The decision will give fans of the reality gameshows a difficult viewing choice on a Saturday night. Previously, the two shows had run on different nights, with Fame Academy running on Friday nights and 'Pop Idol' on Saturday.
Bob Wootton, director of media and advertising affairs at ISBA, which represents the interests of advertisers, said the decision made no sense and was a "cheap shot" at winning the ratings battle.
He said: "For the two principle channels to be showing programmes this similar at the same time is as much of a nonsense as the BBC deciding to schedule its night-time news against ITV's.
"For the BBC to win in the ratings with 'Blue Planet' is a triumph because that's the kind of programme the commercial broadcasters would probably not be providing. But to win in the ratings with this kind of programme is just a cheap shot. My only hope is the powers that be will take this very seriously when they come to look at the future of the BBC."
Scheduling 'Fame Academy' against 'Pop Idol' would be a risk for the BBC, because the ITV talent show was far more popular than the BBC's. 'Pop Idol' drew as many as 13m viewers, making it the most watched entertainment show in 2002, when Will Young beat Gareth Gates to the 'Pop Idol' crown.
An ITV spokeswoman said moving 'Fame Academy' to a Saturday night acted against the interests of viewers.
"Scheduling 'Fame Academy' head to head with 'Pop Idol' is clearly not in
viewers' interests. We're disappointed the BBC has deliberately gone down this route. But these are very different shows. 'Pop Idol' was the highest-rated entertainment show of last year, dominated the front pages, became a national talking point and successfully launched several music careers," she said.
The news of the decision follows criticisms by the BBC's board of governors in its annual report, published earlier this week, for poor Saturday night performances. BBC director general Greg Dyke said at the BBC's annual report this week that "it would be nice to have a new entertainment show that picked up 8m-10m viewers".
This is not the first time the BBC has been accused of making a scheduling decision against the public interest.
Last year, it ran the long-awaited return of Eighties cult series 'Auf Wiedersehen, Pet' half-way through a popular remake of ITV period drama 'The Forsyte Saga', which was seen to give viewers a difficult choice because both programmes attracted similar audiences.
However, the two broadcasters came to an agreement over the scheduling of ITV's remake of 'Dr Zhivago' and the BBC's adaptation of George Elliot's 'Daniel Deronda'. The BBC ran its drama on Saturday nights, while ITV ran 'Dr Zhivago' on Sundays.
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