Fame Academy ratings slide

Guest Shania Twain joins students at the Fame Academy

The BBC's reality talent show Fame Academy hit its lowest ratings figures yet on Thursday.

Just 3.3m people tuned into the much-hyped series, according to unofficial overnight figures.

The figures - which gave Fame Academy 16% of viewers - were half of the audience of the preceding regional news programmes, but they bounced back as soon as EastEnders returned.

The series has suffered against ITV1's rural soap Emmerdale, which has consistently beaten it in the ratings, and picked up 9.8m viewers on Thursday.

It has also been hit by comparisons with ITV1's successful Popstars: The Rivals, which goes out on Saturday nights.

'No concerns'

Fame Academy - which critics have dubbed Lame Academy - has been suffering declining ratings since the first show was panned by critics.

It uses a format that has proved successful in France and Spain - that of putting 12 wannabes in a fame school, offering them the prize of a recording contract and at least 12 months of living the high life.

The Fame Academy mansion is in Highgate, London

The show offered what the BBC thought would be a fail-safe package - the 24-hour surveillance of Big Brother with a Pop Idol competition element.

Only 4.6m viewers watched the first programme, a live showcase featuring the 12 performers, presented by Cat Deeley and Patrick Kielty.

The BBC is still insisting that Fame Academy simply needs more time.

A spokesman said: "Everything is going fine. We have no concerns about the show at all."