Some bad news for Dan Walker’s next bulletin – viewers failed to follow him to Channel 5.
He quit BBC Breakfast for the 5pm News at 5 show in a reported £1.5million deal, and then boasted about ratings. But Walker attracts 230,000 viewers – the same as previous host Sian Williams.
After his first outing on June 6, Walker, 45, tweeted: “Lots of talk about figures last night… we are happy with ours, audience was up over 70%.”
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But that was the day of the confidence vote against PM Boris Johnson, when all TV news shows had bumper numbers.
After his debut of 390,000 viewers for the hour-long bulletin, the total almost halved to 203,000, and one night hit 189,000 before settling at 230,000.
Meanwhile ratings for BBC Breakfast have remained solid since his exit, and hit a peak of 1.5 million last weekend.
Walker’s move will mean he presents several shows.
He said of his decision to join the channel: “I love their ideas and it’s rare to get an opportunity like this where paths and ambitions meet.”
But he also admitted being “embarrassed” by his pay, and that as a child “all my clothes were hand-me-downs”.
He added: “When people are struggling to put food on the table, it’s horrible to have your salary on the front page.”
Channel 5 said it did not “comment on ratings for individual programmes”.
