BB FANS

'Boring' Big Brother 'to be scrapped by Channel 4' after ratings disaster
Mail

Big Brother to be axed by Channel 4
Broadcaster expected to confirm today that reality show will be dropped after 11th series in 2010

Mark Sweney


Inside the Big Brother 10 house. Photograph: Channel 4/Rex Features

Channel 4 is expected to confirm today that it will axe Big Brother after a decade following next summer's 11th series.

It is understood the broadcaster will announce that it is not renewing Big Brother producer Endemol's deal for the reality show at its autumn programming launch this morning.

Another series of Celebrity Big Brother is also likely to be broadcast in January before Channel 4's association with the show comes to an end, according to a report in today's Sun.

Channel 4 is locked into a £180m three-year deal with Endemol which means an 11th and final series will air next year before the curtain is drawn on the show that made household names of housemates such as Jade Goody.

At its peak Big Brother was hauling in audiences of up to 8 million in 2002, the year Goody was a contestant and the show was won by Kate Lawler.

At the height of its success, from 2002 to around 2006, Big Brother generated £88m of revenue a year, of which about £68m was profit.

However, Channel 4 is understood to have struggled to make as much money from the show since striking the £180m renewal deal with Endemol in 2006. Channel 4 had its hand forced to some extent in negotiations by the threat of ITV stepping in to snatch the show.

Big Brother also became a victim of its own success as far and away Channel 4's most commercially successful show, with critics using it to argue that the broadcaster was straying from its public service remit.

However, audiences and advertising revenues have dropped off in recent years, particularly since the Shilpa Shetty race row that engulfed Celebrity Big Brother and Channel 4 in early 2007.

This summer's 10th series has been averaging around 2 million viewers, down more than 30% year on year.

However, Big Brother is unlikely to disappear from UK TV screens, with another broadcaster expected to step in to pick up the rights from Endemol.

Big Brother was axed in Australia last year but has enjoyed something of a ratings renaissance in the US this summer, a market in which the format has not traditionally done well.

The current series of Channel 4 reality show Big Brother is the least watched of any of its 10 seasons so far, according to ratings figures.

Viewing figures up until the end of July show that Big Brother 10 averaged 2 million viewers and a 10.1% audience share on the main Channel 4 network. This is down 33% year on year, for the show's first 53 days on air, between 4 June and last Sunday 26 July.

Among the key advertiser-friendly 16- to 34-year-old demographic, the average figures for the series so far stand at 700,000 viewers and a 16.7% share.
guardian

Channel 4 confirms Big Brother will be axed
LONDON - Big Brother will disappear from Channel 4 after next summer after the broadcaster confirmed next year's series of Celebrity Big Brother and Big Brother would be the last to air on the network.

As part of a wide-ranging shake-up of its programming, Channel 4 has opted not to renew its rights deal for Big Brother with Endemol when its contract ends in 2010.

Channel 4 said the decision will free up to 200 first-run hours in peak time across Channel 4 and E4 from 2011, as well as millions of pounds for original commissions.

Kevin Lygo, director of television and content at Channel 4, said the decision not to recommission Big Brother "had been dictated more by creative considerations than commercial ones".

He said: "Big Brother is still profitable for Channel 4 despite its reduced popularity and there could have been the option to renew it on more favourable terms. That's what a purely commercial broadcaster would have done, but Channel 4 has a public remit to champion new forms of creativity. That remit to push the boundaries has been an essential part of the weird chemistry behind Big Brother's success, but it's now what is telling us that the programme has reached a natural end point on Channel 4 and it's time to move on."

He added that cancelling Big Brother "does not solve Channel 4's funding issues; this year we've nearly £125m less to spend on programmes than we did a couple of years ago and budgets for next year may have to be reduced further".

But he said that assuming ad revenues stop deteriorating it should now have greater flexibility in its programming budget.

Channel 4 said it was not looking for a like-for-like replacement for Big Brother but "for lots of new ways to refresh the schedule".

It said it was hoping to commission "some entertainment-led stunts and events to maintain a sense of fun about its summer schedule" as well as more comedy.
Brand Republic

Big Brother Final Series

Channel 4's final series of reality TV show Big Brother will be broadcast next year, it was announced today.

Channel 4's director of television Kevin Lygo said the show "had reached a natural end point on Channel 4 and it's time to move on".

Big Brother has suffered from falling ratings in recent years, with the current run the least watched.

The latest series has picked up about two million viewers per show, compared with an audience high of eight million in 2002.

Channel 4 head Julian Bellamy said: "Big Brother has been our most influential and popular programme over the last decade."

But he added that "inevitably we're both excited and ever-so-slightly terrified by the prospect of getting by without it".

He added that the loss of Big Brother would leave a "huge hole" in the station's schedules, but would prompt "the most fundamental creative overhaul" in Channel 4 history.

The broadcaster said it has already started to allocate funds which would have been spent on Big Brother into new drama.

Big Brother also spawned a celebrity spin-off, with one more series expected to be screened at the beginning of 2011.
waveguide.co.uk

C4 Says Goodbye to BB




Channel 4 has announced today that it will not be renewing its rights deal for Big Brother when its contract with programme maker Endemol ends in 2010. This means that next year's series of Big Brother and Celebrity Big Brother will be the last on Channel 4.

Kevin Lygo, Director of Television and Content, said the decision not to recommission Big Brother had been dictated more by creative considerations than commercial ones. He explained: "Big Brother is still profitable for Channel 4 despite its reduced popularity and there could have been the option to renew it on more favourable terms. That's what a purely commercial broadcaster would have done, but Channel 4 has a public remit to champion new forms of creativity. That remit to push the boundaries has been an essential part of the weird chemistry behind Big Brother's success, but it's now what is telling us that the programme has reached a natural end point on Channel 4 and it's time to move on."

Julian Bellamy, Head of Channel 4 added, "Big Brother has been our most influential and popular programme over the last decade. It's been hugely innovative in its own right, has provoked a really astonishing level of public debate and has been an underappreciated showcase for social diversity and youth culture. Its success has also helped support an extraordinary range of creativity across Channel 4; inevitably we're both excited and ever-so-slightly terrified by the prospect of getting by without it.

"We're very grateful to everyone at Endemol who has worked so hard to keep the show fresh and engaging for so long and to the viewers who have remained loyal to the programme and who will be disappointed by our decision. The final series will be an opportunity to give Big Brother an appropriate send-off and celebrate one of the most extraordinary programmes not just in the history of Channel 4 but of TV in general."

Philip Edgar Jones, Creative Director of Big Brother adds: "On behalf of the whole Big Brother team who work so hard I would like to say a big thank you to all the show's fans and housemates for helping us ensure it remains the biggest show on Channel 4 even after all these years. Big thanks also to Channel 4 for all their support in what continues to be a great partnership. We'll be back next year and it's going to be a blast... and after that, well, Big Brother will get back to you, you can count on it."
Ch4

It's a sad day but I think we all saw it coming. The show has gone down hill since series 5. It's a shame that they can't end it with this one as it has been the best for a long while.

This was bound to happen. The format is tired, viewers just aren't interested in it any more and the revenue must have been steadily falling for years now. It's no longer the cash cow it once was, and I for one, while sad to see it go, won't be following it to any other channel. For me, it will always be a C4 show, fronted by Davina and anything else would be a pale imitation.

I thought I'd be more bothered by the news, but the truth is I'm past caring about the show

last year was the first time I didn't feel guilty about missing an episode of the show. Which has led to me barely watching this year's run.

I think the show could survive a few years on another channel (ITV2, some Sky red button thingy), but I think it's had it's day.

the writing was on the wall when even the Daily Star weren't interested in running BB stories on their front page, which they had been doing since BB3

heck even The Sun started to look down on it

I stand by what's written in my signature, the show lost it after it jumped the shark

Davina to front Sky 1 dance series
www.broadcastnow

Robin Parker

As the broadcaster prepares to wind down Big Brother, summer 2011 can’t come fast enough for Robin Parker.
www.broadcastnow

Davina dodges Big Brother axing

Davina McCall has rescued her sinking TV career to become the host of a huge new dance show, just as the final nails were put in the coffin of her beloved Big Brother.

Metro