News at Ten will run for just four nights a week when the bulletin, presented by Sir Trevor McDonald, makes its long-awaited return to IVT1 this month.

The broadcaster unveiled a radical upheaval of its prime-time schedule to incorporate the revival of the famous “bongs” on January 14, promising more drama and entertainment.

Julie Etchingham will co-present News at Ten with Sir Trevor. Mark Austin, the ITV News presenter, will join the rota and host special reports, after receiving a reported £150,000 pay rise.

Sir Trevor will be displaced by Al Murray’s Happy Hour on Friday nights, when a Late News bulletin runs at 11pm. A shorter, late evening bulletin will also run on weekends.

ITV1 has struggled to match the impact of hit BBC One dramas like Spooks. The channel is now free to screen more one-hour dramas at 9pm, beginning with The Palace, a satirical series following the young Royals in a fictional Buckingham Palace.

There will be a greater focus on entertainment on Sunday nights, traditionally the home of drama, with the hit show Dancing on moving from Saturdays.

Weekends will be a soap-free zone, with Coronation Street and Emmerdale moving from Sunday nights to weekday slots, although the overall hours devoted to soap operas will stay the same.

Simon Shaps, ITV Director of Television, said: “The new shape allows greater freedom and flexibility to create new hits within the schedule.”

He promised a “wholesale spring clean for Friday nights with new comedy, drama and feature films to get the weekend started” and “a much fresher look to Sunday evenings with entertainment shaking up the historically drama-led schedule.”

The restructuring of the peak time schedule and the return of News at Ten means also presented “a great opportunity to recapture some lost ground at 9pm.”

Editor's choice

• The 100 Best Films of the Decade
• 70 facts you didn't know about Marvel
• The 50 Biggest Movies Of 2010