Ratings Drop for Britain’s Got Talent Premiere

Nothing seems to work without Simon Cowell: Britain’s Got Talent premiered over the weekend, the auditions phase, but ratings saw a serious drop from last year. Reports have it Cowell’s absence explains it.

This year, BGT brings a few changes, especially in the panel of judges: Piers Morgan has left, relocating to the US to focus on his job with CNN, while Simon Cowell was a no-show at the auditions because he’s also in the US, working on the US version of X Factor.

They were replaced with “Baywatch” actor David Hasselhoff and comedian Michael McIntyre, but, judging by the ratings and the comments online, neither can fill Cowell’s shoes, the Daily Mail informs.

There’s even some talk about how Cowell’s departure, albeit short-lived because he will return for the live shows, didn’t mark the end of BGT.

“Many fans were left wondering if Britain’s Got Talent had finally lost its X Factor this weekend, after Simon Cowell’s absence from the launch show coincided with a drop of more than one million viewers compared to last year’s series opener,” the Mail writes.

“According to ITV1 figures, the first show of the fifth series drew a peak audience of 10.9 million on Saturday – 1.3 million down on last year’s opening night,” the tab further reports.

Last year was, by far, the best season in terms of ratings.

“The beginning of the 2010 series drew a peak of 12.2 million and captured almost half the television audience, pulling in an average of 10.6 million. This time the prime-time average was 9.9 million,” the Mail notes.

With decreased ratings also came criticism online, with many fans saying the show was simply not the same without Cowell’s snarky comments and his witty comments.

At the same time, the new additions to the judges panel were also disputed, with some even going as far as saying that neither had a right to be there.

On the other hand, at least the show still has the capacity to surprise, by featuring contestants with amazing talent – like Michael Collings, whose performance you can see here.