The final episode of The Nightly Show was watched by just one million viewers, ITV has said.
The late night chat show drew a 6% share of viewers on Friday night as John Cleese joined host Dermot O’Leary for the finale episode of the series, which has faced heavy criticism and poor ratings.
It’s the last #TheNightlyShow of the series! Joining our host @RadioLeary is comedy legend @JohnCleese & singer Sharleen Spiteri 10pm @ITV pic.twitter.com/NwYtr649fL
— The Nightly Show (@ITVNightlyShow) April 21, 2017
The creators of the programme, who were hoping to replicate the success of US talk shows hosted by James Corden, Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel, have yet to decide whether to return for a second run.
However, Dermot concluded Friday night’s show with the comment “we’ll see you soon”.
Dermot is one of a range of celebrities who have presented the programme, which faced a swathe of complaints from the start after it pushed the channel’s regular evening news programme back by half an hour.
A very special thanks to @RadioLeary @GordonRamsay @ThisisDavina @JohnBishop100 @JasonManford @DavidWalliams & @BradleyWalsh #TheNightlyShow pic.twitter.com/HGYuwk8AJn
— The Nightly Show (@ITVNightlyShow) April 21, 2017
It launched in February to just under three million viewers with comedian and author David Walliams at the helm.
Viewership dropped to 1.3 million by the following evening and struggled to reach much higher for the rest of the run. Wednesday’s episode pulled in an audience of 1.5 million.
There have since been a couple of wobbles to the schedule to make way for major news events.
Aaaaaand, we're off! @radioleary kicks off his second week as host of #TheNightlyShow. Oh yes! pic.twitter.com/H7mT14GkFT
— The Nightly Show (@ITVNightlyShow) April 17, 2017
The show was cancelled hours before broadcast on the day of the Westminster terror attack last month, and on Tuesday it was bumped to 11pm as the news programme returned for special coverage of the upcoming general election.
But the show enjoyed some success in the last few weeks, with presenters Bradley Walsh and Gordon Ramsay proving particular hits with audiences.
Just 11 minutes to go until #TheNightlyShow kicks off for the final time this week. Are you ready? @BradleyWalsh is pic.twitter.com/HiCslNRmUF
— The Nightly Show (@ITVNightlyShow) April 7, 2017
Viewers also enjoyed sofa interviews with guest stars such as Kym Marsh, Richard Osman and Pamela Anderson, as well as cheeky pranks and games led by hosts, while John Cleese’s appearance last night was particularly well received.
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