1<\/p>\n Doctor Who star David Tennant’s ITV show Genius Game saw viewing figures plummet to 739,000Credit: ITV<\/p>\n It was thrashed by BBC One\u2019s Race Across the World on Wednesday and beaten on Channel 4<\/a> by The Sun\u2019s documentary, Madeleine McCann: The Unseen Evidence.<\/a><\/p>\n A television insider said: \u201cThe Genius Game was a reflection of ITV\u2019s rush to create the next big challenge show following the huge success of The Traitors<\/a>. <\/p>\n “They chose Tennant <\/a>as he\u2019s such a household name, although his not-insubstantial fee also inflated the cost of making the programme. Yet despite pumping so much money into the show, it hasn\u2019t delivered ratings wise.\u201d<\/p>\n The prime-time reality game-show, in which contestants compete in a series of mental challenges, kicked off with an average of 1.2million watching but by episode two that had slumped to 846,000.<\/p>\n Wednesday night\u2019s total was a new low and came after ITV<\/a> announced it was cutting the number of episodes airing each week from two to one.<\/p>\n Race Across the World, which aired at the same time on BBC One<\/a>, had an average rating of 3.3million.<\/p>\n And a documentary about a Cardiff hospital on BBC Two<\/a> was not far behind Genius Game with 633,000 on average.<\/p>\n![\"David](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/itv-viewers-switch-off-david-991097318_9e7488.jpg\")
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