[tellyblues]

1.33m for Ep 2 of The Fortune Hotel.

I'm not sure there ever was such a huge demand for mystery, trust-based reality formats that could support half a dozen shows but ITV seemed to have thought so judging by the amount they have piloted/greenlit recently. That this is their first attempt and it's flopping doesn't bode well for the others and when the one that brought about all of them, The Traitors, may have peaked already, some commissioners may be thinking they shouldn't have bothered now.

[Jon]

Is 1.33 million really a flop these days? That seems like pretty standard rating for weekday prime time ITV these days.

[eyeTV]

It's a sign of current times I guess, its won the slot the last 2 nights.

[tellyblues]

Is 1.33 million really a flop these days? That seems like pretty standard rating for weekday prime time ITV these days.

It is, but that is deserved for the below par content that is put out most of the time. I just don't think The Fortune Hotel was envisioned to be that type of show.

[Score]

1.33m for Ep 2 of The Fortune Hotel.

I'm not sure there ever was such a huge demand for mystery, trust-based reality formats that could support half a dozen shows but ITV seemed to have thought so judging by the amount they have piloted/greenlit recently. That this is their first attempt and it's flopping doesn't bode well for the others and when the one that brought about all of them, The Traitors, may have peaked already, some commissioners may be thinking they shouldn't have bothered now.

They’ve only commissioned two (the other being The Genius Game), you’re acting as if they’ve commissioned a whole slew of them.

The numbers for Fortune Hotel aren’t great but it’s early days and these reality formats need time to build, and a lot comes down to how they do overall with catchup/streaming included.

Not sure where the idea of The Traitors having peaked already comes from either.

[tellyblues]

They’ve only commissioned two (the other being The Genius Game), you’re acting as if they’ve commissioned a whole slew of them.

The numbers for Fortune Hotel aren’t great but it’s early days and these reality formats need time to build, and a lot comes down to how they do overall with catchup/streaming included.

Not sure where the idea of The Traitors having peaked already comes from either.

If you had noticed, I did say piloted as well. There's The Imposter and Trivial Deceit. I also wasn't including just ITV shows in this, which is important to do so. There is a danger of burnout from audiences overall.

I don't think The Traitors has much scope to improve, particularly as the last series was won by a traitor (which ticks off that particular box) and a celebrity version to come which will dilute the formula and will cause viewers to tire of the show I feel. The predictions that The Traitors will get bigger is a similar situation to The Masked Singer in which many thought it was heading for 10m+ ratings for series 3 but it didn't and it has since peaked.

Sorry if that offends you because everybody has to be happy-clappy about TV and certain people in the industry.

[DavidWhitfield]

I personally don't like this fixation with celebrity versions of programmes.

They bring a programme out featuring members of the public, people like it, and the knee-jerk reaction always seems to be 'get some people that used to be in soaps, barely-memorable pop bands, and former politicians to star in a version'.

I like seeing real people on these programmes as I feel more invested in the gameplay. A big win would massively affect that person's life and the lives of those around them. It's great television.

There's only so many times you can watch Louis Walsh and Gemma Collins winning a few grand for a charity before it gets boring.

I was really hoping that The Traitors would be immune from this 'celebrification' but alas not.

[Spencer]

I personally don't like this fixation with celebrity versions of programmes.

They bring a programme out featuring members of the public, people like it, and the knee-jerk reaction always seems to be 'get some people that used to be in soaps, barely-memorable pop bands, and former politicians to star in a version'.

I like seeing real people on these programmes as I feel more invested in the gameplay. A big win would massively affect that person's life and the lives of those around them. It's great television.

There's only so many times you can watch Louis Walsh and Gemma Collins winning a few grand for a charity before it gets boring.

I was really hoping that The Traitors would be immune from this 'celebrification' but alas not.

Totally agree – I’ve thought this for a while. It’s so much more gripping seeing an ordinary member of the public on the verge of winning a significant amount of money than a celebrity who’ll go home with their fee no matter what. And it won’t make a huge difference to them if they win some money for charity or not.

Plus, if it’s a member of the public, you can much more easily imagine yourself in their place, and imagine how you’d do.

Whilst on the subject, I also have a real problem with celebrity editions of The Chase or Beat The Chasers. It effectively puts the chasers in the role of trying to prevent charities receiving money, which is a really nasty thing to do, and goes well beyond their tongue-in-cheek, pantomime villain personas.

[Neil Jones]

The problem is celebrity versions of shows attract bigger audiences these days, and getting arses on seats for the adverts is all that matters.

Crystal Maze (reboot) proved the point to a certain extent, as all its celebrity specials did better ratings wise, and ultimately they stopped making any civilian episodes of it at all.

Back in the day celebrity specials of things were limited to pretty much Christmas time, and you got a free plug for the panto you were in and where it was. If celebrity specials were seen outside of December something's seriously wrong.

Producers of the original Crystal Maze did say back in the day (not ad-verbatim I should add!) that they'd rather prefer having a poke in the eye than make a celebrity special of that show. And now its sort of tipped into the opposite direction to a large extent.

[Jon]

The Crystal Maze is a different type of show to something with life changing money up for offer though.