[Patrick]

Discussions between Richard Desmond and Endemol UK over acquiring the rights to Big Brother are understood to have stalled, with the Channel 5 owner thought to be looking at alternatives including a new reality format from the hit show's co-creator John De Mol, MediaGuardian.co.uk can reveal.

MediaGuardian.co.uk reported a month ago that Desmond was in talks with Endemol about taking Big Brother to Channel 5.

However, it is understood that the negotiations have ground to a halt just as a deal was close to being signed.

"The deal was quite far down the track, it was virtually agreed and then the negotiations went cold," said one source with knowledge of the situation.

Another source said Channel 5 had also held discussions with De Mol, the co-creator of Big Brother, about buying a new format called The Golden Cage.

The format, which is an observational entertainment series, is thought to have the potential to run all year round. The Golden Cage was the original concept and working title for what became Big Brother, which De Mol co-created at Endemol in the late 1990s.

The name has now been revived for a different reality format made by De Mol's new production company, Talpa Media. The new format puts 10 contestants in a luxury villa living the life of millionaires for an indefinite period, with no nominations or voting.

Contestants either walk out or are evicted for behaviour deemed unacceptable by the producers and the last one remaining gets a large cash prize. The format ran for more than 18 months on Dutch TV.

Talpa describes The Golden Cage as "the first reality soap... the world's first open-ended unscripted reality series".

The source did not believe that Channel 5 would commission both shows and thought that a Big Brother deal may not be revived. "Channel 4 comprehensively ended Big Brother, the timing of the deal should have been done on the day it was finally done on Channel 4 for publicity purposes," said the source. "But as far as I understand it negotiations failed."

Desmond is said to be planning to announce as many as five major new programming commissions in the next month or so, to significantly bolster Channel 5's programming lineup going into next year.

Speculation that Desmond would quickly snap up Big Brother, which finished its decade-long run on Channel 4 earlier this month, to boost Channel 5's sagging ratings has been rife since the owner of Express Newspapers completed a £103m takeover of the broadcaster in July.

Desmond has committed about £1.5bn over the next five years to "go toe-to-toe with the biggest players in the TV world" with Big Brother seen as a timely fit that still pulled in audiences seen as a respectable size for Channel 5's scale.

Endemol is understood to have extended its contract with Elstree, the studio where Big Brother is filmed.

De Mol, who originally co-founded Endemol in the 1990s, was linked with a bid for Channel 5 through his investment company Cyrte Investments and Greek broadcaster Antenna. The theory was that De Mol would provide content for Channel 5 if the bid was successful. He may yet still do so.

Endemol and a spokeswoman for Richard Desmond and Channel 5 declined to comment.

'Worlds first open non scripted reality series?'

What the ****** do you call The Real World then Endemol you bellends.

If I'm honest, on one hand I'm quite happy the UK is getting a Real World show like the US has and it sounds abit better because there's a prize and it's on all year around.

BUT, No way on earth should Big Brother be put aside for this?

I mean, come on just ******ing air The Real World USA in the UK then, you do it with every other programme in America!

It's heart breaking that they were SO SO SO close to making a deal


I know this has been posted btw but no one pointed this part out.

[ILoveTRW]

could never be as good

[Patrick]

Originally Posted by ILoveTRW

could never be as good

Depends.

Reasons it could be good,

It goes on longer and it's set in the UK which means we don't have to watch it online
There's a prize fund, so we could set ALOT of tactics.


Reasons it may not be as good,

There isn't McKenzie Coburn, The whole year+ long thing could either do it a world of good or people will get bored of it.
Also, 'Housemates may be evicted due to behaviour deemed unacceptable by the producers' assuming these are the same PC Bastards that drove Big Brother into the ground, any sign of entertaiment and it'll be broken up and half the cast chucked out.

I'm just gobsmacked by what they said 'The worlds first unscripted Reality Soap Show' or something, isn't that exactly what TRW has been for years?

[DigitalMethod]

Sounds Boring. Dated. Unoriginal. ...an EPIC FAIL Waiting to happen.

Ima have to cut a bitch.

[Ithinkiloveyoutoo]

Loved the real world!! It was there before Big bro after all but I wouldn't be as interested in a UK version as I live here and it wouldnt feel like a far away world.

[reece(:]

Lol obviously the original competitors won't last till the end.

[Tom]

The Golden Cage isn't The Real World, its Big Brother but without any nominations, any evictions and no set finish date. The winner is the last man (or woman) standing, in theory it can go on forever

[Strictly Jake]

sounds awful

[iRyan]

It sounds good but the fact that it could go on for so long means that people will most likely get bored of it and seeing the same characters. Say there are 3 people left, it would get boring just watching 3 people interact for what could be months.

They should just air RW in the UK.

[Strictly Jake]

I havent ever seen the real world. What is it?

[iRyan]

Although, it could be interesting, because the housemates appearently use different tactics to try and get others to quit by provoking them.

The show was supposed to come to the US in 2007 as well....

http://www.realityblurred.com/realit...bc_golden_cage

[Omen]

Why can't Endemol just have a BB channel. There are literally thousands of satellite channels, and in Europe there are dedicated BB channels.

[Ithinkiloveyoutoo]

Originally Posted by ShakeyJake10

I havent ever seen the real world. What is it?

It is a brilliant show that began in 1992 and is still going on now around the world.

Basically different people from around a country come live in a house together and let things happen naturally. A bit like Jersey shore but better. I remember watching the first one ever when there was an actual gay guy with aids. You could actually see him get thinner and sicker during the show.he died soon after so so sad. Pedro Zamora. think he wanted to raise awareness about gays and Aids. But he became popular, met president I think and a foundation is still in his name.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Real_World

Haven't watched it in years though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BavJVe3tC6g

I think Noirin and Issaac? met on a version of Real world. Maybe Australia? Can't remember.

A spin off of real world was Road rules where contestant travelled places together and competed in challenges. Tv was good before

[rk3388]

The real world ratings suck (2mil. IN AMERICA how do you get that low?!), the cast sucks, Trw challenges suck and it just sucks in general.

Guys make sure that doesnt happen!

[Strictly Jake]

ok thanks sounds pretty cool

[Scarlett.]

ITV are already doing it with "The Only Way is Essex" in a few weeks

[Ithinkiloveyoutoo]

Originally Posted by rk3388

The real world ratings suck (2mil. IN AMERICA how do you get that low?!), the cast sucks, Trw challenges suck and it just sucks in general.

Guys make sure that doesnt happen!

You know what everything is starting to suck not just tv!!! Genres of music sucks. What people call RNB isn't rnb (cough example Black eyed peas coughs). Rock is still ok but not as good as it used to be. ..just everything sucks now. That's why I keep going back towards old shows and music now lol.

Aww now that I thought about Pedro again I had to youtube him again. He was so lovely, so beautiful and healthy looking when they first went to the house. I guess that's why I still remember it so vividly because it shocked me. At that time aswell everyone was still afraid of AIDS and what you could or could not do and Pedro "humanized" it. RIP PEdro.

His housemates of the show talking about him.

Youtube video

The show Sounds depressing but it really wasn't. It wasn't all about Pedro. there were so many elements to the show that made it fun, real and fantastic.

[Patrick]

Originally Posted by rk3388

The real world ratings suck (2mil. IN AMERICA how do you get that low?!), the cast sucks, Trw challenges suck and it just sucks in general.

Guys make sure that doesnt happen!

Alot like BB you have your good seasons and your bad ones, I haven't watched any bad ones.. except maybe DC but yeah the ones I watched so far are great and the casts are amazing.

What do you mean 'Guys make sure this doesn't happen!'
What exactly do you want us to do?

Also, 2 Million is like 30 Million to Channel 5 lol That's why even if they bought Big Brother and the launch would get about 5/6 million as it always does, It'd probably Channel 5's biggest watched show in a very long time.

[iRyan]

Originally Posted by rk3388

The real world ratings suck (2mil. IN AMERICA how do you get that low?!), the cast sucks, Trw challenges suck and it just sucks in general.

Guys make sure that doesnt happen!

S T F U

The Real World is one of the highest rated shows on MTV. Considering it's on it's like 22nd season, it's doing pretty damn well. 2 million is not bad at all, and it's especially high for MTV.

There's even shows on E!, Bravo, Oxygen, etc that don't even reach 1 million in viewers but are still considered sucessful and widely known shows. It's the fact that there is HEAVY competition in terms of viewing figures in American television. There's like 30 new episodes of a 30 different television shows every night.

[Patrick]

Are MTV not doing so well in the US Then?

I thought it was like really big.

[iRyan]

Originally Posted by Patrick

Are MTV not doing so well in the US Then?

I thought it was like really big.

No it definitely does well but of course it can't compete with the major stations like ABC, CBS, ESPN, etc that get like 15 million viewers.

But the networks that heavily feature mostly reality shows get a lower amount of viewers (like E!, Oxygen, Bravo, MTV, Vh1, etc) because they are mostly only watched by teenagers and young adults. But they are still considered to be widely known and stuff if that makes sense. Especially since MTV has been around for so long and is such a massive part of pop culture.

But yeah, people think that because the population of the US is bigger than Britian that more people watch tv, which isn't exactly true. Especially since a huge amount use Tivo so they can record shows, which I don't think counts towards the overall ratings.

[zotler.]

I like the sound of The Golden Cage. I think I'd try it.

[iRyan]

Originally Posted by Ithinkiloveyoutoo

You know what everything is starting to suck not just tv!!! Genres of music sucks. What people call RNB isn't rnb (cough example Black eyed peas coughs). Rock is still ok but not as good as it used to be. ..just everything sucks now. That's why I keep going back towards old shows and music now lol.

Aww now that I thought about Pedro again I had to youtube him again. He was so lovely, so beautiful and healthy looking when they first went to the house. I guess that's why I still remember it so vividly because it shocked me. At that time aswell everyone was still afraid of AIDS and what you could or could not do and Pedro "humanized" it. RIP PEdro.

His housemates of the show talking about him.

Youtube video

The show Sounds depressing but it really wasn't. It wasn't all about Pedro. there were so many elements to the show that made it fun, real and fantastic.

I forgot how big of a deal that was back then. The Real World itself was a much bigger show back then as it was the first reality show ever.

[Mystic Mock]

the golden cage sounds rubbish.

[ILoveTRW]

In regards to TRWs ratings, you have to remember that each show is repeated about 10 times in the following week so people don't necessarily tune in for the first time a particular episode is being shown. I think it averages about 10m+ per week and in its prime it was getting something like 50m+ per week.