Perhaps it is unfair to single out one evening’s schedule: every channel has the odd off-night, and even ITV in its golden days had times when it showed nothing whatever of interest. But whereas the old ITV would also broadcast programmes of extremely high quality, today’s ITV never seems to do so. A flick through the week’s, or the month’s, or even the year’s rack of programmes being offered by ITV does not suggest that this sample provides a misleading view of the kind of material the network now offers. There are no redeeming nuggets: ITV has not shown anything of distinction or even much merit which it has produced itself for years.

When Granada TV, the company which merged with Carlton to form ITV Productions, does make something good, it is not shown on ITV. Jimmy McGovern’s drama series The Street, for example, which has won Emmy, Bafta and many other awards, was rejected by ITV executives as “unsuitable” for ITV. It was shown on BBC1. So was The Royle Family, which was also made by Granada but not shown on ITV – because ITV’s executives thought it would not find a big enough audience. (It is far more popular than most of the comedies that ITV does show.)

The culprits for ITV’s precipitous decline are many and various. The advertisers are everyone’s favourite villains. But they insist ITV’s slide downmarket is not their fault: they did not want ITV to produce predictable and boring programmes which affluent people do not watch, and they are emphatic that it was not they who took ITV downmarket. They say they far preferred the ITV which produced original, creative and dynamic shows, because they attracted more of the consumers that advertisers will pay large sums to reach.

A comparison with the US suggests that, certainly where drama is concerned, pressure from advertisers cannot, on its own, account for a decline in quality. US commercial TV stations have produced in recent years several memorable drama series, which have been shown in the UK to considerable acclaim from both advertisers and audience, including The West Wing, 24, House and Mad Men. ITV has had Footballers’ Wives and Rock Rivals. It is not the advertisers that have prevented ITV from making anything comparable to The West Wing.