Britain's Got Talent 2020 - Unseen

I was going to post this in the previous BGT thead but it appears to have been archived, not sure if you can merge this in?

I don't usually manage to catch all of BGT, I'll usually see bits and most of the live shows but at the moment there isn't much else to do on a Saturday night!

The main auditions show seems to have been edited in a 'feel good' way this year, I think I've only seen two acts buzzed! So then I thought 'ah, they'll have chucked all the naff acts into the ITV Hub 'Unseen' spinoff!'

However, I watched the Unseen episode from last night and it in fact featured a very good magic act and an equally good dance act and I didn't quite understand why they have been hidden away on this Unseen thing rather than the main show other than perhaps the fact Ant and Dec had played a bit of a prank on the judges...

Is there a chance these 'Unseen' acts will get put through to the live shows? I know More Talent used to show extra acts too but never really paid attention as to if any of those made it

Its possible but "More Talent" tended to focus more on the quirky acts, and the ones that gave Mulhern a chance to do his spiel in front of the camera. I dare say being featured on More Talent didn't really count for much for most acts. Some did get through the initial audition but that was about it. I dare say Unseen is probably more of the same sort of thing.

Yes I’d assume the acts on Unseen won’t have made it to the live shows.

They only have 40 places in the live shows and have already put 17 acts through to the deliberations across the first 2 shows. If there are 8 audition shows like last year, unless the focus of the edit changes then there will be quite a few acts we see get through at the auditions who don’t make it to the live shows.

That’s probably a good thing, the deliberation round often can feel like a formality with almost every act we see get through at the auditions making the live shows, whereas if they keep showing ‘good’ acts at the rate they have in the first 2 shows then some recognisable acts will get cut at deliberations which will make them feel a bit more meaningful than they normally do.

They’ve definitely focused the edit on the good acts though. It’s gradually pivoted that way for a while now but it has been really noticeable so far this series. Not a bad thing necessarily, it suits the times we’re in and after recent events ITV and the producers might be particularly nervous about the humiliation side of things. Probably helps that they seem to have better talent this year. They could probably already fill a better final than last year with the acts we’ve seen so far.

Unseen is okay, it’s existence is proof that it was an editorial decision from ITV2 to scrap More Talent rather than it coming from the producers as was reported at the time. Extra Camp going backs that up too, it seems ITV2 just don’t want spin-offs of the main channel’s shows any more.

Talking of BGT one thing I wish did remain unseen are those awful M&S extended ads featuring them judging food. Simon Cowell has never been able to act natural.

On a related note how recent / long ago were the rules changed to allow such adverts? I didn't think it was that long ago that you couldn't have an advert within a programme which featured that programme's presenter(s)/actor(s).

That rule went out the window a long time ago, before Ofcom I think, some time during the ITC's tenure 1992 to 2003?

Although didn't SMTV Live/CDUK get in trouble for that?

Maybe the rule still applied to children's shows.

The rule was set by the Advertising Standards Authority and I believe was relaxed towards the late 00s. I think the rule is now is that presenters can appear in ads within their own programmes providing the ads are distinctive in style.

Channel 4 famously got in trouble for running an ad featuring Davina McCall during a Big Brother highlights show. Channel 4 argued she didn't host the show in question but the ASA ruled she was associated with the show enough for it to be in breach.

The rule dates back to the IBA, they were responsible for TV and Radio advert regulation, you're right though, I remember that task was handed over to the ASA after their demise

Yes, though I think by the time it ended on C4 it might have been relaxed. Think hosts featuring in sponsorship came a bit later though - one of the first I recall was Paddy McGuiness on Take Me Out.

For some reason I'm always reminded of the Ben Shephard Krypton Factor reboot and the rather neat Sage intro which literally merged the sponsorship and the main titles, although I seem to remember Sage actually funded the series!

Wasn't there a rule at one time that a sponsor of a TV show couldn't run adverts during said show, or am I getting confused with the rule about personalities appearing in adverts?