Why are Dancing on Ice’s ratings sliding?

There’s no denying that Dancing on Ice is suffering from lower ratings than previous years the question is why?

To some it may seem the curse of the revamp has struck ITV again – a total case of third time lucky not happening. As with the X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent the new series of Dancing on Ice has undergone a slight revamp. Christine Bleakley has been drafted in to replace Holly Willoughby seemingly because her presenting role on BBC One‘s The Voice prevents her from doing DOI – even though The Voice hasn’t started yet.

Pineapple Studios personality Louie Spence and skater Katarina Witt have joined the panel replacing Jason Gardiner – who always got plenty of press attention thanks to his catty comments – and Emma Bunton. BGT and X Factor also changed their line-up of judges with mixed results – David Hasselhoff and Michael McIntyre are both out of BGT and reports claim Kelly Rowland is out of the X Factor.

So is it a combination of new co-presenter and new judges to blame for Dancing on Ice‘s lower ratings? Or maybe the line-up of celebrities? Chesney Hawkes was forced to pull out before the launch and was replaced by er Chico from the X Factor. The celebrity line-up this year is a bit of a mixed bag; Charlene Tilton, Corey Feldman and Matthew Wolfenden maybe good names but Andy Akinwolere, Chemmy Alcott and presenters Mark and Sam Rhodes may have left viewers wondering just who they actually were.

Dancing on Ice has perhaps faced tough competition this year from BBC One than in previous seasons. BBC One has had a very strong line-up of dramas so far this year with Sherlock, Call the Midwife, Birdsong and Upstairs Downstairs (returned last week and beat DOI’s results show) all providing a nice alternative to celebrities, ice, dancing and injuries that ITV provide.

Perhaps the real answer is DOI‘s ratings have slipped because of all the above – what do you think?