Fox’s ‘Utopia’ ratings tumble further in first Friday airing

Has the TV audience decided it doesn’t want to live in “Utopia”?

It’s beginning to look that way. Fox’s heavily promoted reality show about 15 people trying to rebuild a “perfect society” while locked away from routine civilization plummeted to its lowest rating yet on Friday, according to Nielsen.

The show drew just 2 million total viewers at 8 p.m.

Let’s put that in perspective. NBC delivered 3 million in the same time slot with the outdoors reality adventure “Running Wild with Bear Grylls” and ABC notched 4.5 million with two episodes of Tim Allen’s sitcom “Last Man Standing.” And those were all repeats.

Furthermore, “Utopia” premiered Sunday to 4.6 million total viewers - which means it’s lost more than half its audience in under a week.

Another underperforming reality show would hardly be Earth-shattering news, but then “Utopia” isn’t just another “I Wanna Marry Harry” (the gimmicky show about a fake British royal that Fox quickly pulled earlier this summer).

“Utopia” was created by John De Mol, the Dutch TV master behind such hits as “Big Brother” and “The Voice.” And it came with a reported $50-million price tag. Fox has denied that it’s quite that expensive, but admits the show is costlier than the usual reality fare.

Fox points out that “Utopia” gained another 20% in audience from Sunday’s initial ratings, as young adults watched the premiere over the next three days on DVR.

But even so, “Utopia” is beginning to look like the kind of flop a broadcast network can’t afford.

What do you think of “Utopia”?

Twitter: @scottcollinsLAT