[Gusto Brunt]

I can't quite put my finger on it but I find this mass media interest in this latest CBB very odd.

For starters, last year we had some big names in CBB and those series were just as good as this BB14. But those previous CBBs and BBs were more or less ignored not just by the newspapers, but by TV, radio, etc.

Steve Allen who has a show on LBC Radio used to say about CBB and BB, 'nobody's watching that rubbish' and for the past three weeks he's been talking about it as if he's watching it.

But it's not just him. It's everybody, from Radio 1 to Radio 5. Sky News to BBC News. From The Star to The Sun.

'This is the best CBB ever,' they say. But is it? Why the sudden media interest?

BB14 was good but the others have been great too.

So what was it that suddenly got everybody talking about this CBB??

I don't agree it was all about the housemates or what went on. For instance we had a couple of prize prunes in there who were asleep for the best part of three weeks (Ollie and Sam), and as soon as Linda left, the series became boring.

Explanation please.

[Niamh.]

I don't know because tbh I was even disappointed at the caliber of celebrity that was going in this year. The only thing I can think of is that because it was such a great series that word started to get around and people decided to take a look?

[HD]

I've loved the interest in this series. It's felt slightly like the old days.

I think a lot is hanging on BB15, loads of people are going to have high hopes.

[Gusto Brunt]

Originally Posted by HD

I've loved the interest in this series. It's felt slightly like the old days.

I think a lot is hanging on BB15, loads of people are going to have high hopes.

Yeah I agree it's great to have renewed interest but I still cannot fathom why it's so wide-spread.

Originally Posted by Niamh.

I don't know because tbh I was even disappointed at the caliber of celebrity that was going in this year. The only thing I can think of is that because it was such a great series that word started to get around and people decided to take a look?

But was that enough. The Judy Goodyear spats should have made news but they didn't.

Bruce Jones arguing with Charlotte never made The Sun or Sky News.

That was a great series too.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Gusto Brunt

Yeah I agree it's great to have renewed interest but I still cannot fathom why it's so wide-spread.



But was that enough. The Judy Goodyear spats should have made news but they didn't.

Bruce Jones arguing with Charlotte never made The Sun or Sky News.

That was a great series too.

I don't know maybe there was just less on TV this year?

[Pincho Paxton]

A butterfly flaps its wings, and you get Chaos. In other words it could be something small, or lots of small things. From Wentworth attracting attention in 2013, to Jim Davidson, Linda Nolan, and Lionel Blair getting the older people interested. To the weather, and lack of good TV. To Emma doing a good job of replacing Davina.

For me it would be Emma. I never watched any Brian series.

[bez87]

Hmmmm i do believe this has been the best Celebrity big brother I've watched in a long long time, I couldn't stay away, the last one was just depressing and i lost interest, so i don't find it odd that it's become more popular because it's hard to keep my interest once certain people go out of the house, but this one i wanted to watch till the end

[daniel-lewis-1985]

Originally Posted by Gusto Brunt

I can't quite put my finger on it but I find this mass media interest in this latest CBB very odd.

For starters, last year we had some big names in CBB and those series were just as good as this BB14. But those previous CBBs and BBs were more or less ignored not just by the newspapers, but by TV, radio, etc.

Steve Allen who has a show on LBC Radio used to say about CBB and BB, 'nobody's watching that rubbish' and for the past three weeks he's been talking about it as if he's watching it.

But it's not just him. It's everybody, from Radio 1 to Radio 5. Sky News to BBC News. From The Star to The Sun.

'This is the best CBB ever,' they say. But is it? Why the sudden media interest?

BB14 was good but the others have been great too.

So what was it that suddenly got everybody talking about this CBB??

I don't agree it was all about the housemates or what went on. For instance we had a couple of prize prunes in there who were asleep for the best part of three weeks (Ollie and Sam), and as soon as Linda left, the series became boring.

Explanation please.

Simple.

Emma Willis.

[Niamh.]

Emma presented it last year as well though ^

[joeysteele]

I asked 5 people,(aged between 18 and 70), who had watched this series but who had only looked in at times on the other series and also 1 of them had never watched BB before.

4 of them felt it gathered speed quickly and also the mix of housemates were so varied as to ages and status that interest was aroused.
They also felt the celebrity status was higher than other BB series, 3 of them started watching because Evander Holyfield going in and hoped to hear a great deal more as to his career and indeed other boxing greats.
They were however disappointed by his presence but then went on to say, the Jim and Linda time bomb situation got them gripped on the series.

The general view was that after Linda left and the storyline again went back a bit to the love triangle some sparkle was lost for the series however they all felt after all the arguments it was really good to watch them all getting along for the last week or so.

It was also felt that with Jim Davidson and Lionel Blair,initially older viewers were possibly wiilling to give it a look and then as with most soap opera's they got into the storylines and antics and loved what they saw so stuck with it all through.

Not scientific in any way,just some thoughts from them but it does seem the selection of this set of housemates,generated interest and also the names of Jim, Lee Ryan,Lionel and Linda Nolan did get odd snippets of reporting in some press and on TV,
That further brought in other viewers not of a casual means for the series but who really got into it and more to the point liked it and even voted as to it too.

Somehow,accidentally maybe, BB have succeeded in selecting a good range of housemates this series and hopefully they will look to do the same again for future Cbb series.

3 of these 5 I spoke to, will look in on the start of the ordinary BB series to come in the Summer,2 are unlikely to.
As to the 1 person who had really never watched BB before,He watched it because he loves Emma Willis and didn't realise she was the main presenter now, so for as long as Emma is there, he will likely be.
He ended up voting for Jim and Luisa,who became his 2 main favourites.

So for me well done to BB for this series and let's hope they now set out to try to keep solidly to what seems to bea winning formula for some time to come.

[Beso]

PUT SIMPLY...JIM DAVIDSON.

People forget how this man has been massive both in his carear and for the media.

[daniel-lewis-1985]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

Emma presented it last year as well though ^

There was media interest especially after Daley/Hazel gate and BB14 was the most talked about and most watched civilian BB since its move to Channel 5.

It was being discussed on This Morning, radio 1 and Loose women ect.

BB14 was so good and Emma Willis so in demand and proffesional the show became credible again. Its simple the show has just become better and that's reflected in the ratings.

If a show is popular the media cannot ignore it, even Channel 4 and ITV paid for their shows to be advertised in the breaks.

I think people thought BB would flop on Channel 5 but now seeing as it hasn't and looks set to stay the media have to cover what people want to read about to boost their sales.

[Robodog]

When it started, it didn't have that level of interest.

The moment it changed?

Frank Carson's dressing room.

It was a juicy bit of gossip and the media/public went mad for it.

Normally BB doesn't have such an intriguing morsel of gossip to go viral.

Once people started digging on the carson situation, they soon realised it was also a great series. So Carson was the spark of extra interest and then people stayed because it was so good all round.

It was one of the best series ever for sure much better than the charlotte crosby/julian clary years.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by daniel-lewis-1985

There was media interest especially after Daley/Hazel gate and BB14 was the most talked about and most watched civilian BB since its move to Channel 5.

It was being discussed on This Morning, radio 1 and Loose women ect.

BB14 was so good and Emma Willis so in demand and proffesional the show became credible again. Its simple the show has just become better and that's reflected in the ratings.

If a show is popular the media cannot ignore it, even Channel 4 and ITV paid for their shows to be advertised in the breaks.

I think people thought BB would flop on Channel 5 but now seeing as it hasn't and looks set to stay the media have to cover what people want to read about to boost their sales.

Lets hope it continues on to the Civilian show, although that's alot of commitment for a more casual viewer

[Seraphim]

It might well be because Liz Jones was in it. She's an award-winning major player in the newspaper industry. Everything she writes attracts thousands of readers - even bog standard fashion and Christmas present tips are read purely because she wrote them. Other journalists must be pea-green with envy, and she'll have friends in the industry too. I've never watched CBB before, but I watched it this year because Liz Jones went in. The top-rated comment on her CBB piece drew 6.5K green arrows. In contrast, the top rated comment in Jim Shelley's excellent piece on the same website about Jim winning the competition drew around 700 green arrows. That's less than the top rated comment on Liz Jones's fashion tips on the 22nd Dec. Here's Jim Shelley's piece, in case you're interested:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz...m-Shelley.html

[Arrow]

dont most people read liz jones column to mock her after ?

''it was my right after all i have brought him many M&S ready meals'' in reference to stealing her boyfriends sperm

''the sort of fashion sense on stage that surely invites rape'' in reference to the clothes a pop star wears on stage at concerts

[Kazanne]

I don't think its because of Emma at all,i think it was the controversy that ensued,and agree with the Frank Carsons Dressing room thing,it was trending and people wanted to know,lol.I think it was Jim that had people curious

[MTVN]

Originally Posted by Robodog

When it started, it didn't have that level of interest.

The moment it changed?

Frank Carson's dressing room.

It was a juicy bit of gossip and the media/public went mad for it.

Normally BB doesn't have such an intriguing morsel of gossip to go viral.

Once people started digging on the carson situation, they soon realised it was also a great series. So Carson was the spark of extra interest and then people stayed because it was so good all round.

It was one of the best series ever for sure much better than the charlotte crosby/julian clary years.

Yeah agree with this, whether a BB series is successful or not often hinges on single moments like this which end up defining the series. There's a lot of luck involved really, the producers can do their best to pick a good cast and try and engineer moments of drama but ultimately they've just go to hope that the housemates themselves can create the entertainment the show needs

[alex_front2]

Good age range and demographics. The sort of people who know Dappy probably had no idea who his handcuff partner Liz was. Hm willing to be slutty/ sexually brazen eg Luisa, Jasmine, Lee and Dappy. Older hms not being boring eg Lionel was quite wild for 82. The over 18 task showing up Lionel and Lee. Strong rivalry Jim v Linda, Jim v Luisa etc. Hm like Luisa and Jasmin not caring what we think (most celebs want to protect an image), humour, and Lee's lack of self awareness made thi cbb compelling.

[Seraphim]

Originally Posted by Arrow

dont most people read liz jones column to mock her after ?

''it was my right after all i have brought him many M&S ready meals'' in reference to stealing her boyfriends sperm

''the sort of fashion sense on stage that surely invites rape'' in reference to the clothes a pop star wears on stage at concerts

It doesn't really matter why they read her. They find her irresistible and she gets a massive platform as a result. People take her seriously when she does a serious piece. She did a piece on Rihanna, (your 2nd quote above is taken from it) and Rihanna wrote a retaliatory piece. What other columnist writing in a tabloid paper would get taken seriously enough to elicit a personal response from a star?

[uniquedude]

This is my third favorite CBB that has been on C5 I really dont get the hype, it was good but not deservant of all of the media attention compared to others. Its just the sexual antics that have hooked people and the love triangle. Speidi's series still got pretty much the same amount of viewers so I dont think the viewership has got up just the hype.

People really underestimate Twitter, it has been a driving force for this series.

[Benjamin]

For me (and I have not watched CBB in about 8 years until this year) it was the variety of the cast that got my interest to give it a chance this year. Luisa was my main hook but it helped that I knew who most of the celebrities were beforehand whereas I have never bothered with the past 6/ because I knew about 2/3 maximum and most of those that have gone in have been superficial nobodies and that is it.

This year the array of cast was more intrinsic and captivating; you had a fiery Apprentice candidate, a childhood family TV gameshow host, a well known boyband singer (not a second rate band), a big and controversial Daily mail journalist, Lionel Blair , etc.

I think they picked the right cast that captivated and lured a bigger mix of interest than previous years.

[Benjamin]

Originally Posted by uniquedude

This is my third favorite CBB that has been on C5 I really dont get the hype, it was good but not deservant of all of the media attention compared to others. Its just the sexual antics that have hooked people and the love triangle. Speidi's series still got pretty much the same amount of viewers so I dont think the viewership has got up just the hype.

People really underestimate Twitter, it has been a driving force for this series.

Tbh most people I know who haven't watched in years (myself included) didn't care for the love triangle, that was what put us off, it was the variety in cast that did it.

And Twitter may have had some impact (but no more than in previous years). Again I am going by the people I know and none of us use twitter yet we all got hooked in this year.

[Benjamin]

Originally Posted by alex_front2

Good age range and demographics. The sort of people who know Dappy probably had no idea who his handcuff partner Liz was. Hm willing to be slutty/ sexually brazen eg Luisa, Jasmine, Lee and Dappy. Older hms not being boring eg Lionel was quite wild for 82. The over 18 task showing up Lionel and Lee. Strong rivalry Jim v Linda, Jim v Luisa etc. Hm like Luisa and Jasmin not caring what we think (most celebs want to protect an image), humour, and Lee's lack of self awareness made thi cbb compelling.

Spot on!

[Slevin]

i only know 2-3 if that at the most every series since i started watching. i started watching UK BB the regular series that had The Irrepressible Dark Horse and the first CBB was the one Alex Reid won. i barely knew of him but i remember him trying to get on The Ultimate Fighter. just looked at that line-up and i surprisingly knew at least 6 of that cast.