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Paxman and phone hacking boost Newsnight

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By The Drum Team, Editorial

August 1, 2011 | 2 min read

BBC2’s flagship current affairs programme, Newsnight, has seen its ratings soar thanks to a combination of the tarnished reputation of the print media and the appeal of Jeremy Paxman.

The show has been recording audience figures in excess of 1m, peaking at 1.3m on the day David Cameron announced an inquiry into the hacking scandal - an amazing success given its late night, 10:30pm home.

This marks something of a revival for the programme which had seen its viewers per episode decline 680k earlier this year, a 15% fall from 2010.

In an attempt to ensure this revival is more than just a flash in the pan producers are looking to harness Paxman (whom many viewers tune in to see) by conducting more long form interviews with the likes of Steve Coogan and Hugh Grant - at which the format excels.

Paxman currently receives around 766,000 viewers per episode, 200,000 more than Kirsty Wark although Peter Rippon, Newnight’s current editor, attributes this to vagaries in scheduling.

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