[brohoe]

Channel 4 and Endemol have declared war on “wannabe” Big Brother contestants and are promising a “funny but evil” ninth series.


This year, a record 16 contestants will enter the house during the launch night’s 100-minute show, four more than usual. C4 has again committed to a 13 week-run, despite calls for a shorter series to avoid interest waning as it did in last year’s under-performing series, which plumbed record low average ratings of 3.9 million.

We’ve been very careful with casting this year and there are some characters of the like you’ve never seen before.

In an echo of series 3 and 5, when BB turned “bad” and divided the house into rich and poor halves, executive producer Phil Edgar-Jones told Broadcast Magazine that the new series would be “funny but evil”.

“We’ve told the housemates it will be full-on and there will be no leeway,” he said. “We’re getting tougher on wannabes and on the causes of wannabes. We’ve been very careful with casting this year and there are some characters of the like you’ve never seen before. These are not your typical screaming wannabes but people with a bit of depth, from different backgrounds. We want conflict but we don’t want endless shouting.”

E4 head and Big Brother commissioning editor Angela Jain said that Celebrity Hijack, the E4 spin-off that replaced Celebrity Big Brother in January and featured contestants with individual talents, had reminded the producers of the need for diverse housemates and to refresh the show as often as possible during its run.

“BB has the capacity to reinvent itself time after time and it isn’t in our interests to just churn it out. People are self-selecting and think we want a particular kind of person [as a housemate]. Our producers have to find the real person underneath,” she said.

The latest series will air as C4 attempts to emphasise its public service credentials to secure £150m a year from the public purse. BB has been the whipping boy for critics of C4’s output, but Jain stressed that the show reflected the broadcaster’s creative risk-taking, while Edgar-Jones repeated Peter Bazalgette’s earlier claims that the flexible format can confront social issues, “almost by accident”.

The commercial pressure on the show is also intense. Simon Bevan, head of TV at media agency Vizeum, said: “It’s been more under wraps than usual to build anticipation, and C4 needs it to do well this year. Without it, we’d see significant inflation [in ad prices], which will be tough in the current economic climate.”

Mindshare head of audio-visual Paul Rowlinson was pessimistic about its prospects: “Big Brother is mass-market and the only thing that helps C4 to rival ITV1, but there’s less of a feeling of an event each year. If it performs as well as last year that would be fine, but the feeling is that ratings will probably be down.”

SOURCE : IBB
LINK:http://www.insidebigbrother.net/news...r-wannabes.php

[rhombus92]

okay. this series is sounding good, and they are right, they need to remind viewers that it isnt same old same old. that is what we seem to have for the last 2 years, and this series needs to be refreshing and get back to the core values. this is their biggest show and one of the biggest of the decade. they need this series spot on, with mahusive viewing figures.

[Cody™]

This year is gonna be great! Cannot wait for launch.

[brohoe]

The launch should be good then, more bigger and spectaular than ever.

Expect MASS advertising in say 3 days to go

I think they will also advertise more with in the series

[*mazedsalv**]

This sounds awesome. Im so glad that Channel 4 is fighting so much for BB, as its the highest rated C4 show.

[Sam]

Originally posted by *mazedsalv**
This sounds awesome. Im so glad that Channel 4 is fighting so much for BB, as its the highest rated C4 show.

I agree, it was about time they realized that they can't just throw a BB series out there with boring housemates and let 13 weeks go by. I'm glad they're taking it really seriously this time.

[BigBrotherfan4ever]

This is sounding fantastic

[andybigbro]

Thanks for posting..
Icant wait
It should be really great!!!

[Ruth*Star]

Thanks for posting, It should be great this year.

[Spike]

Sounds great, I have high hopes for this series now

[*mazedsalv**]

Im trying to keep my hopes low just in case lol

[lolester]

omg omg omg

[supernoodles!]

it all sounds fantastic to me i cant wait

[Jaaaack.]

Thank God. He actually exsists

It's great to see C4 Making a huge effort to keep the show one of the best on during summer. I mean the advertising campaign this year has been huge; people who don't even watch it are talking, WHICH is amazingly good.



x

[*mazedsalv**]

Originally posted by Jaaaack.
Thank God. He actually exsists

It's great to see C4 Making a huge effort to keep the show one of the best on during summer. I mean the advertising campaign this year has been huge; people who don't even watch it are talking, WHICH is amazingly good.



x

Really? Do you know people that dont watch it and are talking about it?Thats well cool. It would be really great for people who dont watch it start watching it this series.

[BritneyMajorFan]

Can't Wait! I'm getting hyped up!

[Jaaaack.]

Yerr lolz; Loads, most of my friends hate it. But this year they are considering watching it because of the Ad's and all that.


And So yerr! BB9 is set to be amazing

x

[Glenn.]

Cannot wait!

[OZR]

war on “wannabe” about time

[Mickster]

Wooo! I cant wait! Roll on BB9, Hope there is an in depth hosue tour, better than ever, hope opening has a hevy glass theme x

[*mazedsalv**]

Come on BB9!!!

[bigbrotherproduction]

i no one of the 8 twists big brother has if u wanna no just ask

[VicKyyKciV]

i cant wait either, but my mum and dad have condemned me to my bedroom to watch it as they can't stand it, they have no taste.

[brohoe]

Originally posted by bigbrotherproduction
i no one of the 8 twists big brother has if u want to no just ask

k,

what is one of the 8 twists big brother has ?

[SexualHeroics]

No wannabes. lol