ITV hit by its lowest weekly ratings

ITV has suffered its worst week ever, with audiences falling to a record low.

In the first week of July, ITV1 won just 21.3 per cent of all audiences. Its previous low was the last week of July 2002, at 21.9 per cent.

In comparison, BBC1 scored 28.6 per cent for the first week of this month.

The slump comes despite the launch of the independent network's new £1million Saturday night line-up of shows.

Now, in an attempt to boost ratings, it is pulling one of those - the quiz show Judgment Day - and replacing it with It Shouldn't Happen To A Soap Star this weekend and Jurassic Park next Saturday.

The new Hugh Laurie drama Fortysomething and comedy series The Sketch Show will also be pulled from Sunday nights and replaced with the long-running detective series Midsomer Murders.

It is more bad news for the network after it suffered its worst night for a decade, and possibly in its history, earlier this month. Its new Saturday night line-up has failed to take off. On June 28, the three new

shows were beaten by BBC1's repeats of Only Fools and Horses and The Vicar of Dibley, plus the corporation's coverage of Wimbledon.

The new reality show Drop the Celebrity, where viewers vote to parachute C-list celebrities out of a plane, has also plunged in the ratings.

Even the general knowledge quiz The Vault, hosted by Melanie Sykes - whom ITV is billing as the new Cilla Black - attracted an audience of just three million.

It means that for the past four Saturdays, ITV has fallen below the crucial 20 per cent audience share mark. Just a few years ago, it was winning 30 per cent.

Some dramas are also under-performing. Last week The Vice, which has been axed, bowed out with 4.2million viewers on Tuesday night. The police show was beaten by a BBC1 documentary about sleeping disorders.