’s new series reportedly didn’t pull in the expected amount of viewers, despite costing the channel an alleged £30million.
began on Saturday at 8.25pm in the desirable post-Strictly Come Dancing slot but attracted just 2.6 million viewers on average, it has been claimed.
This is approximately two million less than the figure ’s The Wheel managed the week prior.
The debut, hosted by , didn’t seem to be able to take advantage of eight million viewers watching the always-popular Strictly and the marketing campaign ahead of its launch.
Now, executives are allegedly holding crisis talks to figure out how to increase ratings for the remaining 14 episodes.
A TV insider said: ‘It’s crazy. BBC One had a winning Saturday and Sunday night schedule that would have seen it safely through to Christmas – and the panicking bosses just ripped it up to make room for a show that cost so much of licence payers’ money that they could not afford for it to flop.’
David Attenborough’s Planet Earth III was moved from its Sunday 8pm slot for the second episode of Survivor, which had 2.2 million viewers – less than a repeat of the Antiques Roadshow on BBC2, it has been reported.
‘It is terrible news for the BBC, it is an absolute disaster. It cost a fortune and it is just not appealing to the masses – conversations are now taking place as to what can be done to turn things around, quickly,’ they added to the
The series sees 18 people compete in some of to become victorious and secure £100,000.
The contestants were flown out from the UK to the Dominican Republic and split into two tribes. Eventually, they will merge after enough people are voted out at the tribal council. They will then find themselves going head-to-head, as there can only be one winner!
The series was aired in the UK in 2001 and 2002 on ITV, before being rebooted this year with Joel, 38, at the helm. It originally launched in America and has become a popular global franchise.
Some viewers weren’t happy with Survivor taking the prime time slot in the TV schedule.
‘#Survivor is definitely not a Saturday night TV show. Saturdays should be for dancing/singing competitions, quiz shows and chat shows. This is boring, come on @BBCOne bring back #TheWheel and all will be forgiven,’ wrote one person on X, formerly Twitter.
Another critic added: ‘Shouldn’t this be buried on a Thursday night or something? Pretty dull so far, even the ITV version with Mark Austin that flopped seemed better. #Survivor’
‘#Survivor on @BBCOne is crap. Gave it 20minutes and it’s dull. Bring back #TheWheel,’ remarked another.
It wasn’t all negative some viewers rushed to the defence of the reboot: ‘#SurvivorUK my teen daughter and I loved the first 2 episodes and can’t wait for the next. Don’t understand what all the negative comments are about but as massive Suvivor fans we think it’s great and about time! Please keep going.’
It has also been claimed that it is a success on the channel’s catch-up service.
Metro.co.uk has contacted BBC for comment.
