[Tom]

Originally posted by Brekkie

Mmmm - it doesn't frequently win it's slot anymore and hasn't since BB7. Most shows this weeks have been third behind ITV1 and BBC1, while in the summer whether at 9pm or 10pm the show rarely won the slot. A few years ago it would regularly win the 10pm slot, or at worse be a close second to the 10 o'clock News.


It's less about ratings and more about cost nowadays - and shows are getting dropped left right and centre due to them not being financially viable, and with BB's current ratings, lack of permanent sponsor and loss of voting revenue it's not the cash cow it once was - and for the £30m or so it costs C4 a year they could just about do without it. They may lose viewers in a few slots, but that would be offset by making cheaper programming.

It did frequently win its slot and it has been consistently second or third so far this year. Ratings overall don't really mean anything. Advertisers are only interested in 16-34 year olds as they are the best market to, and this age group are hard to get hold of in TV. Big Brother consistently draws the most, or at worst the third most 16-34 year olds every day. Would Channel 4 really risk that? Also some of the Big Brother related shows on E4 are some of the highest performing multichannel shows. And given the amount of air time, the cost and the viewers, it is more than justified and probably would be with just 2m viewers.