Celebrity Love Island fails to woo viewers as it drops to 4m

by Sam Matthews, Brand Republic 18-May-05, 11:00

LONDON - ITV1 's 'Celebrity Love Island' lost more than a million viewers last night with its audience shrinking to an average of 4m as it was beaten by the BBC's 'News at 10'.

Last night's episode, which was scheduled for the later time of 10pm, lost 1.3m viewers and managed to attract an audience of 4m, or 20%, for half an hour. It peaked at 4.4m at the start of the show but was trounced by the BBC News, which pulled in 5.3m or a 27% share in the same slot.

'Celebrity Love Island' kicked off on Monday night with 6.3m viewers but fell to a 5.1m an hour-and-a-half later. A quarter-of-a-million switched off after 15 minutes.

Last night's episode saw Lady Isabella Hervey trying hard to spurn Paul Danan's advances while they are made to spend 48 hours in a purpose-built Love Shack away from the other contestants.

In the main camp, the others had a spelling competition, which saw Abi Titmuss and Fran Cosgrave win a trip to a Fijian market. Calum Best was in the final three, but lost out when he could not spell "celebrity".

'Celebrity Love Island' features 12 single celebrities including glamour model Titmuss, the Beckham's former PA Rebecca Loos and George Best's son Calum as they attempt to pair off on a secluded Fijian island.

The series arrived on screens one week after ITV was forced to axe its previous celebrity vehicle, 'Celebrity Wrestling', after ratings dipped to 2.6m in its primetime Saturday night slot. BBC One's 'Doctor Who' is averaging 7.8m in the same time slot.

The rest of the 'Celebrity Love Island' line-up includes nightclub owner Cosgrave, former Manchester United footballer Lee Sharpe, Hollyoaks' actor Danan, former 'EastEnders' Michael Greco and athlete Du'aine Ladejo.

TV presenter Jayne Middlemiss, former Atomic Kitten singer Liz McLarnon, "It" girl Hervey and former 'EastEnders' actress Judy Shekoni complete the female line-up.

There is also a spin-off series on ITV2, 'Celebrity Love Island... Aftersun,' which offers a behind-the-scenes look at life on the island.

Separately, ITV is believed to be seeking to drop the contract rights renewal system, which links ad deals to the performance of ITV, after receiving a recent bout of poor ratings.

The move is likely to be met with strong opposition from advertisers with the IPA and ISBA looking to secure the CRR contract till 2008.

The contract was initially set up to ensure broadcasters do not abuse power in negotiations with advertisers.

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