Discussions between Richard Desmond and Endemol UK over acquiring the rights to Big Brother are understood to have stalled, with the Channel 5 owner thought to be looking at alternatives including a new reality format from the hit show's co-creator John De Mol, MediaGuardian.co.uk can reveal.
MediaGuardian.co.uk reported a month ago that Desmond was in talks with Endemol about taking Big Brother to Channel 5.
However, it is understood that the negotiations have ground to a halt just as a deal was close to being signed.
"The deal was quite far down the track, it was virtually agreed and then the negotiations went cold," said one source with knowledge of the situation.
Another source said Channel 5 had also held discussions with De Mol, the co-creator of Big Brother, about buying a new format called The Golden Cage.
The format, which is an observational entertainment series, is thought to have the potential to run all year round. The Golden Cage was the original concept and working title for what became Big Brother, which De Mol co-created at Endemol in the late 1990s.
The name has now been revived for a different reality format made by De Mol's new production company, Talpa Media. The new format puts 10 contestants in a luxury villa living the life of millionaires for an indefinite period, with no nominations or voting.
Contestants either walk out or are evicted for behaviour deemed unacceptable by the producers and the last one remaining gets a large cash prize. The format ran for more than 18 months on Dutch TV.
Talpa describes The Golden Cage as "the first reality soap... the world's first open-ended unscripted reality series".
The source did not believe that Channel 5 would commission both shows and thought that a Big Brother deal may not be revived. "Channel 4 comprehensively ended Big Brother, the timing of the deal should have been done on the day it was finally done on Channel 4 for publicity purposes," said the source. "But as far as I understand it negotiations failed."
Desmond is said to be planning to announce as many as five major new programming commissions in the next month or so, to significantly bolster Channel 5's programming lineup going into next year.
Speculation that Desmond would quickly snap up Big Brother, which finished its decade-long run on Channel 4 earlier this month, to boost Channel 5's sagging ratings has been rife since the owner of Express Newspapers completed a £103m takeover of the broadcaster in July.
Desmond has committed about £1.5bn over the next five years to "go toe-to-toe with the biggest players in the TV world" with Big Brother seen as a timely fit that still pulled in audiences seen as a respectable size for Channel 5's scale.
Endemol is understood to have extended its contract with Elstree, the studio where Big Brother is filmed.
De Mol, who originally co-founded Endemol in the 1990s, was linked with a bid for Channel 5 through his investment company Cyrte Investments and Greek broadcaster Antenna. The theory was that De Mol would provide content for Channel 5 if the bid was successful. He may yet still do so.
Endemol and a spokeswoman for Richard Desmond and Channel 5 declined to comment.
