Leigh Holmwood
Monday August 7, 2006
MediaGuardian.co.uk
ITV is plotting an audacious swoop for Big Brother in a bid to arrest its ratings decline.
Simon Shaps, the ITV director of television, is understood to have begun courting Endemol, before formal negotiations for a new Big Brother contract begin later this year.
Channel 4 has owned the rights to the hit reality format since it began in the UK seven years ago, but it does not have a rolling contract with Endemol and negotiations for the next deal are expected to begin from the autumn.
The move by Mr Shaps is a recognition that ITV's concerted effort to break Big Brother's summer ratings dominance this year has failed, with reality show Love Island often winning only around 2 million viewers in head-to-head battles - half of what its Channel 4 rival pulls in.
A source familiar with the situation said Mr Shaps would put up an "almighty fight" to win the format.
"Simon is desperate to buy it," the source said. "He is going to put up an almighty fight for it.
"Big Brother is with Channel 4 at the moment and Endemol is quite happy with them but technically it has no home after next year. When it comes to pure financial muscle, ITV could probably beat Channel 4."
The source added that the format had become more valuable this year following ITV's failure to dent its ratings.
However, an ITV spokeswoman denied that any formal approach to Endemol had been made regarding Big Brother.
Channel 4 will not let its most commercially successful show go without a fight and is understood to have a clause in its contract that allows it to match any offer a rival might make.
But even if Mr Shaps is unsuccessful in snatching Big Brother, he will hope to force Channel 4 to pay more for the show by sparking a bidding war.
Big Brother has become increasingly important to Channel 4 - not only does it pull in large numbers of 16- to 34-year-olds during the traditionally slow summer months to both its main channel and digital spin-off E4, it also brings in a large proportion of the money used to fund more serious fare, such as news programming.
Channel 4 paid a reported £40m for a four-year deal for all UK rights to Big Brother - broadcast and online - in 2002, which was succeeded by a two-year deal last year.
