Two weeks ago, it broadcast the locally-produced Crime File instead of the network offering - Is It Legal?, a sitcom penned by Men Behaving Badly's creator, Simon Nye. The London broadcaster vowed to do the same again when necessary, until the new season brings a refreshed weekend schedule. "Earlier in the year, there was a desperate search for a mechanism to build ITV's Saturday night audience, but [Marcus Plantin] just didn't have the product."Quick fixes may have bolstered audiences at certain times, but short- term solutions undermined confidence in the schedule, adds Alan James, director at The Network, the media operation run by Ogilvy & Mather. A re-run of old workhorses such as Dennis Norden's It'll Be Alright on the Night may still win ratings, but at what cost? "ITV cannot afford to rely on repeats - they mean nothing any more Nor do one-off films. The BBC then looks at ITV and schedules aggressively against it," says Simon Cox, head of TV buying at CIA Medianetwork. "We want to see ITV scheduling more tactically and aggressively against BBC 1 - moving programmes around later Undoubtedly, there are risks. But if [Marcus Plantin] can prove he moved something and it got a better audience - well, that's what he's there for.Cox says that "severe lack of audience at the moment" is pushing up airtime prices, and that Saturday nights have been particularly poor.

Competition is likely to heat up this autumn with the return of Casualty paired with National Lottery Live on BBC 1. "The question is, what's the BBC doing right that ITV's not?"Ask agencies, and the answer is clear: ITV is not reacting fast enough to outmanoeuvre the BBC. "ITV is at a disadvantage as it must publish schedule details earlier than the BBC to get in advertising. Even so, advertisers and their agencies are critical of ITV's failure to deliver the audiences they desire."Advertisers are worried about ITV's continued failure to dig into BBC's audience share," explains John Hooper, director-general of the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers. The verdict on Chris Tarrant's Man O Man and The Shane Ritchie Experience? "Tacky", "tasteless" and "lowest common denominator TV". Yet the schedule has enjoyed successes with A Touch of Frost, Catherine Cookson and Taggart continuing to deliver audiences over 12 million Coronation Street continues to beat EastEnders hands down And Emmerdale is back in the Top 10.

Last month, BBC 1 and ITV had the same audience share, 33.6 per cent - the first time this had happened other than at Christmas in almost four years. This year has seen the launch of a number of high-profile shows lambasted by critics. Whether you believe him or the whisperers, one thing is for sure: expectations for the autumn schedule announced yesterday have never been higher. Official viewing figures show a steady decline in ITV's share - from 39.5 per cent in the first three months of 1994, to 38 per cent in the same period a year later, to 36.5 per cent this year. All terrestrial channels are suffering audience loss as cable and satellite viewing grows, but BBC 1 is resisting this competition with more success than ITV. Yet ITV's network director, Marcus Plantin, who is responsible for a pounds 600m programme budget, insists that ITV is "buoyant, and doing well". Stronger than ever, or down in the doldrums? Opinion is divided about whether after its recent ratings performance ITV deserves applause or the last rites.