ITV have been forced to admit they’ve finally axed their biggest, most expensive flop in years – The Genius Game, hosted by David Tennant.
The channel has spent months denying it had scrapped the programme, whose finale earlier this year attracted a paltry average off 661000 in a prime time slot.
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Representatives constantly replied: “No decision has been made” even though the viewing figures showed it was destined to be binned.
But under questioning at this week’s Edinburgh TV Festival Managing Director, Media and Entertainment, Kevin Lygo admitted the truth when he was asked whether they would bring it back and whether he considered it a success.
He said: “Not really. I think it was a good try, but if were honest the audience didn’t come, it was a bit complicated.
“But I do know people who were obsessed with it. You know, especially young people were obsessed with and couldn’t believe we were not going to bring it back.
“But, you know, I think in entertainment we all know how difficult it is to launch a big new show.”
The show is believed to have cost around £2.5m to make.
The Sun revealed last month how the last episode of The Genius Game was matched in the ratings by a BBC Two nature show called Pangolins: The World’s Most Wanted Animal which looked at why the scaly creatures are so endangered.
On the same night 4.2 million watched BBC1’s Race Across the World. Channel 5’s Casualty 24/7: Every Second Counts had 718,000 viewers.
The programme, in which contestants take on mental challenges, drew 1.2 million when it started in April, quickly slumping to 846,000 by episode two.
ITV almost immediately announced it was also cutting the number of episodes airing each week from two to one.
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