[Amy]

Big Brother 5 will launch immediately after the final episode of Friends.

Channel 4 will be hoping that the Friends finale draws in millions of extra viewers.

Ratings dropped for the Big Brother final of the fourth series last year following criticism that the contestants were boring.

For the first time since Channel 4 started showing Big Brother, the final attracted fewer viewers than the debut show.

A spokeswoman said the timing of the Friends finale was a "very happy coincidence".

Fans of Friends in the US waved goodbye to Rachel, Phoebe, Monica, Joey, Chandler and Ross last Thursday.

Big Brother 5 begins at 10pm on Friday May 28.

Article Ananova

[Amy]

This is from media guardian, to view article you must subscribe!!

here's a quote!

Channel 4 will give this year's Big Brother every chance of getting off to a flying start, by scheduling the launch show after the last ever episode of Friends later this month.
But after that Big Brother, the original reality hit, could find itself coming face to face with a young pretender, in the form of ITV1's Hell's Kitchen.

Channel 4 will launch Big Brother 5 at 10pm on Friday May 28, immediately after the 60-minute final episode of hit US sitcom Friends has been broadcast.

Viewers are expected to flock to bid farewell to Ross, Rachel, Joey, Chandler, Monica and Phoebe in the last ever Friends, which could double its normal Friday night Channel 4 audience of 3.5-4 million viewers.

The Friends finale was broadcast on NBC in the US last Thursday and attracted 52 million viewers - the biggest audience on American TV for any entertainment show for six years, since the last episode of Seinfeld was watched by nearly 80 million.

Big Brother's launch episode was watched by 6.9 million viewers last year.

Channel 4 and Big Brother producer Endemol UK will be looking for a boost in the show's audience from Friends, after viewing figures dropped for last year's fourth series, compared with the ratings high of 2002.

Big Brother 4 last year averaged around 4.5 million viewers - a million less than the series average for 2002. However, the 2003 show's ratings were still above those for the first two series in 2000 and 2001.

Last year's Big Brother attracted criticism that the ratings were not as good because the choice of housemates made for boring viewing.

The Friends finale on May 28 will go head to head from 9pm with ITV1's new reality show, Hell's Kitchen, which will feature Gordon Ramsay attempting to lick 10 celebrities into shape as top notch chefs.

[Amy]

And there's also this from Sky...

BIG BROTHER 5 LAUNCH

Big Brother 5 will launch immediately after the final episode of Friends, it has been revealed.

Channel 4 will be hoping that the Friends finale draws in millions of extra viewers.


Ratings dropped for the Big Brother final of the fourth series last year following criticism that the contestants were boring.

For the first time since Channel 4 started showing Big Brother, the final attracted fewer viewers than the debut show.

A spokeswoman said the timing of the Friends finale was a "very happy coincidence".

Fans of Friends in the US waved goodbye to Rachel, Phoebe, Monica, Joey, Chandler and Ross last Thursday.

Big Brother 5 begins at 10pm on Friday May 28.
Article here

[craig619]

i really hope this BB is going to be worth all of the hype being put on it by the producers...

[Sticks]

Sorry but according to form, we will be saying how great BB4 was compared to BB5

[craig619]

i wouldn't go that far. but for some reason though i think were gonna be pleasantly surprised this year...

[liliacqueen]

we will ave to wait n see bt i bet it wnt be worth d hype