After the success of the celebrity version of the show, the people behind Fame Academy were hoping they might get a second series. The Pop Idol meets Big Brother show was panned when it launched last year and struggled in the ratings. But the show's producers blamed scheduling for the show's poor audience figures – and they pointed out that the show's audience did build and that finalists have subsequently had considerable chart success.
But according to the Media Guardian senior BBC executives are concerned the show – already unpopular with critics – will be used as ammunition against the BBC as the government review its royal charter - seen by those in charge as the BBC wasting money in an attempt to create populist television to compete with mainstream commercial broadcasters.
One BBC insider told the paper: "While the production team felt the increased popularity of the initial series followed by the massive popularity of the Comic Relief special would have secured a second run, BBC One boss Lorraine Heggessey is so politically astute that she knows full well that if the governors are against it, then she's not going to go the wire on it."
Of course, despite its weaknesses, you could argue Fame Academy was actually a commendable attempt to give a reality TV show a credible educational base without reducing entertainment value – which is surely the BBC's public service remit through and through.