Big Brother UK

This isn't really a debate about numbers, it's a comparison with Big Brother (which incidentally this thread is about). Big Brother is often 5th in the ratings and still gets more viewers than programmes previously in the same slot. My point is, Channel 5 clearly didn't want Big Brother anymore, and Channel 4 clearly didn't want The Big Breakfast anymore, but both felt somehow tied to the programme for longer than they wanted.

Problem is that it's a tarnished tired brand, intrinsically linked with braindead wannabes and trashy newspapers. It should have been put to bed when Channel 4 axed it.

I don't see why any broadcaster would go for it. As discussed Channel 4 aren't interested and supposedly neither are ITV. Its too low brow for Sky (and how odd would it have been to say that 10 years ago?) and doesn't have a big enough draw or a unique selling point for a non linear service

Even if it's still getting reasonably good ratings, Channel 5 probably think it's better to end Big Brother while it's still doing reasonably well, than to drag it out and see the ratings tumble.

That was a reason for buying it but it wasn’t the main reason. Let’s not forget the first episode on Channel 5 got over 5 million viewers, that will always be one of the channel’s highest ever ratings. As it left Channel 4 it was a tired show that was pulling lower ratings than at its peak but still very strong figures and it was, and remains, and extremely cost effective show. It made total sense for C5 to buy it, regardless of who owned the channel at the time.

People have argued that C5 killed the show by airing it twice a year but ultimately the show has served the job that C5 wanted it to. Even if it has been overkilled it’s still managed to average roughly 2 million per celeb series and about 1.5m for the regular series, strong numbers for the channel. It would make no business sense to have fewer episodes a year when you’ve got figures like that coming in and a yearlong bill on maintaining the house.

Ultimately Channel 5 is a different and stronger channel to what it was when they first bought it and the civilian series in particular is starting to stick out like a sore thumb in the schedule (see this week with the heavily trailed Michael Palin in North Korea followed by BB!). Like Channel 4 in 2010, Channel 5 want to move in a new direction and Big Brother is the victim of that.

The show won’t be bought by anyone immediately, it will have a number of years off before eventually returning somewhere to a lot of hype and much higher numbers.

Channel 5 has wasted no time using some of the money freed up from Big Brother with a slate of original dramas, I suspect they'll still be looking for an entertainment show that could be their big ratings hit that has similar demos to BB hence why they've brought back The Bachelor.

This headline of this article claims that "Big Brother could make a COMEBACK as major channel set to pick up show"

https://planetradio.co.uk/wave-105/entertainment/television/big-brother-comeback-itv/

All it says though is that "ITV are one of several buyers interested in buying production company, Endemol Shine, which is reportedly worth around £3 billion."

So although ITV would effectively be buying Big Brother if they bought Endemol, that doesn't necessarily mean they'll broadcast it.

If they owned the format, there would no doubt be a temptation to run a celebrity version once a year, but it wouldn't be cost effective under the current set up. The set is too costly to maintain for a short run. However, there are ways around that. They could take a leaf out of Australia's book and get a theme park to build the compound so it could double up as a tourist attraction. Big Brother: Live from Chessington World of Adventures?

The Circle performed very badly, with an average of 1 million tuning in despite a whopping 5.5 million lead in from Bake Off. Haven't seen the figures yet but I'm told by the end of the show there were more people watching whatever was on Channel 5 at the same time.

Worth also mentioning that the most recent consolidated figures show Celebrity Big Brother making up EIGHT of Channel 5's top 10 programmes during that week. The average viewing figures of the top ten was 1.1 million. Without CBB, it would be 800,000.

Netflix are holding secret talks with Endemol Shine next week to discuss a bid for Big Brother.

Hardly 'secret' if you know about it..

The talks could have been secret even if they've since been reported.

If netflix truely are interested in Big Brother it'll be interesting to know if they'll live stream as well as provide highlight shows.

I've always said Big Brother has been held back by TV. Apparently it has been tried in other countries as an online only show and it works very well.