{"id":289678,"date":"2023-09-23T09:36:09","date_gmt":"2023-09-23T09:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=289678"},"modified":"2023-09-23T09:36:09","modified_gmt":"2023-09-23T09:36:09","slug":"ex-football-focus-presenter-walker-offers-his-support-for-bbc-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/ex-football-focus-presenter-walker-offers-his-support-for-bbc-show\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex- Football Focus presenter Walker offers his support for BBC show"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Former Football Focus presenter Dan Walker offers his support for the ailing BBC show amid fears it will be AXED after slump in viewing figures<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Mail Sport revealed this week the show has lost over one-third of its viewers<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Alex Scott took over from Dan Walker as the main host back in 2021\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Mail Sport&#8217;s new WhatsApp Channel: Get the breaking news and exclusives here\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Former Football Focus presenter Dan Walker says it&#8217;s &#8216;hard&#8217; to see the iconic BBC show struggling amid a dramatic slump in audience figures that could see it axed.<\/p>\n<p>Walker fronted the Saturday lunchtime BBC One show between 2009 and 2021, before Alex Scott took over.<\/p>\n<p>As revealed by Mail Sport this week, the 49-year-old programme has lost more than one third of its early-season viewers in the space of four years.<\/p>\n<p>While Football Focus isn&#8217;t thought to be under immediate threat of disappearing from Saturday schedules, reversing that decline will be a priority for the corporation&#8217;s new director of sport once Barbara Slater retires next spring.<\/p>\n<p>Walker, who followed in the footsteps of presenters Sam Leitch, Bob Wilson, Steve Rider, Gary Lineker, Ray Stubbs and Manish Bhasin in 2009, expressed his regret over the sad situation.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/23\/09\/41492092-12552033-Dan_Walker_spent_12_years_as_the_show_s_presenter_before_steppin-a-2_1695456759812.jpg\" height=\"486\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Former Football Focus presenter Dan Walker has expressed his sadness at the iconic BBC show&#8217;s slump in viewing figures over recent years\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/23\/09\/75702969-12552033-BBC_programme_Football_Focus_which_is_hosted_by_Alex_Scott_could-a-3_1695456795703.jpg\" height=\"463\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The show has continued to decline since Alex Scott took over from Walker in 2021\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/23\/09\/75754353-12552033-image-a-4_1695456824476.jpg\" height=\"259\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Walker said on X that he feels &#8216;sad&#8217; about the show&#8217;s decline and hopes it remains on the air<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>He wrote on X: &#8216;It&#8217;s hard to see Football Focus struggling. I loved it growing up and it was an honour to present it and I still miss it.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;We poured everything into that show every week and worked hard to keep it relevant. I hope it stays part of the TV landscape.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>The weekly average viewing figures for August fell from 849,000 in 2019 to just 564,000 last month.<\/p>\n<p>The most dramatic fall coincides with Scott replacing Walker as the main presenter in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>In Walker&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<p>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&#8217;s Olympics.<\/p>\n<p>Football Focus formed part of Grandstand for 27 years before becoming a standalone programme in 2002.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/23\/09\/75706275-12552033-Des_Lynam_left_listens_in_while_Bob_Wilson_and_Jimmy_Hill_lead_F-a-20_1695457002126.jpg\" height=\"435\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Des Lynam (left) listens in while Bob Wilson and Jimmy Hill lead Football Focus back in 1979<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/23\/09\/75707327-12552033-image-a-21_1695457006003.jpg\" height=\"429\" width=\"306\"><\/p>\n<p>Mark Lawrenson, who appeared on the programme for 25 years before being let go last year, told Mail Sport: &#8216;It has served its time. It&#8217;s a football magazine show, but there are so many other options for viewers these days and so much competition.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;It doesn&#8217;t surprise me. Football Focus is coming up to 50 years, which is an unbelievable run, although there was no competition 50 years ago.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>BBC sources insisted the decline in viewing figures mirrored those experienced by all linear channels in recent years.<\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson told Mail Sport: &#8216;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.&#8217;<\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12552033\/Former-Football-Focus-presenter-Dan-Walker-offers-support-ailing-BBC-amid-fears-AXED-slump-viewing-figures.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Former Football Focus presenter Dan Walker offers his support for the ailing BBC show amid fears it will be AXED after slump in viewing figures <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/ex-football-focus-presenter-walker-offers-his-support-for-bbc-show\/\" title=\"Ex- Football Focus presenter Walker offers his support for BBC show\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":289677,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - 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