Cost-cutting BBC axes the Victoria Derbyshire show
Award-winner that had just 250,000 viewers
THE BBC has axed Victoria Derbyshire’s BBC2 show after five years in a bid to save cash, it emerged last night.
Corporation chiefs are taking the award-winning show off air because it is thought its ratings do not justify the expense.
The move is part of a reported £80million cost- cutting drive across its news operations over four years.
But viewers last night reacted angrily to the news that the programme, known for its original news stories and interviews, will disappear, branding the decision ‘awful’ and ‘nonsense’.
Louisa Compton, who edited the show when it was first launched, said on Twitter: ‘An organisation that values original journalism and underserved audiences should not be doing this. It’s madness.’
Piers Morgan, the Good Morning Britain presenter, added: ‘Very strange decision. It is an excellent programme. Surely the BBC isn’t now finding the cash to pay for its gender pay fiasco by cancelling
‘Very strange decision’
other women’s shows?’ The show, which also airs on the BBC News channel every weekday between 10 and 11, had already been slashed back from two hours to one to save costs.
It was credited, especially online, with bringing in viewers the corporation finds hard to attract – like the less well-off. But this week, according to available figures, it averaged fewer than 250,000 viewers.
Next week the broadcaster is set to lay out its broader plans for its news service. Radio 4’s World At One is also facing cuts as the broadcaster seeks to divert more resources to online news.
The cutbacks come just days after the BBC’s director- general, Tony Hall, announced he is stepping down.
Last night Labour’s culture spokesman Tracy Brabin said she would be ‘looking into’ why the show was being taken off air. ‘Rigorous campaigning and commitment to public having their say made it pretty unique in daytime TV. Victoria herself was sharp and approachable with a personal journey that made her relatable.’
Broadcast journalist Adam Pearson said: ‘Really? Bargain Hunt – Yes, Victoria Derbyshire – No?’
He added: ‘This was one of the very few mainstays of the BBC that came anywhere near close to meeting its disability remit. This is a crying shame/mistake.’
Others were concerned at a time when the BBC faces serious questions about female pay it is removing a prominent news show fronted by a woman.
Miss Derbyshire, 51, was a presenter on Radio 5 Live for 16 years, airing her final broadcast on 5 September 2014.
The following year she made her debut fronting her eponymous current affairs and debate show after proposing a version of her radio show to former BBC News boss James Harding.
The programme won a BAFTA TV Award in 2017 for its coverage of former footballers who had been sexually abused. Miss Derbyshire also won a Network Presenter of the Year and Interview of the Year for the story at the 2018 Royal Television Society Awards.
Miss Derbyshire announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer in August 2015 – just four months after her current affairs show was first broadcast.
Announcing the news on Twitter, she revealed that she had been diagnosed with the disease two months previously and said she would continue to present the show in between treatments.
She underwent a mastectomy and had a number of rounds of chemotherapy over the course of the following year, during which time relief presenters including Naga Munchetty and Jane Hill occasionally filled in on the show.
In a bid to ‘demystify’ her battle with the disease, she released a series of video diaries detailing her treatment course and its effects on her physical and mental wellbeing.