Entertainment

Struggling BBC news show The Nine seeking new senior exec amid 'troubling' viewer figures


The BBC Scotland channel’s under-fire news show has advertised for a ­replacement senior executive just two months after the first ­episode aired.

We told last week how The Nine, first broadcast on February 25, has seen viewing figures slump to “deeply troubling” levels.

The Beeb advertised this month for the post of assistant editor.

The candidate is expected to ­“deputise for the editor when required and represent the Nine at senior level across the BBC”.

The £32million ­Scottish channel started broadcasting in February, with The Nine unveiled in a blaze of ­publicity with anchors Rebecca ­Curran and Martin Geissler.

The presenting team on The Nine – on the new BBC Scotland channel

Viewing figures this month ranged from a high of 56,000 on ­Thursday to just 8980 on the first day of the Clutha disaster inquiry on April 8.

The news show’s average ­audience last week, taking in five e­pisodes until last Thursday, was 31,460 – an ­audience share of 0.18 per cent.

Meanwhile, the channel’s quiz show WonderBall, has recorded figures as low as 2760. The programme, hosted by ­newsreader Catriona Shearer, had audience numbers of 14,000 on its launch on March 11.

Last week’s average for episodes on Tuesday and Wednesday was 9800, down from the previous week’s ­average of 11,630.

We told last week how former BBC producer and editor Tim ­Luckhurst, now a journalism ­professor, described the channel’s figures as “deeply troubling”.

Viewers on Catriona Shearer’s quiz show WonderBall have hit as low as 2760

 

He said: “To be spending this money on this channel and these shows at a time when network television and radio are struggling for money is a grave injustice to licence-payers.

“There was never any evidence of audience demand for this new ­channel. It’s diverting scarce resources into a bottomless pit.” The figures were compiled by Overnights.tv, which measures viewer numbers using Broadcasters’ ­Audience Research Board data.

A BBC spokesman said the assistant editor job advert was for “a 12-month contract to cover maternity leave”.

He added: “Across the first four weeks, the channel had a share of 3.5 per cent during its core transmission hours from 7pm to midnight.

“The channel has also reached more than one in four of all audiences in Scotland per week during its first month, putting it ahead of all other digital channels outwith the top five.

“The feedback we’ve had so far has been very positive.”

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