Big Brother returns - Are you watching?

By Jason Wright (Entertainment Expert)

LAST Wednesday, the deed was done; one of Britain’s worst kept television secrets was exposed.  After being buried last summer by Channel 4, rivals Channel 5 have now resurrected Big Brother from its grave, to return later this year.

FORCE: Richard Desmond has taken a gamble, will it pay off?

     Richard Desmond, the multi-million newspaper investor and owner of the station, agreed a lucrative two-year deal with format makers Endemol to bring back the innovative show from oblivion, beating fierce competition from Sky1 for the show rights after Channel 4 ditched it last year.  The series will begin its rebirth with a celebrity special series, with James Cracknell, Andy Gray, Sienna Miller, Anne Widdecome and Jedward being widely mentioned to compete.  This will then be followed by the standard version of the show in which members of the ordinary public will take part to win £500,000 and a ticket to celebrity stardom.

     Marcus Bentley, who has achieved some course of fame for being the narrator of the show, with his rather dull and depressing take on events, is anticipated to return to the same role on this new version.  However Davina McCall will not reprise her role as host, deciding to concentrate on her successful Channel 4 quiz ‘The Million Pound Drop’ and possibly work on a few new projects for the broadcaster.  Speculation is thus rife as to who will be the new face of the show.  Top of the channel’s wish list is former housemate Brian Dowling whilst also being lined up is Kate Walsh, Denise Van Outen, Steve Jones and BBLB host George Lamb.  On another matter, it is unclear as to whether BBLB (Big Brother’s Little Brother) will return in this revival to air on one of Channel 5’s digital networks.

     When Big Brother launched back in 2000, it quickly became a national phenomenon.  It made several household names out of the ordinary people that dared to step into the house such as Brian Dowling, Kate Lawler and the late Jade Goody.  It also was very controversial, always hitting front-page headlines for outrageous events.  The racism row between Goody and Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty in the 2007 celebrity series was most damaging, receiving worldwide condemnation and even then Prime Minister Tony Blair was forced to fly to India to deliver a national apology.  After that, BB went into rapid decline as people could no longer trust the show and Channel 4 finally gave it the axe in 2009, airing what would have been its final series last year.

     This is without doubt as massive coup for Channel 5 as it has long needed a signature show for which it could be easily recognised for.  Richard Desmond has said that this is only just the beginning for big changes ahead at the broadcaster.  The one question is will it pay off?  I think it will personally struggle to captivate the audience watching.  However, only time will tell. 

Big Brother Disappears - Has It Gone For Good?

Big Brother is very similar to Marmite.  People either love it or hate it.  I was one of those in the latter category, but one thing that can’t be denied is that it made the significant breakthrough for reality television.  After a decade of rows, relationships and raunchiness, Big Brother departed from Channel 4’s screens on Friday night.

The last series that was recently aired was an Ultimate Edition of the show, which saw the return of some of BB’s most famous housemates including Ulrika Johnson, Chantelle Houghton and Nikki Grahame.  Friday’s show was won by Brian Dowling, who won the second series of the show, back in 2001.  Dowling was shocked to be revealed the winner by the host of the show Davina McCall, as he won the show against Grahame on a public vote.

Big Brother was created by Endemol, who are also behind other Channel 4 hit-shows 8 Out of 10 Cats and Deal or No Deal.  Its idea was to throw strangers into a house together and have them being watched by the public.  The winner of the show would earn £100,000 in cash.  Immediately from its inception in the year 2000, the show has been a major hit with many fans, though it hasn’t been any stranger to criticism from the media and government ministers. 

Big Brother has often been in the media spotlight and the tabloid newspapers have loved covering each series every summer.  Television broadcasters also have enjoyed reporting on Big Brother and it has often made the headlines.  Its most talked about moment of controversy came in the Celebrity edition of the show in 2007.  Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty was the victim of racist abuse from fellow housemates Jo O’Meara, Danielle Lloyd and Jade Goody.  OFCOM received nearly 45,000 complaints over the incident, whilst Channel 4 received 3,000 further complaints.  The broadcaster took a lot of stick from government ministers about its lack of involvement with the show and not protecting Shilpa’s integrity.  Shilpa went onto win the series, but the show’s reputation was tarnished for good.  The Carphone Warehouse terminated its sponsorship contract with Channel 4, the Celebrity edition was postponed for a year and viewing figures slowly declined. 

The most famous housemate in Big Brother’s reign was Jade Goody.  Despite being fully involved in the Shilpa Shetty racism row, Jade was loved or loathed by the nation.  She appeared in the third series of Big Brother, and her career took off in the media industry afterwards.  She won over the hearts of many with her cancer battle and despite being brave in battling the illness and highlighting the work that cancer charities do, she passed away on March 22^nd 2009.  On Friday night, Channel 4 screened a fitting tribute to the late and brave Jade Goody.  Although she wasn’t my favourite person in the world, her fight to battle the illness was remarkable and that she took some courage and determination on her part. 

There have been 11 regular editions of the shows and over 1000 episodes in the UK, plus various editions of the celebrity format.  Its peak came in 2002, when 9.2million on average watched the series, won by Kate Lawler.  Others winners include Nadia Almada, Brian Belo, Sophie Reade and Craig Phillips. 

There has been talk that the reality show could return next year, especially if Richard Desmond can strike a deal with Endemol to bring the show to Channel Five.  However, there is no doubt that Big Brother has had a major impact on television in the 21^st century, no matter of the differing opinions.  I hope we have seen the last of it, but that’s largely down to the stale content it was producing, rather than pure bitterness.  Whatever happens next, whether it returns on a different channel or not, it has cast a major legacy and Channel 4 will do very well to find a replacement show that will take on the mantle and achieve the high ratings that Big Brother managed.  

Crozier Laughs Off Desmond's Ambitious Plans

ITV boss Adam Crozier has laughed off the plans of Richard Desmond, as the Northern & Shell owner begins to stamp his authority on five.  Desmond has made cheeky bids to poach Coronation Street and the X-Factor.  When asked about this, Crozier said the following:

“Richard thanks for trying.”  “There’s a very short answer to that and it’s a very large no.”

Crozier was responding on the day when ITV announced its recent figures, as they try and bounce back from testing times, due to the recession.  ITV’s audience share stands at an average of 24.1%, compared to Five’s meagre audience share of 4.2%.  Crozier, the former chief executive of the FA during Sven-Goran Eriksson’s dismal reign as England coach and the figurehead of crisis-hit Royal Mail took over in March this year, after the departure of Michael Grade.  Grade labelled the recent recession as “the worst recession in living memory,” which saw slump in advertising revenues and cutback made in ITV’s regional news output.  Crozier insists that ITV are making a very strong recovery and hints that the recently poaching of former BBC stars Adrian Chiles, Jonathan Ross anc Christine Bleakley signal changing times ahead.  He also aims to oversee the launch of 3 new HD channels which will available exclusively to customers who subscribe to Virgin Media and BSkyB.  The first of these should be available to consumers this October.

Desmond paid £103.5million to buy Five last month from the German company, RTL.  Having made his money through adult television channels, plus his ownership in OK! Magazine and the Daily Express, Desmond has had to make significant and expected cuts at the channel, including the departure of seven senior members of staff, which was confirmed this afternoon.  Nevertheless, he plans to expand on the possible potential of Australian soaps Neighbours and Home & Away, both struggling to compete with the major UK soap opera players.  He has also signed exclusive deal with Warner Brothers to produce films for the channels, aims to improve on Five’s radical coverage of the UEFA Europa League and has plans to poach the highly controversial Panorama show and the doomed Big Brother, which is due to leave Channel 4 screens at the end of this month.

This move to poach some of ITV’s top shows was never ever going to be a reality, but it already shows Desmond’s commitment and desire to turn the fortunes of five around.  

Daring Desmond Buys Out Five

The future of Channel Five has been secured for now, after it was taken over last week by Richard Desmond, the owner of the Daily Star and the Daily Express.  Desmond’s company, Northern Shell completed its takeover with immediate effect from the German broadcaster RTL, in a deal worth an estimated £104 million.  RTL confirmed that a pick-up in the UK advertising revenue convinced them that it was the right time to sell.

Mr. Desmond, who has also indicated that he’d like to buy The Sun newspaper off Rupert Murdoch and News Corp of recent times, was delighted with his new acquisition:

“I am delighted to have taken over as ownership of the network, and know with the right leadership, drive and investment; it can go from strength to strength as a competitive broadcaster and a modern player for the big consumer.”

Richard Desmond has had a very enterprising career in the media industry since he left school with very few academic qualifications.  By the age of 21, he owned two record shops, and acquired the rights to the Daily Express in the year 2000 – through money that he had made in the adult entertainment market.  Under his ownership, the Daily Express and OK! Magazine seem to have thrived underneath his ownership, both on a content and commercial basis, which will make this move very positive for Dawn Airey, the chief executive of Five.

Channel Five was launched by the Spice Girls on March 31^st 1997, but was hit very hard by the slump in advertising revenues during the recession last year.  It has managed to rebuke several attempts and suggestions for a merger with Channel 4, but has struggled to make an impact on the major players in the terrestrial market.  Five is currently home to CSI, Flash Forward, UEFA Europa League Football and Australian soaps Home & Away and Neighbours. 

It is likely that Desmond will make significant cuts to begin with, like he has with the Daily Express.  However, he has already indicated that he wants to bring back Top of the Pops, and possibly attempt to revive Big Brother, currently in its final series with Channel 4.  It will be very interesting to see how things work out, but whilst RTL were only in the game for a moneymaking venture, Desmond’s takeover can only be seen as a positive step forward for Five.  Not only has it secured its future, which has been questionable for some time, but it will give them the stepping stone to start competing heavily with other channels in public broadcasting.