With the musical drama set in a talent school in London created by 'Strictly Come Dancing' and 'Fame Academy' judge Arlene Philips, ITV1 was hoping for some of the cult teen magic of Disney's US hit 'High School Musical'.
However, the first part managed a 14.4% share after BBC One moved its glammed-up 'Antiques Roadshow' to an earlier start in the same 6.15pm-7.15pm slot.
'Antiques Roadshow', which has recently been accused of being "sexed-up" and dumbed down, with too much camera time spent on news presenter Fiona Bruce, pulled in a massive 8.8m viewers, giving it a 38.2% share.
ITV1 did better with long running police drama 'Heartbeat' at 7:15-8.15pm, pulling in 5.6m for a 22% audience share. However the slot belonged to BBC One once more, with the 'Strictly Come Dancing' results show drawing 9.7m viewers and a 38.3% audience share.
Swimmer Mark Foster was given the boot on 'Strictly Come Dancing' after scoring 14 points out of a possible 40 with partner Hayley Holt.
ITV1 followed up with 'A Touch Of Frost' at 8:15pm-10.15pm, garnering 7.4m viewers and a 29.2% share.
BBC One's debuted Dickens adaptation 'Little Dorrit', which revolves around the benevolent Arthur Clennam, played by Matthew Macfadyen, as he tries to right a mysterious wrong from his family's tortured past.
The hour-long instalment was watched by 6.3m with a 24% share of viewing and the drama will continue with 14 half-hour episodes twice a week.
At 9pm-10pm, 5.1m viewers and a 20.1% audience share watched comedian Stephen Fry explore the southern United States on BBC One's 'Stephen Fry in America'.
BBC Two's '9/11: The Conspiracy Files' closed its series last night as 1.7m tuned in to for a look at the mystery of the third tower collapse at the World Trade Centre, enough for a 6.7% audience share.
Channel 4 aired the Jane Fonda and Jennifer Lopez film 'Monster in Law' at 8:05pm, which drew 1.3m viewers for a 5.1% audience share. An additional 100,000 tuned in on Channel 4 + 1.
Daniel Craig showed off his pre-Bond chops in 'Layer Cake' on Channel 5, watched by 1.5m at 9pm-11.10pm, enough for a 7.2% audience share.
Earlier in the evening, 800,000 viewers watched America's National Football League take over Wembley Stadium as the New Orleans Saints beat the San Diego Chargers, giving BBC Two a 4% share.
On Saturday night 'The X Factor' achieved the best ratings with 9.7m and a 39.6% share at 7.45pm-9.25pm, ahead of 'Strictly Come Dancing's 9.3m and a 39.2% share at 6.35pm-8.05pm.
Up against 'Strictly Come Dancing' between 7.15pm and 7.45pm, 'Harry Hill's TV Burp' still pulled in 6m viewers and achieved a 25.1% share of viewing.
'The X Factor' results show, which disposed of the services of Scott Bruton, pulled in 7.7m viewers at 10.10pm-10.55pm, giving ITV1 a share of 37.8%.
BBC One's 'Match of the Day' managed just 3.5m and a 17.2% share against it at 10pm-11pm.
Friday night had a new look with the start of a seven-part series of 'Gordon Ramsay: Cookalong Live', developed after the original one-off programme attracted 4.2m viewers in January.
The 9pm-10pm showing on Channel 4 drew in 2.7m viewers and an 11.9% share, with another 153,000 catching it on Channel 4+1.
It had to compete with BBC One's comedy hour of 'Have I Got News For You?', which attracted 5.1m viewers (22.4%), and 'Little Britain USA', which got 3.6m (16.6%).
ITV1's detective drama 'Wire in the Blood' continues to do well with 4.8m and a 21.6% share.
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