BBC bosses have moved the Scottish version of Question Time to a 'graveyard slot' after viewing figures plummeted.
Debate Night will be changed to 10pm on a Sunday from its slot at 10.45pm on a Wednesday.
It was revealed this week that figures fell from around 16,000 on its debut in February to around 3,000 just one month later.
Read more: Viewing figures revealed for new BBC Scotland channel
The move will now see the debate show, which is hosted by Stephen Jardine, up against Match of the Day and News at 10.
Why is there no #bbcdn tonight? We're back after our Easter break in a new slot on the @BBCScotland channel. So please join us this Sunday from 10pm. https://t.co/aF7H6TG7Bg pic.twitter.com/rzAzYLCdKJ
— BBC Debate Night (@bbcdebatenight) 24 April 2019
Professor Tim Luck, a former BBC editor, told the Daily Mail that it was clearly not "a vote of confidence" in the show by BBC bosses.
He said: "If Debate Night is not yet in the graveyard, it is in intensive care – the competition from sport, entertainment and straight news on other channels is formidable on Sunday evenings.
"Indeed, the most successful Sunday current affairs shows, such as BBC One's Andrew Marr Show and Sky's Sophy Ridge, tend to be scheduled in the morning. Granted, to do that, they would have to call it Debate Day or Morning Debate, but a change of title might be a small price to pay for sufficient viewers to justify the expense."
Read more: Jackie Bird leaves BBC Reporting Scotland after 30 years
A BBC Scotland spokeperson defended the decision to change time slots, and said the show continues to receive positive feedback.
They said: "The switch to Sunday means Debate Night now has an earlier time slot.
"It continues to receive positive feedback from viewers who value the programme as a forum in which audience members have a say in the big issues and the opportunity to challenge politicians and policy makers."
This article first appeared in our sister paper The National.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel