Chiles's Sultan of Solihull act is not enough to draw women viewers

It may just be, as some critics say, the Curse of ITV come back to haunt Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley as their early-morning trysts on Daybreak run behind poor old jettisoned GMTV on the ratings front . Can so many big transfer salaries and studio makeovers have ever been spent to so little effect? But pause before pulling the curtains on Daybreak too fast. These are early days – and what's wrong is clear enough to put right pretty fast. The core audience for the GMTV/Daybreak slot is mums getting the kids off to school. In short, women viewers. But Chiles sits there like the Sultan of Solihull surrounded by beautiful women: Chrissie two inches along the sofa; fragrant newsreaders, reporters, weather forecasters – and leftover Kate (Garroway) from GMTV . Eye candy quotient for men: 10 out of 10. Sex appeal rating for housebound mums: zero. It isn't a show you can watch together, like cuddly Bill (Turnbull) and sparky Sian (Williams) over on BBC1. The formula defines the audience, and automatically diminishes it.