ITV has cancelled Graham Norton's reality competition series, "The Neighbourhood," after just one season due to low viewership and negative reception. The broadcaster's commissioning editor, Joe Mace, indicated that the network will focus on its successful, established reality formats.
"The Neighbourhood," which premiered earlier this year, saw real-life households compete in challenges for a £250,000 prize. Despite a significant marketing push and a prime-time launch intended to rival BBC's "The Traitors," the show struggled to attract an audience. Initial viewership of 1.2 million for the premiere dropped to 500,000 by the third episode.
In response to the declining ratings, ITV moved the show to a later time slot and made the full series available on its streaming platform, ITVX. "We're really proud of The Neighbourhood – it was big, bold and ambitious," an ITV spokesperson stated, adding that it would not be returning for a new series. Repeats of other programs, such as "Long Lost Family" and "Beat The Chasers," have taken over its original 9 p.m. slot.
Joe Mace reflected on the series at the Edinburgh TV Festival, describing it as an experiment that did not meet expectations. "One of the lessons we've learned from that is that people come to ITV for fast turnaround, live reality TV first and foremost," he said. "They've been served the best in those shows in Love Island and Big Brother and we should stick to that probably. That's our ambition now."
Norton, known for his long-running BBC chat show, had initially been hesitant to host "The Neighbourhood" but ultimately found the concept compelling. However, viewer feedback on social media was largely critical, with some describing the show as "drivel TV."