Andrew Marr Show returns to 9am slot after year-long 10am ‘experiment’

The Andrew Marr Show is returning to its old 9am slot on Sunday after a year broadcasting at 10am on BBC One.

BBC live political programmes editor Rob Burley said the political programme will return at the familiar time on 1 September.

The show’s move to 10am in August last year was revealed by host Andrew Marr in a Twitter exchange with political news rival Sophy Ridge, who anchors Sophy Ridge on Sunday which airs on Sky.

Ridge’s programme was moved to 9am as a result, with Marr putting the move down to a “management thing” at the time. The exchange was meant to have been private and the tweets quickly deleted.

In a statement, a BBC spokesperson said: “At a time when all eyes are on British politics, The Andrew Marr Show will return to its more familiar and original time of 9am on a Sunday morning and continue to set the news agenda for the week.”

Press Gazette understands the decision to move back the programme back to 9am was not based on ratings.

The BBC did not comment on whether the move was led by ratings performance.

Press Gazette has asked Sky News whether Sophie Ridge on Sunday will move again in response to the Marr Show’s return to 9am, putting them in direct competition.

Speaking to Press Gazette earlier this year, Burley said the move to 10am had “hit the audience a bit” on Marr’s show.

He added: “But the sense I have is that it’s an experiment to try and overall improve BBC One’s ratings on a Sunday – bring in younger audiences, all those things which we know are important.”

Figures shared in January showed that viewership of the Marr show had fallen by around 200,000 viewers on average to about 1.46m.

Picture: BBC