BBC loses Great British Bake Off

This explains it, kind of

http://uk.businessinsider.com/bake-off-is-not-yet-dead-on-the-bbc-2016-9

Was Junior Bake Off part of the channel 4 deal?

If I was a BBC Executive I don't know if I would be willing to re-commission anything from Love Productions, at the end of the day BBC were very good to them and commissioned many programmes and took Bake Off from an obscure BBC Two show to the biggest on British TV beating X Factor, Strictly, Britain's Got Talent, The 2016 Rio Olympic Games only for them to take the show to Channel 4. I don't know if I would be so forgiving re-commissioning Creme de la Creme on BBC Two and possibly more Sewing Bee and maybe more Junior Bake Off if Channel 4 aren't interested,

Though they'd still want to keep on good terms as I believe that BBC Worldwide still market the series/format abroad

Is it being spun into a separate franchise or is it just the leftovers from the outgoing deal?

It definitely was separate but the junior version is going to C4 IIRC

Agreement between C4 and the BBC reached. GBBO will air in full on Channel 4 THIS YEAR

(Broadcast via Twitter)

So that's probably more money C4 has had to shell out, taking an educated guess.

Could it have anything to do with the fact the BBC are still working with Love Productions on Bake Off: Creme de le Creme, I also notice a new series of the Great Pottery Throw Down is starting next week on BBC Two and according to the Sun a new series of Great British Sewing Bee is looking for applicants and while not confirmed is looking likely to remain on BBC Two.

I wouldn't be surprised if it debuts on C4 in October rather than August, a year after the final of the last series. The quibble may have been about whether the Christmas episodes should have been considered for the lock down period.

Likely I'd have thought, though it might depend on how much the pre-production has been put back by the uncertainty.

Other than the recasting issues I doubt it has affected them - surely any lockdown is about the broadcast rather than making the show.