Big Brother fame guaranteed until 2010
LGBT attention seekers will be pleased to hear that Channel 4 has announced it has re-commissioned Big Brother in a three-year deal to run until 2010, following the continued and phenomenal success of the reality format.
The extended Big Brother commission includes spin-off programming Celebrity Big Brother, Big Brother’s Little Brother, Big Brother’s Big Mouth and E4 streaming.
It guarantees another chance of 15 minutes of fame for celebrity wannabees.
Since its launch on Channel 4 in July 2000, Big Brother has firmly established itself as one of the most innovative and exciting formats of recent years, groundbreaking not only on screen but also across many new media platforms.
Angela Jain, Channel 4 commissioning editor, said: “Channel 4 is the spiritual home of Big Brother. It remains the ultimate reality format and continues to deliver dramatic, innovative viewing as one of the UK’s most talked about television programmes.”
This summer’s Big Brother 7 final, which saw Pete win the £100,000 prize, attracted 8.2 million viewers – a 45.6% share of those viewing television at the time – ranking it as one of the top performing finals. A total of 1.2 million pounds was raised for charity from voting throughout the series.
Celebrity Big Brother also proved a ratings hit this January, becoming one of the most talked about programmes of 2006 as viewers followed the antics of George Galloway MP, entertainer Michael Barrymore and 80’s pop diva Pete Burns in the celebrity household.
A peak audience of 7.5 million viewers watched as non celebrity Chantelle gained official celebrity status by winning the series.
Big Brother 7 attracted an average audience of 4.7 million viewers, up on the previous series which delivered an average 4.5 million.
Big Brother is a Brighter Pictures Production – an Endemol company.
