Richard & Judy watched ratings plummet after they changed channels in the UK–dropping to 8,000 viewers on the digital channel Watch from an audience of 3 million during the show’s best ratings on Channel 4.
UK television hosts and literary taste-makers Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan’s Richard & Judy’s Book Club attracted 100,000 viewers during their best ratings on the digital channel, but the show will end on July 3rd.
At Bookseller, UK publishers pondered the loss of the show–which sold more than 30 million books since 2004. Here’s Wayne Brookes, publishing director at HarperFiction: “If Richard and Judy were still on Channel 4, the loss would have been greater … You needed the show on prime time Channel 4 with the books being talked up for a person sitting at home at teatime to think ‘I’ll go out and buy that tomorrow.'” (Via jafurtado)