[Rory]

Reflecting On Celebrity Big Brother 2009

There is a distinct rhythm to my role as viewers’ editor, which is largely dictated by the enormous amount of comments that Big Brother and Celebrity Big Brother attract when either show is on air. As our Rated/Slated blog posts show, it consistently attracts the biggest electronic postbag, heading the charts for both compliments and complaints. In the calmer waters of February, I have been following up on two of the issues raised by viewers during the most recent series of Celebrity Big Brother: surprise and disbelief at the identity of the final winner and a continuing desire for a live stream to be broadcast during the time the show is on air.

I started my discussions with the person responsible for all telephone voting, who was keen to reassure me that the voting to win in the final week had been perfectly legitimate. After all the shenanigans with premium rate services in 2007, you can imagine it is something that all broadcasters are now very sensitive to, and she reminded me that Channel 4 has used Electoral Reform Services for a number of years now to oversee the voting process for all Big Brother votes. A representative attends each vote night and confirms that the viewers vote as reported by Channel 4’s telephony suppliers is the result that Davina announces on air. Interestingly, Ulrika was ahead in the voting from the moment that the vote to win opened following the final Monday eviction, and it may be that, because she was up against four men, the male vote was split giving her a comparative advantage?

On the thorny issue of the live feed, the commissioning editor confirmed that this decision was primarily a financial one although also in response to less viewers choosing to watch this. The team needed to ensure that the live feed is fit for broadcasting (that’s what all the sound dipping is about, when housemates say things that the Broadcasting Code prevents us from broadcasting) is a large one, and running it 24 hours a day is a very costly exercise. I asked him a question that had been raised by viewers and discussed in forums – if money is the issue, why not reinstate the live feed and drop one of the satellite shows? This took us into some tricky (and confidential!) territory relating to the contractual position with the production company, but he did understand from that question how important the live feed is to some viewers and reassured me (or rather viewers) that no decision had yet been taken over live feed for the summer show of Big Brother, and he had got the message!

http://blogs.channel4.com/thetvshow/...-brother-2009/

Interesting facts like Ulrika being the frontrunner ever since the lines opened!