[Reith85]

But it does seem it is a bulletin worth dropping to me - 2 million may be the 40% share daily, but most likely that has been dropping for years. A quick news update before 1pm would suit most people and I feel as the 2020s progresses, the lunchtime news on both BBC One and ITV1 will become less and less needed.

With all due respect, I'm struggling to see the logic of this. Yes, audiences are now receiving their news in different ways and they can watch BBC News on the News channel, but the fact remains that Breakfast, the News at 1, 6 and 10 are tentpole, flagship news programmes on BBC One - and, as recent ratings data suggests, on weak schedule days for BBC One, they are often BBC One's highest rated programmes. Why would they dispense with them?

Pretty much all programmes - news or otherwise - are seeing declines in their ratings. But in terms of the BBC News at One on BBC One, it's actually remained pretty consistent over the last few years at 2m+ / 40% share +. That is a remarkable achievement. As I said, between 6am - 5pm, it's regularly the highest rated programme on ANY channel, not just BBC One. And 2m+ is not a peak for a few minutes either: it's the average for 1 - 1:45pm on BBC One. The only other programme that comes close to 2m average is Bargain Hunt before it. Otherwise, take last Monday as a typical example: all programmes on ITV before 4pm were below 1m average. On BBC One, programmes hover above 1m and don't get close to 2m until Bargain Hunt and then over 2m for the News at One, before dipping back to the 1m bracket when the News at One ends at 1:45pm.

That suggests that there is still significant demand for the BBC News at One on BBC One, irrespective of declining ratings across the board. Yes, the BBC often makes questionable decisions but even they would recognise that it would be madness to do away with the highest rated daytime programme on any channel between 6am - 5pm.