Flop programmes piled pressure on ITV boss

A string of high-profile TV flops helped pile the pressure on ITV’s chief executive Charles Allen, who quit yesterday.

The broadcaster’s most recent programming casualty came just last month when it dropped entertainment show It’s Now Or Never.

The decision to remove the show from its Saturday night slot was all the more embarrassing because its host, Phillip Schofield, had just signed a golden handcuffs two-year deal with the broadcaster.

It’s Now Or Never, which invited members of the public to make a special announcement on national TV in the style of a musical, attracted only 1.7 million viewers.

Allen does not have a background in the creative side of programme making, but this has not stopped accusations of dumbing down being laid at his door.

This year, the broadcaster brought back Celebrity Love Island despite the under-performance of the first series, which featured the likes of Abi Titmuss and Rebecca Loos.

But the second series – which dropped the word Celebrity from its title - failed to pull the viewing figures that were expected or challenge the reign of Channel 4’s Big Brother.

But the show has enjoyed a better fate than the high-profile Celebrity Wrestling, which ITV pulled from its Saturday early evening slot because it failed to excite viewers.

The flops have extended beyond the realm of celebrity programming to the likes of Fat Families, which saw three hugely overweight families go “from fat to fit” in six months.

It was pulled along with The Real Good Life, the programme described as “literally like watching cabbage grow” where three families quit the rat race to live off the land.

The first episode of The Real Good Life was watched by just 2.7 million viewers dropping to 2.3 million in the second in what was meant to be a seven-week run.

There was more bad news last month when the channel’s audience ratings for July were the worst ever, with viewing figures plunging by nearly 17% in a year.

But ITV chiefs will be hoping that the return of X Factor next month, followed by I’m A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here and Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, will boost its ratings.