4.49pm: We start with a clipreel of ITV's most successful shows from the last year.
4.52pm: "Going back a year, ITV had a big cloud hanging over its head with leadership. It was quite debilitating. But this year Archie and Adam joined and we're at the beginning of a new era. They come from outside television, which is refreshing. They have a very clear sense of where we're going."
4.53pm: "For a period of a year, maybe more, we were in this 'who's it going to be? When is soandso going to leave?' It was very public, in the press every week. That's not good for a company. You need to know senior people are settled in their positions and have a long-term outlook."
4.54pm: Wark asks if it's Fincham's real voice or if it's autotuned. "In terms of The X Factor, it's perfectly straightforward as the broadcaster. We expect the producers to deliver it in a way that the performances of the contestants faithfully represent what they do. Do we expect them to go in postproduction? Of course."
4.56pm: "Do I expect them to change the pitch of people's voices? No I don't and we're absolutely clear that we want the programme to faithfully reflect good performances."
4.57pm: "When these things happen, with a show that's launching to up to 12m, there's a cloud of stuff that's written about."
4.58pm: Was the autotune used to make contestants' voices worse? "No." At any time, was Susan Boyle's voice ever enhanced in post? "No. Well, absolutely not to the best of my knowledge."
4.59pm: Will The X Factor be replaced? "There is indeed an issue of rights. If you're investing millions in programming, it's ITV airtime and ITV money that pays for it, I don't think it's unreasonable for us to believe that if there is secondary value, some of that should come our way. That is quite simple common sense. Certainly going forward I think that's something we'll take a fairly strong position on."
5.00pm: "This is business between businesses, and in some cases, the larger indies are part of larger groups that are bigger than ITV. No embarrassment about this, we are a commercial company and we're looking for a return on our investment."
5.01pm: "We absolutely like to make programmes with colleagues in ITV Studios. There's no question that a format developed by [them] is a good virtuous circle for ITV as a business. That doesn't mean ITV1 won't remain full of programmes from other suppliers."
5.02pm: Voxpops. "Predictable", "family", "too many adverts". Fave shows? X Factor, soaps... someone mentions Crossroads. Some talk about The Bill being axed.
5.06pm: "I'm delighted Kevin Lygo is joining ITV. We go back a long way. We had quite a purple patch ... he's a creative leader and will bring talent to ITV Studios."
5.07pm: On The Bill: "Bringing it to an end was and is a big event and a big decision, not one in any way taken lightly. Because it's run for such a long time, it makes it seem like a very big decision - but if you look at it from the other point of view, it started as a one-off and ran for 27 years. That's a fantastic achievement."
5.10pm: Adrian Chiles, Christine Bleakley, Jonathan Ross.. "There has always been movement of talent between broadcasters. I've never believed the idea of owning talent. We hire talent and provide a platform for talent. ITV is refreshingly uncomplicated. We want it to be a platform for talent."
5.13pm: As for Jonathan Ross, "Obviously we know what Jonathan does and he's brilliant at doing it. Whether what he does is largely different or not... we've got a year to think about it."
5.15pm: "ITV1's peaktime share is greater than the combined share of the 353 digital channels. Could BBC One and ITV1 compete with each other, yes, but perhaps work together more co-operatively to serve the common audience? It's an interesting thesis."
5.16pm: Fincham announces a new five-part series called In Justice, another called The Jury and one from Sally Wainwright.
5.20pm: Documentaries on ITV1 - should they be celeb-led? "I'm starting a strand next year called Perspectives, which will be individual documentaries and films from the perspective of the author or the person who presents the programme."
5.22pm: "I'm seeking to increase the amount of comedy on ITV1. In the modern age it's a tough launch on the terrestrials - it's moved to the BBC Threes, E4s and so on."
5.23pm: More arts? "Within Perspectives, there will be documentaries with an arts theme. I don't think there is a return on ITV1 to the world of The South Bank Show."
5.24pm: Audience questions. Did he see X Factor before it aired and was he aware of autotuning? He watched it as it went on air. "We broadcast The X Factor, we have a clear understanding from the producer on what we expect. I don't think here, in this forum, is the right place to get into the finer details of the technicalities of the edit."
5.25pm: "I did not see it go out before it went on air. There's nothing unusual about that. We have commissioning teams within ITV to do that." Has he told the producers not to use autotuning? "I haven't issued instructions to the producers. I have had discussions with the producers this week about how they produce the show."
5.26pm: Will ITV ever produce a drama that's a serious threat to Doctor Who? "We have a new series of Primeval next year, which we're very proud of. Broadly speaking, our drama commissioning policy is focused on 9pm."
5.28pm: Clipreel of upcoming
5.32pm: How long will ITV continue to show Dickinson's Real Deal on Fridays primetime? "It's a show we're very proud of in daytime, which we've made in peaktime in cut-down form. We'll carry on doing it as long as we think it's a good thing to do."
5.33pm: Someone from The Mirror asks again about The X Factor, pissing off Kirsty Wark and the audience in turn.
5.34pm: A Japanese journalist is angry about The Bill's axe. Was the switch to 9pm a masterplan to kill it off? "I think there's a wider story there, which is that ITV for many years had three tiers of drama, soaps in the early evening, 8pm dramas and then 9pm dramas. The way that schedules evolved, the 8pm dramas have to a degree have been squeezed out. We had a lot of football rights, playing out on Wednesday. There's an issue there about the evolution of the schedule that is wider than The Bill."
5.40pm: Should Sky pay transmission fees for ITV's channels? "We're not going to complain if they do. I don't know. This is a fresh idea - we'll have to see if this proposal takes root and gains traction."
5.42pm: "I think one of our strongest traditions in the UK is of variety. Some of our greatest shows - sitcom for example - are 12 episodes and gone. One of the reasons the UK is a fertile territory for new formats is we have a strong tradition of trying new things each season. The rest of the world benefits from that, to some extent."
5.44pm: Ratings showdown with Strictly: "That's speculation that they'll go against us. I think that there was a time when we were the only two channels. now there are nearly 400 but we are the two that are investing the most in original content and so I would hope there was a way we can do that. In a way we've done it for years, by some unwritten agreement, that Corrie and EastEnders don't play against each other. We want our programmes to reach the maximum audiences. I'm sure BBC One want the same things. We are the only members of a very small club."
5.46pm: That's a wrap on this session. Join us shortly for live coverage of the Channel of the Year Awards!
