FROM VLAD TO WORSE
Former SNP leader’s show on Russian TV drops out of top 10 after two weeks
Alex Salmond’s new politics show has been dealt another blow by dropping out of the top 10 most-watched programmes on a Russian propaganda TV station.
The Sunday Mail last week revealed how the former SNP leader’s first show on Kremlin mouthpiece RT at tracted ju st 16,000 viewers in Britain.
Despite the low audience figure, the former First Minister’s show was still the mos t - watched RT programme in the country.
However, the second week of the Alex Salmond Show is nowhere to be seen in the channel’s 10 most- watched programmes list.
News satire Redacted Tonight, talk show Renegade Inc and The Great American Pilgrimage, featuring US actor Stephen Baldwin, all beat Salmond’s show in the ratings. According to f igures from the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board, they attracted between 18,000 and 22,000 viewers. Salmond managed to secure an interview with Catalonian president Carles Puigdemont for his f irst episode and racing legend Sir Jackie Stewart for his second. But on his third and fourth shows, he was forced to rely on SNP col leagues Kenny MacAskill and Angus MacNeil to fill the guest spots.
Scottish Lib Dems leader Willie Rennie said: “Alex Salmond’s TV enterprise is turning into a f lop. RT will soon be questioning whether they’re getting value for money. “With stars of the magnitude of AnguAngus MacNeil and KeKenny MacAskill, eveven Vladimir Putin wiwill conclude it wasn’t woworth a rouble.”
RRT have been accused of attempting to inf luence the outcome of last year’s US presidential election
But Salmond, who lost his Westminster seat in June along with show producer Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, has insisted he has full editorial control.
He declined to comment yesterday. Last week, Salmond claimed his show “airs globally on RT, which broadcasts to more than 100 countries” and has a “potential weekly audience of 70million”.
His spokesman said his production team were “really pleased with such a strong start to the Alex Salmond Show”.