ITV's Shaps admits to making "similar" shows

ITV's director of television Simon Shaps has conceded that some of the network's series have been "inspired" by shows from rival broadcasters.

In a controller session at the Edinburgh TV Festival, Shaps was confronted with a list of ITV programmes that had been accused of being "copycat" formats, including Tycoon, Dancing On Ice and Grease Is The Word.

"Some of those, we'd put our hands up to," he said. "In the presentation of the show, they were similar to things we'd seen before."

Defending the practice, he added: "If we say that the only things a channel can commission are totally original productions, then I think we have a problem. There are bound to be shows that mine similar territory and I make no apologies for that."

However Shaps dismissed suggestions that Britain's Favourite View had been inspired by BBC Two's hugely successful Coast, saying: "Coast is about coasts. View is about views."