3rd July 2011 BBC bosses have become increasingly concerned about flagship news programme Newsnight after discovering that it can be watched by as few as 166,000 people. Figures obtained by The Mail on Sunday reveal the BBC2 show's overnight ratings have dropped to the lowest level in its 31-year history. The Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) says the average audience is now around 450,000 viewers - roughly half what it was a decade ago - with some editions regularly struggling to breach the 200,000 mark. Official industry 'snapshot' figures show that one broadcast, on May 19, had only 166,000 viewers. Ratings dip: Viewing figures for Newsnight have dropped to the lowest level in its history. The BBC programme has four presenters including Kirsty Wark (pictured) Newsnight's ratings are part of wider concerns about the direction the programme is taking. There are worries it has moved away from its serious image, with Tory MP Douglas Carswell recently dubbing it 'Newslight' - and there has even been a suggestion that it may cut back to fewer editions each week. Last month its best-known presenter, Jeremy Paxman, chaired a discussion on female grooming which caused him to be gently mocked both within and outside the BBC. Sources say the show is under considerable pressure, with staff leaving, fewer film packages being made, and its £8 million-a-year budget facing cuts of up to 20 per cent. The role of editor Peter Rippon, a former editor of the PM programme on Radio 4, has also been called into question. A senior Newsnight source said: 'On all staffing levels there is a complete lack of confidence in Peter Rippon. He is seen as a David Brent figure. Having worked in radio most of his career, he has never got to grips with television or provided a coherent editorial direction for the programme.' Another employee said: 'Newsnight is in a pretty terrible state at the moment. Compulsory redundancies in news and current affairs are going to start very soon, so more people are likely to leave.' A third insider added: 'There has been a change of direction. The set has changed and the style has changed. The programme has broadened. But news broadcasting has undergone a serious transformation recently and a lot of it has to do with 24-hour rolling news. 'The view is that Newsnight's terrain will be much more focused on analysis and less on reporting.' Ratings slump: Jeremy Paxman is the news programme's best known presenter and has a contract worth around £1 million per year The source added that despite some anxieties being felt recently 'across the programme', it was too early to say if Newsnight would be cut back to fewer editions each week. 'We received a significant boost recently when new BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten told us that he is a great fan of Newsnight, particularly our foreign coverage.' There has been continued speculation that replacing one of the programme's four presenters may inject new life into it. Mr Paxman, who has worked on Newsnight since 1989 and has a contract worth around £1 million per year, is not thought to be on the danger list. According to the BARB ratings, his grumpy image remains most popular with viewers. One edition he hosted in June pulled in an audience of 986,000. The programme's other presenters are Kirsty Wark, Emily Maitlis and Gavin Esler. A BARB source said: 'The figures suggest that when Question Time is on BBC1 on Thursdays, Newsnight's audience suffers considerably. That's where we get the 166,000 figure. The average overnight viewing figures hover around the 450,000 to 500,000 mark, but there are sometimes highs of 900,000.' A BBC spokesman said its research showed an average Newsnight audience this year of 664,000, and that the audience on May 19 was just more than a quarter of a million. The BARB figures, he said, were based on overnight figures of those viewers who watched it live and online and were not so accurate because they did not include those who had recorded the show to watch it at a later date. He said: 'On Thursday, May 19, the audience was 257,000 when it was up against a special edition of Question Time broadcast from a prison. 'The changes in technology and choice sweeping the broadcasting industry have meant audiences for many long-established television programmes have been affected. 'Peter Rippon is one of our most popular and respected editors.'BBC's fears for Newsnight as viewers hit all-time low
Sunday, 3 July 2011
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