In another damning sign of troubled waters at the embattled Ten Network, the weight-loss reality series The Biggest Loser has been ejected from next week's schedule.

The two-part season finale was due to screen on Tuesday and Wednesday, but will now air on Sunday, April 13 in a move which acknowledges that the series has failed to captivate viewers.

Ten is replacing it with a new Jamie Oliver series, Jamie & Jimmy's Food Fight Club, in which Oliver and farmer Jimmy Doherty open a "pop-up cafe" and serve up "the best of British food".

The indulgent food on offer includes a "banana and Baileys" bread and butter pudding, steak and stout pie, an "Anglo-French toastie", sausages and fishcakes.

The Biggest Loser, now in its ninth season in Australia, has so far failed to pull in significant viewing figures, struggling against more popular reality shows such as Seven's My Kitchen Rules and Nine's The Block.

However, it is hard to understand why moving the finale at this late stage would be an option, given it is likely to enrage the show's loyal viewers.

A Ten spokeswoman said the move was made to reach a family audience and "to give viewers the finale of The Biggest Loser: Challenge Australia as one special event".

However, the decision comes as Ten is battling record audience lows. The network has just posted its worst weekly audience share for prime time on record, just 13.8 per cent, a figure which puts it behind the ABC and well behind the two market leaders, Seven and Nine.

Sidelining a show like The Biggest Loser from its established timeslot is not necessarily a direct by-product of the bigger ratings malaise Ten is facing, but may suggest the network is struggling to write revenue into those key prime-time hours that the series currently occupies.

It also comes as the US version of the series is posting record ratings lows.

The 15th US season premiere last October was 27 per cent down on the preceding season premiere. It posted a similar drop for its season finale in January, shedding around one fifth of the audience from the previous season finale.

- with staff reporters