BBC's Love Island equivalent possibly terminated after only one run due to poor viewership ratings, losing £5 million investment

The BBC's latest dating show, "Stranded on Honeymoon Island," has been met with criticism and disappointing viewership numbers, according to recent reports.

Commissioned to target young audiences on BBC iPlayer, the show was aired on BBC One, a decision that has raised eyebrows among some critics. The show, which involves a dozen people pairing up after speed dating, getting hitched, and spending 21 days marooned as they get to know one another and try to survive, was described as a "horror show" by The Sun's TV critic.

The debut show of "Stranded on Honeymoon Island" on BBC One pulled in 848,000 viewers, a number that dropped to an average of 517,000 viewers by its third outing on Friday. This is particularly disappointing considering the show incurred huge costs due to sending over dozens of contestants and crew to an island in the Philippines, a 13,000-mile round trip.

The poor viewing figures are considered abysmal, especially for a show on BBC One. In the same time slot, a documentary about Nazi U-boats on BBC Two had slightly more viewers than "Stranded on Honeymoon Island." Meanwhile, "Jeremy Clarkson's Celebrity Who Wants to be a Millionaire" on ITV had 1.4 million viewers, eclipsing "Stranded on Honeymoon Island."

The latest flop comes after Joel Dommett's first big show on BBC One, a reboot of ITV's "Survivor," was also axed after one series. The 2023 show "Survivor" reboot is believed to have cost £30million to make, while "Stranded on Honeymoon Island" is set to be axed after costing £5 million to make.

The TV insider suggests that the right format should be chosen for the right channel. The show was criticized for feeling like it should have been on ITV2 or E4, and it was not hosted by Davina McCall, who hosts her show on ITV.

In response, the BBC stated that they do not judge success based on overnight ratings in an on-demand world. Davina McCall's ITV show "Long Lost Family" aired at 9pm the same night and had more than double the viewers of "Stranded on Honeymoon Island."

Despite the criticism and low viewership, the BBC's programming executives stand by their decision to air "Stranded on Honeymoon Island" on BBC One. However, it remains to be seen if the show will return for another season.

BBC's Love Island equivalent possibly terminated after only one run due to poor viewership ratings, losing £5 million investment