[JoshBB]

In your opinion, what are the main factors that led to Big Brother going from a ratings hit to struggling to keep 1m?

Channel 4
BB1: 4.50m
BB2: 4.59m
BB3: 5.80m
BB4: 4.57m
BB5: 5.03m
BB6: 4.60m
BB7: 4.70m
BB8: 3.80m
BB9: 3.60m
BB10: 2.45m
BB11: 2.80m
Channel 5
BB12: 1.55m
BB13: 1.63m
BB14: 1.90m
BB15: 1.57m
BB16: 1.40m
BB17: 1.60m
BB18: 1.24m
BB19: 1.06m (so far)

[Niamh.]

Just by looking at your stats, it seems things started properly going downhill after BB7. I'd imagine it was a combination of having been on air 7 years and people just getting tired of the format, it is a massive commitment for people to stick with, unlike stuff like X Factor that are once a week, watching every night, with l/f and spin off shows etc, unless you're really into it, you're going to stop watching.

Then also it started going from the social experiment to attracting Reality Star wannabes, people acting a certain way that might have been popular in a past HM etc

[Cherie]

Introduction of CBB so overkill, also manipulation and interference as well as casting people with agents, also not enough cast diversity

[Jordan.]

Manipulation, tired twists & tasks, poor casting, race row, fresher reality shows.

[mxhunter]

It's been on television for 18 years. Even if it had sustained great production throughout it's run, people would still be bored by now and it would still be on its way out. All things must come to an end.

[Tony Montana]

Nikki returning was the start of their Downfall. That didn't go down very well with the Public.

The Racism Row was the final Nail in the Coffin

[Cal.]

Nikki returning, Jade Goody race row and the all female fame hungry BB8 launch all happening consecutively. The show had been getting farcical since 2004 too.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by scarface95

Nikki returning was the start of their Downfall. That didn't go down very well with the Public.

The Racism Row was the final Nail in the Coffin

The beginning of the manipulation, in a very apparent way. The whole Tagline was Who Goes You Decide, they stamped all over that right by sending an evictee back in again

[Cal.]

Viewer fatigue. Every night for 3 months must have been taxing.

[Elliot]

Also people have **** taste like why even bother trying to rationalise love island, the most boring show ever, getting the insane ratings it got?

[reece(:]

Originally Posted by Cal.

Nikki returning, Jade Goody race row and the all female fame hungry BB8 launch all happening consecutively. The show had been getting farcical since 2004 too.

Proof the public hates women?

[JerseyWins]

Repetition... things get boring after a while! Unless they find ways to bring in new viewers, the numbers are likely to go down after a while no matter what

[Alf]

It seems the problems started in BB8 when it fell under 4 million for the first time, and never recovered. So putting in all females from the start was the point of no return.

[Elliot]

The all female launch was iconique

[montblanc]

it's on way too much

too many series a year and 45 minutes every day of the week gets draining (for me at least)

[CiaraNelly2000]

many factors

Here are the main ones IMO

All FEMALE BB8 launch (how the hell did they think this would work. The show needed to cater for all audiences not just 1 specific)

**Biggest one I believe which is often overlooked
The first week of BB8 averaged 4.7m (which is pretty good tbh)
The 2nd week ratings dropped down massively to 3.1m. The reason for this was going up against BGT in the 9pm slot for 7 days.
In the 3rd week there was a slight surge back to 3.9m but around 600k viewers left BB at BGT week and never ever ever came back (that's so sad tbh).

Then it was the cult of deadwood in BB8

Also it was the random scheduling again in BB8 where some episodes were randomly at 10pm and some at 9pm with no consistency.

BB8 lasting 94 days when all the big characters had gone by Week9.

BB9 returning and thinking 4m would stay for a 3 month series. That was never gonna happen

BB9 should've shrunk back to 9-10 weeks and focused on bringing more entertaining housemates rather than "nice" people. That said BB9 is very underrated and it should've aired in 2007 instead of BB8. Maybe then it would've got the love it deserved.

Basically BB8 damaged the whole franchise and by the time BB9 came viewers just didn't care about Big Brother anymore.

I actually think had there been a PROPER CBB in January 2008 instead of Hijack there was a good chance figures could stick at the mid/low 4m's.

But I also think that had BB stayed above 3m it wouldn't have been axed by Ch4.

Many different factors I'd be interested to hear other people's.

Feel free to quote me and agree or disagree.

[CiaraNelly2000]

Originally Posted by Elliot

The all female launch was iconique

Slightly off topic but just seen ur profile pic and Kay and Anamelia were an iconic duo.

[Eddie.]

The reason for the decrease from BB7 to BB8 wasn't because of the race row in my honest opinion...

The all-female launch and the poor scheduling was what caused the series to lose almost a million viewers...

Remember BB8 was getting BB7 ratings in its first week, but the rescheduling to compete with BGT caused the weekly average to drop from 4.9 mil. to 3.0 mil. in just one week... (EDIT: Didn't realise this was mentioned already...)

The million viewer drop from BB9 to BB10 was the removal of the 24/7 live feeds, poor promotion, and people just getting tired of the format...

Meanwhile the up and down trend for C5 ratings is a combination of less people watching television, the inclusion of RTV stars and most importantly, producers toying with the format so much that it became a shadow of its former self...