Football Focus is in peril due to plunging viewing figures ahead of its 50th anniversary with the show struggling to recover since Dan Walker was replaced by Alex Scott, according to an expert who spoke to the Mail.
The 49-year-old programme has lost more than one third of its early-season audience in the space of four years, with the average weekly viewing figures for August falling from 849,000 in 2019 to just 564,000 last month.
The most dramatic fall in viewing figures coincides with Alex Scott replacing Dan Walker as Focus’s main presenter in 2021.
In Walker’s last season before he was moved on the average weekly August audience was 827,000, before dropping to 809,000 in 2021, 599,000 12 months later and 564,000 this year.
Scott is not being blamed by her bosses, though, and remains highly regarded at the BBC, who are set to give the former England defender a prominent presenting role at next summer’s Olympics.
Brand and culture expert Nick Ede told MailOnline that the departure of Dan Walker was a huge blow to the Beeb, with new host Alex Scott struggling to stem that tide of viewers who left with him. …
The future of Football Focus is the subject of urgent talks at the BBC due to a dramatic drop in viewing figures.
Could it have anything to do with the diversity hire replacing the white bloke? Of course not. And if it is (which it isn’t) then it just shows how deplorable the audience is, who must be duly ignored.
Worth reading in full.
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