You are right, that there has been a shift from lunchtime and early afternoon departures to late afternoon which may well widen the appeal. However, last summer there was a early morning Saturday rotation which made weekend trips in both directions attractive and this has disappeared.
History shows that the market is from IOM to NW England, not specifically to LPL or MAN, and traffic is fluid between LPL/MAN/BLK, by sea or air, dependent upon the costs. However growing overall numbers and creating an environment where all carriers can flourish in the medium term is much more difficult.
It will be very interesting to see how often EZY's up coming double daily rotations end up being merged.....................