The ABC’s political chat-fest has plunged to disastrous levels, drawing just 224,000 viewers on Thursday night

Despite high-profile guests and no AFL match to compete with, the political panel show has hit rock bottom in the ratings.

Hamish Macdonald on Q&A.

The ABC’s political talkfest Q+A continues to nosedive, recording its lowest-ever ratings on Thursday night.

Just 224,000 viewers across the five major capital cities tuned in to the show, heightening speculation that the national broadcaster will be forced to dump its Thursday 8.30pm timeslot and shift it to another night — perhaps its former 9.30pm Monday slot — in the hope it can regain its lost audience.

This week’s show boasted a high-profile panel including former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young and the Dow Chemical Company’s chief executive officer and chairman Andrew Liveris.

It was also the first Thursday night in the past six weeks that the program had not squared off against a live AFL broadcast, thus giving the ABC show ample opportunity to attract more viewers than usual.

On Thursday night the show fell even lower than its previous worst-ever five city metro viewership on April 4, when it managed to attract just 228,000 viewers.

It also failed to make the top 20 free-to-air programs, plunging to position 27.

According to ratings company OzTAM, in March 2012 Q+A was drawing more than 600,000 viewers an episode when former host, ABC journalist Tony Jones, was spearheading the program.

There was fiery debate on Thursday’s night panel that predominantly focused on climate change and the nation’s emission targets.

Ms Hanson-Young and fellow panellist Mr Liveris had heated discussion and the Greens Senator labelled him “patronising” as he explained fossil fuels.

The show’s Hamish Macdonald asked the panellists to “try and keep it respectful” before Mr Liveris accused Ms Hanson-Young of “yelling” at him.

Mr Liveris told host Hamish Macdonald: “Let me teach you a new term, fossil feedstock”.

To which Studio 10’s Neralda Jacobs interjected: “Let me teach you a term, if you believe there’s a future in fossil fuels then you are a fossil fool”.

The crowd responded with applause and Mr Liveris replied: “I take that as a badge of honour that you would call me that.”

ABC Breakfast TV presenter Michael Rowland on Friday morning tweeted to his 110,000 followers a clip showing the fiery exchanges, writing: “This is breathtaking …#qanda.”

Macdonald took over hosting duties on Q+A last year and the show was moved away from 9.30pm on Monday to 8.30pm on Thursday, but the timeslot shift has proven to be a ratings disaster.

ABC director of entertainment and specialist division Michael Carrington previously said the show was moved because “we’ve discovered that audiences now look for content elsewhere around 9pm.”

The ABC has been contacted for comment.