'Fame Academy' audience hopes wilt in competition against 'Gardeners' World'

Fame Academy, BBC1's ambitious and expensive new talent show, barely managed to attract as many viewers as Gardeners' World on Friday night, it was revealed yesterday.

The debut of Fame Academy, which introduced 12 hopefuls to the nation, won an audience of 4.6 million, compared with 4.3 million for the BBC2 gardening programme. Both were eclipsed by the 5.7 million who tuned in for the film screened on ITV1, The Runaway Bride.

It was one of the worst performances for the start of a reality series.

The disappointing figures were compounded the following night when Panorama secured 4 million viewers for its investigation into corruption in racing despite being broadcast in the late-evening graveyard slot. BBC executives are understood to fear, privately, that the decision to launch Fame Academy with a variety show featuring the unknown hopefuls was a mistake.

But a BBC spokesman said yesterday they still had confidence in the £4.5m series, which is due to run three times a week for three months on BBC1 with further shows on BBC Choice and CBBC, the digital channels.

Scenes filmed over the weekend as the 12 contestants watched recordings of their debut performances in horror and began intensive training will be broadcast tonight and were likely to prove more compelling, he said. "[BBC executives] feel they have created a quality show that has an interesting perspective – it's not mocking the students, it's not pulling them apart. There is a feeling that ... the show will build," he said.

The series follows the fortunes of the performers as they are groomed for glory by singing and dance coaches, with one being voted off the show by the public and their fellow contestants each week.

The academy has been set up in Witanhurst House, a £35m property in Highgate, an area of north London which is also home to genuine pop stars such as Sting, George Michael and Boy George.

However, strict rules are likely to prevent the sexy antics that made the last Big Brother series a hit.

As the students, aged 18 to 35, are put through their paces, they will endure lights out at 11pm, no smoking and alcohol only at the discretion of the "headteacher", Richard Park, a record label director.

The BBC's audiences on Friday nights vary with executives claiming to expect about 5 million. But the well-established Robert Lindsay sitcom, My Family, got nearly 8 million viewers in the same slot the previous week.

The figures for Fame Academy were watched with glee by ITV whose talent show, Popstars: The Rivals, is getting 7.5 million viewers on Saturdays.

One insider said: "The problem with Fame Academy was that nobody had empathy with the characters."

But television executives also know they run the risk with any programme genre that the bubble will burst. "There's always the question of whether it's a show too far," one said.