ITV has reportedly decided to make cost cuts across its four flagship daytime shows - Good Morning Britain, Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women.
The long-established programming block airs every weekday on ITV1 from 6am through to 1.30pm, accounting for more than a quarter of the channel's entire schedule across the week.
According to The Sun, ITV daytime head Emma Gormley held "town hall" meetings with staff last week to announce the changes, allegedly showing the audience a graph which demonstrated a decline in ratings.
Among the supposed measures being taken are a pay freeze for all staff, a reduction in the number of freelance workers, a switch to three-month contracts instead of longer-term deals and cancellation of the team's annual summer party.
A source told the newspaper: "ITV is really tightening their belt. There have been concerns for months at the top but now that it's trickled down to the shop floor it feels very depressing.
"A lot of staff are being put on three-month contracts... there are pay freezes in place. On screen they are keeping costs down by not trialling new talent on regular segments.
"There is hope that the viewing figures pick up again as the UK election campaigns kick in again. But it feels particularly difficult to stomach after they splashed out on the re-launch of This Morning."
An ITV spokesperson said: "Town hall meetings happen frequently for teams to keep up to date, and have a chance to have questions answered.
"The latest celebrated the success of Lorraine Kelly receiving a Bafta Special Recognition Award and the two Bafta nominations for Daytime. It was also a transparent portrayal of what is happening across the industry."
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