Morning, Lorraine and Loose Women - are among the programmes that are reportedly affected.
The ratings are believed to have dropped so poorly that it triggered ITV's daytime boss to call a series of crisis 'Town Hall' meetings last week to break the news to the four shows.
Staff were reportedly presented with a graph detailing the rapid decline in ratings, while also showing the successful viewing figures for Netflix and Amazon Prime.
Bosses are said to have discussed Netflix's Baby Reindeer, which had 60million views in a month, Amazon's The Grand Tour, 170million views worldwide, and Clarkson's Farm, which obtained 11million views in its first weekend.
A source told the publication: 'ITV is really tightening their belt. There have been concerns for months at the top but now that it's trickled down to the shop floor it feels very depressing.
'A lot of staff are being put on three-month contracts. Staff are hopeful that the UK elections will help boost their ratings.'
AN ITV spokesperson told MailOnline: 'Town hall meetings happen frequently for teams to keep up to date with company news and also serve as an opportunity for staff to have questions answered.'
'The latest one was to celebrate the success of Lorraine Kelly receiving a BAFTA Special Recognition Award and the two BAFTA nominations for Daytime last weekend. It was also a transparent portrayal of what is currently happening across the industry.'
And it is not just employment they are targeting as it is believed that the company's big summer party - which attracts some of the biggest stars (Kate Garraway)
Four of their flagship shows - Good Morning Britain , This Morning, Lorraine and Loose Women - are among the programmes that are struggling
This Morning viewing figures dipped when Cat and Ben began helming the show, earlier this year.
Following the departure of Holly and Phillip, the ITV show was thrown into chaos as producers scrambled to find permanent replacements.
Cat and Ben were unveiled as the show's new host's in March, with their
