[zakman440]

And a shake up of the voting system has been discussed:

He said the format requires “creative renewal” and Endemol Shine UK chief executive Richard Johnston told Broadcast this is already under way.

“We are totally committed to working with Ben and his team and making Big Brother as brilliant and relevant as it can possibly be. We have some of the best creative brains in the business looking at not only next year but the next 10 years, in terms of creative direction. There are some really exciting ideas being discussed,” he said.

One former Big Brother exec producer suggested the producers need to overhaul the “outdated” voting system to bring fans closer to the show. Insiders believe that Frow’s public comments may bring forward negotiations about the show’s future.

For all Frow’s tough talk, cancelling Big Brother would leave C5 with a vast hole in its schedule. Last year, the Viacom-owned broadcaster aired 69 episodes of Celebrity Big Brother and 51 episodes of the ‘civilian’ show, as well as 87 hours of the Bit On The Side spinoff, totalling 211 hours. Celebrity Big Brother accounted for 39 of the channel’s top 50 highest-rating programmes of 2016.

One entertainment indie exec mused: “I can’t imagine what he thinks will play for 100 hours at 9pm. Maybe he’ll show 60 series of Rich House, Poor House?”

Broadcast