ITV 'This Morning' loses viewers with Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard as hosts while BBC 'Morning Live' thrives

‘This Morning’ viewing figures have dropped to the lowest since Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield left the long-running daytime show last year.

After many months of speculation, Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley were confirmed as the new permanent hosts for the ITV flagship show in February, before taking on the presenting roles in March. Shephard, aged 49, and Deeley, age 47, had a peak audience of just over 1.03million watching when they presented their first show on Monday March 11, but viewers have been divided over their opinions on Shephard and Deeley since their first day.

By March 26, the viewer figure was down to just 692,500, according to a report in ‘The Sun’. That is the fewest number of viewers since Holly’s last day on October 10, and also lower than Philip Schofield’s last day on May 18 when 767,00 people were watching.

On March 28, when Shephard and Deeley last hosted before taking an Easter break, saw an increase in viewership again as 830,000 people tuned in. These figures are lower the peak of 1.3million to 1.5million typically enjoyed by BBC1 rival ‘Morning Live’.

A TV insider told ‘The Sun’: “The hope was that the new duo would bring back an air of stability and familiarity back to This Morning. It’s still relatively early days, but the signs are not good.

“After the initial flurry of interest on their first day in the job, the viewing figures almost immediately dipped back into six figures. ITV bosses will be hoping they can turn things around before the next big milestone date as they’ve so much riding on Ben and Cat being a success.”

Schofield, aged 62, left ‘This Morning’ after more than 20 years in May after admitting he had a fling with a younger male colleague. His departure also came after weeks of rumours that his relationship with co-host Willoughby had become strained. Willoughby, age 43, then quit just months later, after 14 years at the helm of the show, after an alleged plot to kidnap and murder her.

A spokesperson for This Morning said: "Ben and Cat have recorded the best audience reach of the year so far with 4.5 million viewers across one week. Viewing figures for Jan - March are also up 5% year on year."