BBC loses Great British Bake Off

Text Santa doesn't even exist any more.

And their F1 coverage is basically BBC F1 on Channel 4, the only real change is presenter wise with a few new faces added but commentary, pundits and reporter is more or less the same and the same people responsible for BBC coverage behind the scenes are on 4, they even use The Chain and again under different circumstances but very little change between the Paul O'Grady Show on Channel 4 compared to ITV.



Yes the BBC have been very good to them and your right if something is successful they won't cancel it because of the production company however they may think again before commissioning anything else from them or indeed from independent producers.



OK maybe my original post was a bit harsh and a crucial word was missed out of the sentence after all we all make mistakes

Well that proves my point. No charity, no true and honest feeling of PSB value, no chance. So be it for Channel 4.

It's interesting that other big shows made by indies like The Apprentice and Masterchef didn't move channels when they became big hits but I guess those shows are made by companies who are subsidiary of bigger companies like Fremantlemedia/Boundless for The Apprentice and ShineEndemol/Shine for Masterchef and neither want to damage their relationship with the BBC for the sake of one programme.

Apart from Bake Off and its spinoffs, does Love make anything else for other broadcasters? Benefit Streets was for Channel 4 but I'm surprised they don't do shows for ITV or 5

Looking at their main commissions, the most recent commission for ITV was a documentary about Gareth Bale for ITV4 in 2013.

However their main clients are the BBC and Channel 4.

I imagine the BBC will be reluctant to commission anything from them after this.

I wonder if indies do tend to favour some broadcasters over others, Studio Lambert tends to get commissions from Channel 4 but not much from other broadcasters,

I'm not sure how these shows are commissioned or pitched in the UK. Did Love Productions come to the BBC and pitch the idea or did the BBC come up with the concept and hired Love to make the show?i

Edit: As an American I'm kind of amazed at the rate shows jump networks in the UK. The only ones I can think of were Scrubs (to ABC when NBC cancelled it), Medium (to CBS when NBC canceled it), Cougar Town (when ABC cancelled it TBS picked it up), Southland (NBC cancelled and moved to TNT). Scrubs and Medium both aired on NBC but were produced by ABC and CBS respectively. Southland went to TNT which is a sister company to Warner Brothers that produced the show.

NBC did do a channel change internally with Law & Order: Criminal Intent where I believe original episodes premiered on sister network USA then aired on NBC two weeks later. I think it was done to defray costs associated with the program. Eventually after a few seasons of airing on both networks it became a USA exclusive.

Edit #2: I guess I should clarify that there have been some high profile moves in the US but those were mainly due to cancellations on the originating network. In the UK it seems like a lot of the channel changes were related to money.

The way it usually works is that production companies will develop formats or scripts to pitch and commissioners will make it known what kind of ideas they're currently looking for, these range from the incredibly broad - "We're looking for more 6-part series of 30 minute scripted comedy" or "We want some uplifting, transformational factual entertainment formats" - to more specific briefs, like "We want a topical standup and sketch show in the mould of Saturday Night Live for 10pm Friday BBC Two", but always with enough room for different companies to come up with different pitches. And there's always a lot of "We're looking for the next..." and pretty much everywhere at the moment that sentence ends with "...Bake Off".

In this case, Love pitched the show to practically everyone and nobody wanted it before BBC Factual took it for BBC Two. I'm sure not even the biggest fans of the show in its first series could have ever predicted it would become the most-watched programme in the country.

Thanks for the info - sounds similar to the US. I will say I was amazed at seeing all the Tweets for GBBO on Twitter given the type of show it was. Out of curiosity I caught the final two episodes of the series six on PBS and found it interesting but not enough to think that it would the most watched programme - must be a difference between the two cultures. That being said I am glad that Nadiya won the contest.

And what are Love Productions actually going to do with this massive hike in budget?

Given the look of the show, matches the audience expectations, moving it to a studio instead of the tent, Masterchef style 'around the world tour baking challenges' just won't cut it with the viewers the show will bring with them from BBC One.

Bearing in mind now free of BBC rules, suspect all the equipment on the workbenches will be product placements - so that's a cost neutral saving.

So, what else? Editing the show on gold plated EVS machines?
Incidental music recorded by the Royal Philharmonic orchestra at Abbey Road studios?
Sound effects mixed by Hollywood Foley artists in LA?

Yes, it has a particularly British appeal I think - it has connotations of tea and cake at village fairs and WI (Women's Institute) meetings etc.

With all the fuss over Top Gear last year, I think it would surprise many outside the UK that it was much less popular here than a programme about baking and another about ballroom dancing

Will the move to 4 see tweaks to the format? I wonder if it might be a good opportunity to introduce a third judge - with the best will in the world you have to assume that somebody has an eye on the fact that Mary is now 81, having a successor already in the fold and known to viewers for when Mary decides to call it a day might be a prudent move.