ITV schedule shake-up as David Tennant's Genius Game moved after dire viewer ratings

new game show, Genius Game, debuted last week with episodes airing on Wednesday and Thursday. However, have changed the schedule for the programme, with it now only airing on Wednesday nights at 9pm making it run for seven weeks instead of the initial four.

The Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? celebrity specials are taking Genius Game's place on a Thursday night for the next two weeks. Last week, 1.2 million people tuned into the debut episode but viewership dropped to 800,000 for the second episode. Meanwhile, on , Race Across The World (which airs at the same time), brought in 5.9million viewers.

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Genius Game is adapted from a Korean show of the same name and brings together the country's best minds for a series of challenges where their strategic thinking and social skills are put to the test.

Contestants of the competition are eliminated in head-to-head matches until only one remains and is awarded the title of "the Genius" and a cash prize. The have contacted ITV for comment.

After the first episode aired, viewers took to social media to complain that the rules are too complicated to follow at home. In the first episode, the players took on the Gold Heist.

They were given the chance to steal money from imaginary vaults of their choice. However, if too many of the players went for the same vault, they end up in jail and frozen out of the game.

Viewers took to social media to with the rules of the first game, with one tweeting: "Anyone else absolutely flubberflustered with the rules?? #GeniusGame." A second wrote on X: "Trying to keep up with what's going on in #GeniusGame."

A third said: "Are we supposed to know what's happening #GeniusGame."

While a fourth wrote: "I’m guessing that no one at bothered to consider whether they were making things waaaaaay too complicated for the audience to actually follow?? "

Doctor Who's David hosts the UK programme and the series' executive producer, Anna Kidd, previously he was the perfect person for the show.

Kidd said: "He's got this blend of intelligence, humour, and unique charm. He's just the perfect person for this show. When we approached him and he watched some of the Korean version, he instantly said yes. He totally nailed the brief.

"Obviously, he's phenomenal at what he does, but he was really invested, and he really understood what the role was and what the games were."

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