[Mickey2009]

From Digital Spy

Q&A: Channel 4 executives on 'BB' axe
Day 84, 12:21 BST

By Dan French, TV Reporter


Earlier today, Channel 4 confirmed that next year's Big Brother will be its final series with the broadcaster. Below is a transcript of the Q&A session with Channel 4's director of television and content, Kevin Lygo, and the channel's head, Julian Bellamy.

Is this the end of Big Brother on Channel 4 or could it be rested for a couple of years then come back?
Lygo: "This is it - remember it's owned by Endemol so whatever they do with it once we retire it is their business really. It's not going to be on Channel 4 again in the foreseeable future."

Why are you dropping it? Is it just the ratings drop?
Lygo: "It's been on for long enough. If we were taking it purely on commercial grounds, we could renegotiate the price and keep it going. But it's so important to Channel 4 to keep reinventing itself, so in one swoop you can give yourself so much chance and opportunity for new programming by the cancellation of one show, that that outweighs the benefits of keeping it going. Of course, ratings have gone down a bit, but it's still better than our average. It's not the highest rated show on the channel, but it nearly is. It still performs - commercially - very effectively. If it was getting 4 or 5 million viewers, we might think again. Therefore, the sensible thing to do is to move on. Millions of people watch it every night and they're going to be disappointed. But somebody else might pick it up."

Is the show still making money for you? Are you at risk of committing commercial suicide?
Lygo: "No. It is still commercially viable - absolutely. But I think it's at a level now where if you're optimistic and hopeful that the new programmes we commission can do as well as Big Brother, then that would be extraordinary. The Channel 4 audience is different to other channels. We owe it to them to keep an eye out for new stuff. It is a gamble, but this channel has always gambled commercially. That will force us all to come up with new programmes. It's a commercial risk, but one that I'm sure is worth taking."

How much do you spend on it?
Lygo: "Lots and lots."

Did the Jade Goody race row kill Big Brother?
Bellamy: "No, I don't think so. It's been on television a long time. There was no indication from viewers that [the race row] made them stop watching Big Brother. It's been on for ten years, which is unlike anything else on Channel 4, and I think viewers are just hungry for new things. That's a challenge for producers and I'm confident that they can come up with new stuff. It gives us a chance to attack the last series with extra vigour because we know it will be the last one."

How much is the programme budget going up by?
Lygo: "The subtle point is that advertising revenues are going down, so we will have less money in 2011 than we did in 2010 and than we did in 2009. But in a sense, if you want to have money to spend, you have to attack the big costs. And the big costs in this business are the long-running programmes. So what this does is frees up money that is already in there - extra money, if you like. But how much? In excess of £50m."

How many new programmes are you looking for?
Bellamy: "Beyond saying that we want specific things like drama - which we are devoted to - at this point, we're starting the firing pistol and saying we want the next generation of shows. We don't know which ones, or which shape or size they'll come in."

Lygo: "When you go to producers - particularly in an environment where they are suffering too - and you say, 'Right, what I want is a four-part series on the police and it's got to cost £150,000/hour', you're never going to get anything that interesting. You need to relax, and let people come up with the ideas they have."

Are you actively trying to appeal to young people again?
Lygo: "We've never gone out and said, 'Let's get some young people' - because you can get in trouble for chasing teenagers! - but you have to bear in mind that there's a sense of the event. The summer always does well on Channel 4 and Big Brother isn't going to be there. The challenge is to cover some of that ground. You don't just want to do programmes on ageing monarchs - you need to do things that will appeal to some people. That's why one of the things we're looking at is a long-running comedy-soap to pick up some of the slack."

Do you think that you contributed to the death of Big Brother when you axed the live feed?
Bellamy: "No, is the answer. Partly because the reason why the streaming was dropped was simply a result of not many people wanting to watch it."

How did Endemol react?
Lygo: "Three people jumped off the roof. No, they were very good about it. We've both had a glorious run, and we've worked very closely with them so this didn't come as a shock. I think they behaved impeccably and understood. It's been a huge part of everyone's lives but what they intend to do with the show is really their business."

Might some of this extra money find its way into the acquisitions budget?
Lygo: "It may well do for E4. Because it's so many hours to fill, I think E4 will be looking at acquisitions. Comedy, drama, everything."

How regular will the comedy-soap be? Weekly?
Lygo: "We don't know yet. We don't want to lose a lot of young, entertainment-based viewers from Big Brother, so we're looking at something like this which hasn't been done by any other channel. A show that wouldn't look out of place on HBO. Now we've got a period of 18 months to go to producers and tell them it's an opportunity to do something. But I'd say that it should be more than once a week for a big burst of the schedule. It might be two times a week, three times - I don't know. It depends on the cost, it depends on the idea... It won't be a six part series - there's no point in doing that. We can do that in other ways. I think the goal is to get something which you can run for large parts of the year - if it's successful - but at the start you say, 'Let's run maybe 20 parts of this exciting new thing'."

Will it be aimed at a Skins-type audience?
Lygo: "I wouldn't say it's that targeted. When you think at what we've made in the past from Teachers to Green Wing to Shameless... A lot of people, if you asked them, would say that Shameless is a comedy. I think it's going to be in that broad zone but it's going to work only if there's passion and commitment in the writing/producing team."

Are you worried that another channel is going to pick up Big Brother?
Lygo: "No. Do I think they will? Probably. And I'm pleased as a viewer."

[ElProximo]

Well there it is.
Maybe C4 can spend some of that money on more antichristian series or create a sort of 'soap opera comedy' that will feature a house full of flamboyant camp gays and transsexuals?

Strange as it seems - I wish they would not make a BB11. I dread it will be even worse than BB10 and we all leave with the worst of memories instead of the good ones had it ended at Rachel Rices winning night.

Mind you..BB11 is more likely that All-Stars season (including celebrity all-stars) and I even suppose it will be a short season. 8 weeks nice and quick.

[Taijitu]

Originally posted by ElProximo
Well there it is.
Maybe C4 can spend some of that money on more antichristian series or create a sort of 'soap opera comedy' that will feature a house full of flamboyant camp gays and transsexuals?

Strange as it seems - I wish they would not make a BB11. I dread it will be even worse than BB10 and we all leave with the worst of memories instead of the good ones had it ended at Rachel Rices winning night.

Mind you..BB11 is more likely that All-Stars season (including celebrity all-stars) and I even suppose it will be a short season. 8 weeks nice and quick.

Yes. On the other hand you never know. Marcus may just manage to win this one and it will go out with the best memories of the most deserving winner in the show's history.