BBC Pins ITV In Saturday Wrestling Showdown

ITV’s latest high-profile reality show, Celebrity Wrestling, made its debut on Saturday to a lukewarm response, despite heavy promotion by the broadcaster, which failed to draw in the traditionally large audiences of ITV celebrity head-to-heads.

A peak of 3.8 million tuned in to see celebrities such as Oliver Skeete and James Hewitt trade blows in the ring, but despite a smattering of glamorous contestants, including model Victoria Silvstedt, the programme’s audience regularly waned, dipping below the 3 million mark on several occasions, possibly due to its scheduling against BBC1’s Dr Who.

The BBC’s sci-fi adventure drew an average audience of almost 6.2 million, with a peak of 6.8 delivering a crushing blow to ITV’s beat-em-up. Elsewhere, the last half of BBC1’s Strictly Dance Fever, overlapping with the beginning of Celebrity Wrestling, drew an impressive 4.5 million.

ITV had pinned its hopes on Celebrity Wrestling, lining up several big-name contestants and promoting the show heavily through break bumpers. However, its debut performance has failed to match that of fellow ITV celebrity shows such as I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, which enjoyed a strong start with its last series, drawing average audiences of 9 million and a peak of 10 million in November 2004 (see I’m A Celebrity Off To Good Start For ITV).

Channel 4 was the last broadcaster to see a strong performance from wrestling-based antics, however, with a peak of more than 5 million reality-TV fans tuning in to last June’s Big Brother to watch the inebriated housemates engage in a topless mud-wrestling contest (see Topless Mud-Wrestling Boosts Big Brother Viewing).

However, ITV looks set to continue producing reality-based TV shows, as the BBC’s recent commitment to abandon the format means less competition and more opportunity for voting revenues for the commercial broadcaster (see BBC Reality Cuts Leave Door Open For ITV).

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