Woolfe: I'm not at Sky to manage decline

Sky One controller Richard Woolfe has vowed to increase the channel's ratings with a new lineup of original commissions.

Interviewed for a session at this weekend's Edinburgh TV Festival, Woolfe said that all of the elements were now in place "to make [Sky One] succeed" and reverse the ratings decline of recent years. In 2001 the channel had a share of 4% but this had dipped to 2% by 2005.

Dawn Airey had previously stated that she did not expect Woolfe to halt that slide, but he has a more confident outlook. "It isn't only about ratings," he said, "but I've not gone to Sky One to manage decline."

He added: "Rome wasn't built in a day. I've got to turn this great bloody oil tanker around."

Among the new shows - unveiled last week at Sky's Autumn launch - are a ten-week celebrity circus series Cirque de Celebrité, a £6 million remake of The Prisoner and a big budget adaptation of Terry Pratchett's Hogfather with David Jason.

Woolfe is also looking for a direct replacement for the soon-to-depart Dream Team, which runs for 32 weeks a year. "We haven't ruled anything out yet," he said.