X Factor

Indeed, all media reports suggest that ITV wanted the regular XF.

This will not be the X Factor format. It will be a celebrity singing contest of which there have been dozens in the past. If ITV wanted a celebrity singing contest they could probably have come up with one overnight and without the Syco price tag attached.

If the judging was that harsh/honest then maybe it would attract viewers back again. Also, I doubt you'd ever hear someone say "ginger minge" on X Factor ever again, Sharon had some incredibly cutting (albeit funny) comments in that video, the risks of live TV I suppose!

Gosh, Sharon really was horrible.

Reality is that C5 and Sky would be the only real possible destinations for a return of 'Idol' - and I don't see it fitting into either channel's current strategy.

The BBC would get slaughtered for buying in a premium format (as they did with 'The Voice') rather than developing their own, and C4 would face a similar argument (though probably less extreme).

C4 have bought in international formats for years. Treasure Hunt, Countdown and Crystal Maze were all French imports whilst Big Brother was Dutch.

Crystal Maze is british.

It was devised by a Frenchman for specifically developed for the UK.

It was spun off from Fort Boyard. The set wasn't available, so Chatsworth had to re-tool the format.

Those are hardly recent purchases though - and nor are/were they derivative shiny floor... Remember C4's PSB status and, to a lesser-degree, remit have changed significantly over the years...

I don't think C4 in its current state would pick up big-ticket, existing, primetime entertainment formats.

The same C4 that airs Bake off and F1...
Who even piloted The Price is Right last year.




C5 of Blind Date. They have even rebooted a failed lottery quiz in the shape of " Win your wish list"

Yes - two cases where C4 were able to benefit from the BBC's misfortune.

However there's a significant difference between picking up sports rights to F1 that unexpectedly become available, and buying in a third-party, shiny floor, entertainment format, rather than developing one from scratch.

Bake Off - that's an exception that proves the rule, and was taken under a different watch... It was also not uncontroversial and caused a significant amount of 'Not what C4 should be doing' push back. I think if anything they 'got away' with Bake Off and won't push their luck further for a while... (Plus Bake Off was an unusual situation - as the BBC were never going to get a renewal due to the unique situation they found themselves in)

Plus - neither Bake Off nor F1 are shiny floor entertainment. (F1 is Sport and Bake Off is Reality/Fact Ent)