2 weeks ago
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Match of the Day has seen a drop in viewership by more than 10 percent since Gary Lineker's departure from the BBC.
The former Everton and Tottenham striker bid adieu to the British broadcaster at the end of the previous season. Lineker, who had been the face of Match of the Day and the BBC's Premier League coverage for more than two decades, left his role in May.
Although the 64-year-old was slated to stay with the BBC and host the network's coverage of the FIFA World Cup in 2026, an agreement was reached for him to exit earlier than planned without a payoff. His departure from the BBC came following a controversial social media post, which proved to be the last straw for the broadcaster. Lineker apologized for his actions.
The BBC had previously refrained from firing him despite his repeated testing of their social media guidelines.
Mark Chapman, Gabby Logan, and Kelly Cates have stepped in to fill Lineker's shoes, forming a rotating roster for the 2025-26 season and beyond, with Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney joining them as a new pundit.
Since the commencement of the new Premier League season two months ago, the BBC's flagship soccer programme has seen its viewership fall from 2.68 million to 2.39 million, according to The Telegraph.
This represents a decrease of 10 percent from the previous season, although it's suggested that some viewers have migrated to the broadcaster's new online highlights on BBC iPlayer.
This season, the BBC has also begun posting Premier League highlights on its own website more than two hours before Match of the Day is broadcast, potentially risking a further reduction in audience numbers.
Corporation insiders revealed to the report that the clips have racked up an average of 1.7M views weekly. These alterations came into effect following Alex Kay-Jelski's appointment as director of sport last year.
Match of the Day's viewing figures had been declining even prior to Lineker's exit as its most enduring presenter.
Throughout his final season, the August to October window saw numbers drop by more than eight percent compared to the 2.92m audience recorded during the same timeframe in 2023.
The decline that Match of the Day has seen mirrors a wider trend of falling television viewership. This season, the programme has captured an average of 34.8 percent of those watching television, an increase on the equivalent period for the preceding two years.
The BBC stated: "We don't judge success based on overnight ratings in an on-demand world. A significant portion of the Match of the Day audience now watches on BBC iPlayer, the UK's fastest-growing streaming video-on-demand platform. This isn't a decline. It's adapting to changing audience behaviors, as we all should be. Match of the Day is reaching more people across multi-platforms."
The BBC dismissed the significance of Match of the Day's falling television figures, emphasising that a substantial proportion of the show's viewership now consumes it via iPlayer.
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