Fern fails to reach one million viewers

Fern Britton's new chat show could be facing a revamp because of disappointing ratings.

The Channel 4 programme 'Fern' has taken over from Paul O'Grady's chat show after he left the channel for ITV and although bosses are impressed with Fern's performance, they are said to be disappointed that ratings have not reached the one million mark as hoped.

A source told the Daily Mirror: "It's fair to say the show is in jeopardy. The figures are relatively low - they are certainly not as high as we'd hoped. But it's early days. We'll get to the end of the four-week trial and decide what's best for the channel and the show.

"Everyone here thinks Fern is brilliant so we can't understand why more of her loyal fans aren't watching. The good weather at the moment probably isn't helping."

The hour-long programme - which started last month and features celebrity guests as well as members of the audience revealing their own experiences - has averaged 970,000 viewers per episode, just short of the projected one million.

Options reportedly being considered by bosses include making significant changes to the format, changing it from its afternoon time slot or axing the show altogether.

Fern beat off stiff competition from Peter Andre, Vernon Kay and Denise Van Outen to land the role.