The Seven, a 15-minute news programme, only pulled in 200 viewers last Sunday.While the station's hour-long news show The Nine reached just 1,700 people.It's reported as many as 80 journalism jobs were created for the show which pulled in 750,000 viewers for its 2019 launch.Former BBC editor and academic Professor Tim Luckhurst told the Times: “The viewing figures for The Seven and The Nine are atrocious.“Indeed, BBC Scotland appears to be spending licence fees on output that achieves a statistically insignificant reach. It should stop."The pursuit of non-existent viewers is a deplorable waste of money.”Figures also suggest the broadcaster's evening news show Reporting Scotland has also been struggling.A Beeb spokesman said: “Against a background of declining audiences for all linear channels in recent years, the BBC in Scotland continues to provide market-leading services.“The BBC Scotland channel continues to reach more viewers than any other digital channel in Scotland — its weekly reach in 2023 was 13.5 per cent or 701,000.“The channel was launched as a multi-platform service, and we have seen considerable growth in iPlayer viewing of BBC Scotland content."It has risen from 1.6 million weekly requests to 2.4 million, a growth rate of 45 per cent year on year."During 2023, Reporting Scotland’s bulletins had a weekly TV reach of 1,575,000 — which is ahead of other commercial news providers in the country.“The Nine had a weekly reach of 106,000 between January and November 2023 and its journalism extends beyond the nightly show into other parts of our news output."And consumption of BBC news on digital platforms by Scottish audiences continues to grow. BBC Scotland news online has 5.6 million unique visitors each week, a year on year rise of 18 per cent.”
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