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The future of iconic BBC show Football Focus is in doubt following a massive plunge in audience.
Football Focus, which has been a standalone show in 2001, first aired as part of Grandstand in 1974, making it one of the UK’s longest-running programmes. However, sinking ratings have reportedly led to crisis talks at the BBC.
According to the Daily Mail, Football Focus has lost a third of its August audience over the last four years, falling from 849,000 in 2019 to just 564,000 last month. The report says the show is not under immediate threat of the axe.
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However, halting its decline in popularity is said to be a priority for the BBC’s next director of sport, with current boss Barbara Slater retiring next year. Football Focus will celebrate its Golden anniversary next year, when it will have been on the air for 50 years, a landmark which could trigger a major revamp.
The show is currently hosted by former England women’s international Alex Scott, who took over from Dan Walker in 2021. She is reportedly not being blamed for the programme’s struggles. Scott is highly thought of at the BBC and will have a major presenting role at next year’s Olympics in Paris.
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Former presenters of Football Focus include Gary Lineker and Manish Bhasin. Mark Lawrenson, a regular pundit on the show before being let go last year, reckons Football Focus is struggling due to the huge number of options viewers have available to them.
He told the Mail: “It has served its time. It’s a football magazine show, but there are so many other options for viewers these days and so much competition.
“It [the crash in ratings] doesn’t surprise me. Football Focus is coming up to 50 years, which is an unbelievable run, although there was no competition 50 years ago.”
Meanwhile, a BBC spokesman told the Mail: "Football Focus continues to herald the start of a whole weekend of sporting coverage across BBC Sport. Week-on-week it is the most watched programme during that time slot and iPlayer viewing figures are also strong, so we know its popularity is enduring for fans."
- BBC
- Alex Scott
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