Saturday Kitchen loses 1 million viewers following departure of host James Martin

The BBC have hit back at claims of lost viewers, saying audience share is 'relatively stable'
Ratings down: Saturday Kitchen has lost viewers since James Martin's departure as host
BBC/Cactus TV
Ben Travis13 June 2016

Top Gear isn’t the only BBC series to undergo a change in presenters this year – and it’s also not the only one to be suffering for it.

Weekly breakfast show Saturday Kitchen has seen a significant drop in viewing figures from presenter James Martin's final show in March to the most recent episode.

The host, who had helmed the show for ten years, stepped down from his role on March 26 with an episode that saw 2.4 million viewers tune in.

Following his departure, the show has had a variety of guest presenters take over, from Michel Roux Jr to John Torode and the Hairy Bikers.

The latest episode, presented by Donal Skehan, received just 1.4 million viewers – a drop of a million from Martin’s final show.

Speaking to The Sun, a source said: “Viewers loved James and the show is really struggling without him.

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“People don’t like change and without a regular presenter fans are beginning to lose interest. The guest chefs aren’t working as well as bosses had hoped.

“It’s not looking good as the ratings are only going down. However Donal’s debut on Saturday seemed to go down well. But the BBC are going to need to do more to win fans back.”

However, a response from the BBC claims that the average audience ratings have remained 'stable' - with Martin's farewell show pulling in a higher number of viewers than usual.

A BBC statement reads: "When compared to the same period last year, the average audience has remained relatively stable – currently 1.4m (21 per cent share) compared to 1.5m (22 per cent share) last year. Audiences for the recent shows have been as high as 1.7m."

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