Channel 4 Pays Triple to keep Desperate Housewives

According to Broadcast, Channel 4 were forced to pay triple what they were already paying to keep the show from rival bidders ITV, Sky and Flextech. I'm not a subscriber but another forum quoted this paragraph:



MediaGuardian has more on the story, saying that Desperate Housewives' "ratings and profile" made the show a more valuable property for Channel 4 than Lost when it came down to choosing between the two, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.

Sky One stepped in last week to snap up the UK rights to the next two series of Lost, after Channel 4's negotiations with Buena Vista stalled.

http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,,1930486,00.html

It seems an awful lot of money to be paying for the show, even though I am a fan.

It is - but really C4 could not afford to lose both series. They've got time to fill the gap left by Lost, but losing DH too would leave to big a gap in the schedules.

Desperate Housewives also has a much more stable audience than Lost too which seems to be spiralling downwards.


C4 though are already addressing the issues that have arisen from the loss of Lost with the announcement that they are looking to commission original dramas which can return for extended runs.

there could alway try and nick Prison break unless sky planning to do that

Or just rerun the excellent Oz in a (late) primetime slot and show them how it's really done!


Or even better, screen the last couple of series of things like Six Feet Under, The Sopranos and NYPD Blue which have been shipped out to E4/More4.

I wish thre would repeat all the SIx feet under - from the start.

Desperate Housewives is a good series and I feel it could have done quite well on ITV1 in maybe a 9pm or even a 9.30pm slot (10pm obviously wouldnt be suitable due to the news at 10.30)

I actually enjoyed Prison Break a lot more than Desperate Houswives, so much so ive got the first season of Prison Break on DVD.

More4 repeated the first couple of series in a late-night slot a few months ago, but I don't think they've shown anymore.

It was C4's scheduling that killed that off - I watched it religiously in the first couple of years when it had a stable 10pm slot - but then it just moved later and later!

Understandably though. Desperate Housewives is capable of attracting many more viewers than those shows. It's a shame though, as the shows you mentioned are absolutely fantastic.

It's a shame they're cutting down on US imports. 'Shameless' at it's peak was ok (I lost interest after series 2) but it's still not in the same league as the likes of Six Feet Under, West Wing & The Sopranos. Infact it's shows like these that can be held as perfect examples of shows that declined in quality simply because the length of each series is/was far too long.

Why does Shameless suddenly need to be 16 episodes long? Wouldn't you rather have a perfect series of 8 episodes rather then a patchy padded out 16 episode long series?

don't forget FIVE input on imports

House,
prison break
law N order
Grace Antormtay

all those US comdays liek two and half men, everyone like raymond

CSI, CSI somwhere eles, Another CSI, more other types of CSI,CSI of other place same tiem zone

I prefer shorter series of British dramas. 8-10 episodes is ample.

US series seem to suit longer runs though.

BUT:

is it worth it for Ch4 to pay An higher price for inport?