‘Big Brother’ has been dealt another blow, with the ratings for the current series reaching an all-time low over the weekend.
On Saturday (1 July) night, Channel 5 managed to draw in an average of just 650,000 viewers, with just 540,000 watching at its lowest point, according to The Sun.
These are the lowest ever ratings for the long-serving reality TV show, which debuted on Channel 4 in 2000 before making the jump to its current home in 2012.
So far, it’s fair to say that things haven’t gone exactly to plan for ‘Big Brother’ bosses, with two of this year’s housemates having to be removed via the back door due to unacceptable conduct, and two more leaving of their own accord, rather than the usual eviction process.
It’s also had to contend with comparisons to ITV2’s ‘Love Island’ which, despite only occasionally airing in the same timeslot as ‘Big Brother’, is now managing to pull in twice as many viewers.
Still, all is not lost for Channel 5, with the second of this year’s series of ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ set to begin airing when the regular run wraps up this summer.
Among the rumoured famous contestants are former ‘Gogglebox’ star Sandi Bogle, TV presenter John Leslie and ‘So Macho’ singer Sinitta, who has a few demands she’ll need to be met before she signs on the dotted list.
It’s also possible we’ll be seeing a few old faces too, with ‘CBB’ bosses reportedly planning a ‘Summer Of Legends’ theme, following the success of January’s ‘All Stars And New Stars’.