‘They’ve decided that everyone wants to watch men’: Saturday night TV is dominated by male presenters and not a single woman has fronted a show on BBC1 or ITV so far this year, figures show .
Cilla Black may have been the ‘Queen of Saturday Night TV’, but it seems other presenters have yet to reap similar rewards.
Because the evening audience is dominated by men, with not a single female presenter on the BBC1 or ITV screen so far this year.
The Daily Mail studied BBC1 and ITV output from 5pm to midnight on Saturdays from 2019 to now, excluding weeks dominated by special coverage such as the Queen’s death or the Euro.
In 2019, female presenters accounted for just 31.5% of the appearances made by their male counterparts, falling to 25.9% last year.
The ITV figures are considerably lower, going from 15.5% to 12.9% in the same period.
Cilla Black, who hosted ‘Blind Date’, may have been the ‘Queen of Saturday Night TV’, but it seems other hostesses have yet to reap similar rewards.
Because the evening audience is dominated by men, with not a single female presenter on the BBC1 or ITV screen so far this year. In the photo: Ant and Dec
Figures in 2020 and 2021 were slightly higher than last year on the BBC, due to shows like Peter Crouch: Save Our Summer with Maya Jama and Take Off With Bradley (Walsh) And Holly (Willoughby).
The station had three and a half times as many men presenting as women in 2019, which increased to four times last year.
ITV saw figures jump from three and a half to four and a half in the same period.
Stephen Mulhern, 45, is a huge success for ITV, clocking up 41 of 51 on-screen Saturdays in 2021 for three different shows: Catchphrase, Rolling In It and In For A Penny.
His tally dropped to 23 from 52 last year, just a week more than Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, who have dominated the small screen with popular shows like Ant And Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway.
The BBC has launched multiple brilliant shows every year starring solely male stars from the world of soap operas and comedy. However, it has failed to produce the same with women.
Since 2014, Strictly Come Dancing has been BBC1’s only Saturday night series with an all-female host team consisting of Tess Daly, 53, and Claudia Winkleman, 51.
But last year, the only new Saturday night shows commissioned were with male presenters: Bridge Of Lies with Ross Kemp, That’s My Jam with Mo Gilligan and Jason Manford’s exclusive Big Night Of Musicals By The National Lottery.
Since 2014, Strictly Come Dancing has been BBC1’s only Saturday night series with an all-female host team: Tess Daly (right), 53, and Claudia Winkleman (left), 51
Stephen Mulhern, 45, is a huge success for ITV, clocking up 41 of 51 on-screen Saturdays in 2021 for three different shows: Catchphrase, Rolling In It and In For A Penny.
Pointing to hosts like Miss Black, who hosted shows like Surprise, Surprise and Blind Date, radio DJ Edith Bowman recently criticized the lack of women, tweeting: “Women can host game shows too!”
The head of the talent agency, Sue Ayton, who represents a host of female TV personalities, called on female executives at both channels to be “courageous” and stop “playing it safe” when it comes to casting. presenters.
She added: “I think there’s still a very male-dominated culture where (executives) think people back home want to watch… They’ve decided that everyone wants to watch men.”
An ITV spokesman said the channel has an “extensive roster of female on-screen talent”, highlighting popular shows such as Love Island and Dancing On Ice, which are hosted by women. A BBC spokesperson said the figures were not “representative of (the corporation’s) wider output”.