Graham Norton’s new show The Neighbourhood is pulled from primetime slot as ITV make embarrassing U-turn after poor ratings
With a splashy launch and a massive marketing budget, it looked like Graham Norton was destined to be the prime-time headliner.
But in an embarrassing U-turn, ITV has relegated brand new reality show The Neighborhood to ‘graveyard’ status midway through the series, due to poor reviews and falling ratings.
Announced with great fanfare, the new program would launch Norton on the channel and rival the BBC’s popular The Traitors.
But it failed to lift the curtains and ITV made the ruthless decision to transfer the remainder of the episodes directly to its own streaming platform, ITVX, shifting its slot on ITV1 from 9pm to 10.45pm, following the evening news.
The launch attracted 1.2 million viewers. However, as of the third episode, only 500,000 people watched it.
The series, Norton’s first reality project, sees real-life households compete in a series of games, resulting in the most popular family winning £250,000.
ITV has made an embarrassing U-turn, relegating Graham’s brand new reality show The Neighborhood to a ‘graveyard’ midway through the series due to poor reviews and falling ratings
The neighborhood debuted midway through the I’m A Celebrity finale last month in a bid to capture the attention of the jungle show’s loyal viewers.
An ITV spokesperson said: ‘The entire box set of The Neighborhood is now available to stream on ITVX. ‘In addition, the program will continue to be broadcast in the evenings on ITV.’
Repeats of Long Lost Family and Beat The Chasers will air on Thursdays and Fridays at 21.00, respectively, instead of the series.
Insiders say the series performs better on ITV’s streaming platform ITVX rather than on terrestrial television.
The low ratings will be a blow to Irish star Norton, who is basking in the success of long-running BBC ratings winner The Graham Norton Show.
Speaking ahead of its launch, Norton said he initially agreed to meet producers and hear their pitches, but ultimately with the intention of turning down the hosting gig.
But he admitted he thought it was ‘so good I should say yes’.
Viewers have voiced their harsh opinions about the series on social media, echoing critics’ comments and branding it “ridiculous TV” and “the ultimate nonsense”.
Filmed at Darwin Lake Holiday Park in Matlock, Derbyshire, The Neighborhood was given a big-budget promotional campaign ahead of its launch.
Ed Daggett, Development Manager of Lifted Entertainment, the company that produces the series, expressed his hope to take on The Traitors in the competition series.
He said: ‘Traitors has been absolutely phenomenal in the way it has attracted reality fans and people who wouldn’t normally come to reality shows.
‘Of course we’d like to get close to that kind of success.’
In a three-star review, Metro described the series as ‘the latest and arguably boldest attempt to repeat the enormous success of The Traitors’.
Other fans reacted more positively, with one sharing: ‘Am I the only one who loves #Mahalle?
‘I actually really love all the families. ‘These are the type of normal people we want starring in Big Brother.’
Another agreed: ‘#Neighbourhood is so good, better than Britain’s talent, I’d put the neighborhood on prime time on Saturday.’
The Neighborhood debuted midway through the I’m A Celebrity finale last month in a bid to capture the attention of the jungle show’s loyal viewers
The Guardian’s two-star review states: ‘Any sense of danger is conspicuous by its absence.
‘Norton raises the energy when he’s there, but he’s only there for the welcome and dismissal vote.’
The publication also branded The Neighborhood a ‘tired reality show’.
The Telegraph gave it a two-star review: ‘The series is full of quirky little design touches like this, and it feels as if the producers are more focused on how it looks rather than how interesting it is to watch.
In its three-star review, The Independent claimed that not even host Graham “could save this bizarre reality show”.
