New faces - new programmes?

It's astonishing, really, that its taken so long for the two major commercial terrestrial networks to resolve their leadership questions.   Its been an age – first for Channel 4 then for ITV, to come to a conclusion.  But here we are – David Abraham at Channel 4, Adam Crozier at ITV.
What will it mean in terms of ratings?   The question is probably more easily answered for ITV because we now know it has rediscovered its entertainment credentials – it’s the X Factor channel.   Admittedly there are some pressing underlying questions – most immediately about the future of regional news. And perhaps questions might be asked about some recent entertainment and factual shows, especially if the new chief asks the network to up its game in terms of volume in all genres.   But nonetheless we know what ITV1 is all about as a channel – it’s the future of the business itself that most needs Crozier’s attention.
Channel 4 is in a different position – we know the future of its business does not involve asking for public funds, but its not very clear what the future holds in programming terms, beyond the end of Big Brother.   Some commentators have had fun celebrating the ratings performance of Celebrity Big Brother – it had 3.2million last night as it nears its conclusion, but until a post-BB strategy emerges, there’s a sense of a channel in the waiting room.
This is highlighted perhaps by the two genres this week.  In documentaries,  last night’s follow-on programme after Celebrity BB last night was The Girl With Eight Limbs Grows Up,  a Bodyshock special, which had an audience of  1.4 million at 10pm.  It was a follow-up documentary about Lakshmi Tatma, the girl who was born with eight limbs, a year after she underwent a life-saving operation to remove her half-formed conjoined twin's arms and legs. 
Meanwhile Skins is back on E4 with an audience of.  Much-loved by teenagers, now in its fourth series, with 930,000 viewers.  And Shameless was back on Tuesday with 3.4 million/7% share.  These are strong figures for both programmes, but creatively they are very much part of Channel 4’s furniture.     David Abraham is known for the audacious rebranding of channels like Dave, and I’d be surprised he doesn’t sense a big opportunity for Channel 4 once it rediscovers its capacity to innovate.