Channel Five gets UK rights to Big Brother

[Spanner]

After Channel 4 dropped the programme after 10 years, which by that time was a dead horse and a ratings killer, Channel Five wanted it as part of their revamp by Express Newspapers owner and porn baron, Richard Desmond. Well, they got it.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/apr/05/big-brother-to-return-this-year

Big Brother will be back on the small screen this summer after Richard Desmond's Channel 5 finally concluded eight months of negotiations to buy the format from Endemol in a two-year £200m deal.

A formal announcement is expected on Wednesday, and the plan will be to run Celebrity Big Brother in August for four weeks, with the traditional Big Brother returning nightly for a 13-week run in September.

...

It is understood that Big Brother will return to its traditional schedule in 2012 – running the celebrity show in January, before reappearing with the traditional group of wannabes in the summer months. That would mean an almost continuous run of Big Brother programmes – running night after night – on Channel 5 from August to January.

Okay, I used to enjoy Big Brother, but it just became stale and boring. Jade Goody's racist remarks didn't help the show in the slightest and there was nothing interesting about the show any more, regardless of how many steamy sex scenes (which Desmond will probably expect) and fun with a bottle (which Desmond will probably expect), the show was just dead and beaten. The thing is, Channel Five want more "homemade" programming instead of importing US TV shows and movies which have been backdated for a long while. They could try and do something with the format, but are people still interested in looking in the toilet, getting people electrocuted in morph suits and staying up at 1AM to watch people sleeping?

Any thoughts on this matter?

[Badnik Mechanic]

Any thoughts on this matter?

People watch channel 5?

[Detective Shadzter]

Saw this earlier on MSN's website and posted about it in the status box. My instant reaction was a loud NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

I found the show kind of interesting for the first couple of series, but then it just got tiresome and stupid, so I stopped watching. After that it just got incredibly annoying every year, because it was in your face everywhere you went. I'd go to work and both staff and customers would always be asking me if I watched it last night, then outside of work I'd have friends and family members asking if I've been watching it in person, on the phone and online, and at the shops it's all over the front covers of the magazines and newspapers.

I was so relieved when the show was cancelled, but now it's going to be happening all over again!

[Shaddix Leto Croft]

People watch channel 5?

Only when CSI is on which is the only time I watch that channel

Edited April 5, 2011 by Shaddix Croft

[Blue Wisp]

Why can't Big Brother die already? It's really annoying and lame.

Plus, it's all fixed.

[JezMM]

I remember a magical time in my childhood, when Channel 5 was preparing to launch and there was this AMAZING new "channel 5 coming soon!" logo when you summoned the courage to push the channel + button one more time after Channel 4.

Then it arrived and it had nothing good on. Situation hasn't changed.

[Flyboy Fox]

Haha, I remember the launch of Channel 5, too. Didn't the Spice Girls sing that "1,2,3,4,5" song as it started up for the first time? Wow. Long time ago. But yeah... I don't think I was ever inspired to watch it after the launch... so at least with BB tucked away over there, it won't be in most people's faces =D

[Glenn]

I watched the first series of Big Brother, back when they had a psychologist to explain the social interactions and human behaviour. It was an interesting experiment, something new and fresh, and actually had a point. The emergence of "Nasty Nick" was fascinating and led to lengthy discussion (and predictions of his next daring insanity). It was genuinely interesting and educational.

Funny how the psychologist didn't turn up for the second series. I never tuned in after the first few episodes. It had become ultimate tabloid television, with people getting famous for being famous. Ever since, personally, I've ignored any mention of it.

Oddly enough, however, I do find it rather fitting for Channel Five.

[Mollfie]

The only good thing Channel 5 does is occasionally show a good film. Usually on a Sunday when I'm at work anyway so I don't get to watch it lol.

I've never liked Big Brother, it's boring. It was just a way for desperate people to achieve temporary fame. I thought they had cancelled it and it wouldn't be coming back. Ugh.

Edited April 6, 2011 by Mollfie

[TheGerkuman]

Channel 5 is good for people who like US imports but can't afford Sky or Virgin TV. Or at least, it was. I dunno what Mr. Desmond's done to change it. But having BB there can only be a step backwards.

[Vertekins]

Big Brother; The ultimate show to apply to for the freaks, attention whores and non-loveable eccentrics the UK over. I never understood the appeal of this show. Frankly, I'd think that a house full of chimpanzees doing what the hell they want would be more interesting to watch than that drivel; Featuring Racist Bullies, Knicker-crotch lickers and the "fascinating" material that is a bunch of society rejects snoring in their beds at 1 in the morning.

[JezMM]

I will say that Five USA is an awesome channel simply for occasionally having months of showing endless reruns of Whose Line Is It Anyway? US at midday, but that's about it.

[Doctor Sοnic]

I've never been able to stand Big Brother and was so pleased when I heard channel 4 had dropped it. Then came the news it might move to channel 5, which I hoped wouldn't happen. But now it been confirmed - shame.

I think the best reaction to this news has come from the BBC 'Have I got news for you' twitter which stated:

After launching OK TV, Richard Desmond’s Channel 5 confirms it will bring back Big Brother this year, to give the schedule a bit of class.

That gave me a good laugh.

People watch channel 5?

Despite some of the rubbish that airs on Channel 5, they do have some good shows - most notably 'The Mentalist'.

I remember a magical time in my childhood, when Channel 5 was preparing to launch and there was this AMAZING new "channel 5 coming soon!" logo when you summoned the courage to push the channel + button one more time after Channel 4.

Then it arrived and it had nothing good on. Situation hasn't changed.

I have similar memories of when Channel 5 started. However I disagree about it being the same today. As I mentioned 'The Mentalist' is an awesome show and it worth having channel 5 for that alone. I must also mention 'Starlight: for the Children', which admittedly I only started watching cos I know the guy who produces it, but it is a good programme nonetheless.

Also though I don't watch them programmes like CSI and NCIS seem like decent well made shows - though not quite my cup of tea.

I am concered about the changes Richard Desmond is making to channel though, he seems to want to take it back to how it was when it first started, even changing the branding back to the old 'Channel 5' from the early days rather than the more recent 'FIVE'.

Edited April 6, 2011 by Doctor Sοnic

[Stacy]

My reaction: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-0rEJoc53E

I like some of the sutff that is shown on Channel 5, some of Documentries are watchable (not as good as the BBC's or Channel 4's though). They show movies often while channels like ITV seldom show films (they use to). I find that Five is good for import US shows like NCIS, CSI, The Mentalist and they are going to show The Walking Dead so its quite good in that respect. However a lot its Britsh made shows are not, take the 'Five Show' basically their take on BBC's 'One Show' but full of celebrity gossip that destorys your brain cells.

Oh the gadget show is okay.

Anyway, Big Brother is an awful show perfect for the Jeremy Kyle’ers who like watching people evolve into brainless creatures. Big Borther is fixed to hell and back they always pick people who are going to claw each other. Say they pick a BNP member and then they then pick a Islamic extremeist to be on the show too, yeah they are really going to get on, NOT! It like sticking a fox in a chicken coop, just chaos, chaos TV.

But the sad part of it is people watch this show and enjoy it they enjoying people fight and act like Pre-Schoolers (sorry that's a insult to Pre-Schoolers). I hate all this reality TV and celebrity magazine stuff to me its entertainment for the lowest common denominator of people.

What's next Channel 5 a reality TV Show of Chris-Chan?

I personally have more problems with ITV now than I do with Channel 5 but if Five contiunes doing stuff like this it might change.

As the good Nerd says " It fuckin' sucks, it suckin' fucks, it fuckin' blows, it's a piece of shit, and I don't like it".

Edited April 6, 2011 by BW199148

[AAUK]

People who live near the south coast and only have terrestrial? Your dreams have come true. You are now no longer able to see Big Brother.

[jennytablina]

People who live near the south coast and only have terrestrial? Your dreams have come true. You are now no longer able to see Big Brother.

What a shame then that the UK Government is now actually getting serious about getting everyone onto digital then! ; )

Five deserves some credit for recent years: their programming has improved considerably and they also have recently struck a deal with Disney to run a bunch of the classic films. It's hard to know how Channel 5 will actually use the format, though part of me half-hopes they wont make it as crass as Channel 4 did in its later years. Though viewing figures would suggest otherwise :/

[Blue Wisp]

People who live near the south coast and only have terrestrial? Your dreams have come true. You are now no longer able to see Big Brother.

+1

They are showing Big Brother here, 7th IIRC. So... Fucking... Annoying!

[Stacy]

Agh so its back and after seeing advertised everyway but BBC (Thank You TV Licence). Seirously the ads for it were show so many bloody times like they wanted to ram it into that it was back. But thankfully I didn't bother wacting the opening but I bet it has bland scouser/Geordie doing the voicer over saying something like this:

"This Morning in the Big Brother house, Jedward farted in unison which not only woke up all the other house mates but it also smelt of stale dog food".

But seriously why do people watch this shite? What's so good or interresting about it?

And was the only who didn't give a damn when Jade Goodie died? I mean yes she had cancer but so do tons of other unfortune people and nobody talked about them who probably did more than she ever did. She never did anything noble or was entertainer, all she did was say chip stick and said so stupid racist things to another women and broke down in front of the media for the whole public to see about it.

Jesus Christ! Why has TV Entertainment sank so bleeding low?

Edited August 19, 2011 by BW199148

[Spanner]

Out of interest I watched both the opening night and tonight's show just to see how Channel 5 would handle things.

Needless to say, it's absolutely awful. Tonight was supposedly a highlight show which only had 35 minutes of footage and mostly comprised of Kerry Katona and a challenge she had to do which she failed at it. Also, Channel 5 are heavily using social media such as Twitter and Facebook to try and get people involved in the product, which has resulted in the majority of people making comments about bringing the live feed back, since Channel 5 are not interested in showing a feed and are more interested in pointless YouTube videos.

Also, there's this crappy version of Big Mouth called Big Brother's Bit on the Side, featuring a "security dog" who ejaculates over the audience whenever he gets excited, much like The Bear from Bo Selecta when his "tail popped out". I am not shitting you.

So yeah, don't bother with this crap. Unless they change their tactics, there's no way they can handle running this show for many years, and we're not even at the normal version of the show yet. At least Channel 4 knew what to do with it, it shouldn't have been revived by Richard Desmond.

[Balding Spider]

I was so relieved when the show was cancelled, but now it's going to be happening all over again!

It's like you survived and witnessed the death cloverfield monster, only to have it's offspring rise up in the sequel to wreak havoc upon the land.

[Detective Shadzter]

Out of interest I watched both the opening night and tonight's show just to see how Channel 5 would handle things.

Needless to say, it's absolutely awful. Tonight was supposedly a highlight show which only had 35 minutes of footage and mostly comprised of Kerry Katona and a challenge she had to do which she failed at it. Also, Channel 5 are heavily using social media such as Twitter and Facebook to try and get people involved in the product, which has resulted in the majority of people making comments about bringing the live feed back, since Channel 5 are not interested in showing a feed and are more interested in pointless YouTube videos.

Also, there's this crappy version of Big Mouth called Big Brother's Bit on the Side, featuring a "security dog" who ejaculates over the audience whenever he gets excited, much like The Bear from Bo Selecta when his "tail popped out". I am not shitting you.

So yeah, don't bother with this crap. Unless they change their tactics, there's no way they can handle running this show for many years, and we're not even at the normal version of the show yet. At least Channel 4 knew what to do with it, it shouldn't have been revived by Richard Desmond.

Completely agree.

I watched the opening night out of curiosity and joined the Facebook page to discuss the show with others and thought it was disgraceful. I couldn't even bring myself to watch tonight's show to see how highlights are handled, but from what you've said, it sounds even worse. I watched the first half of Big Brother's Bit on the Side last night, but it bored me to tears and they weren't showing anything that was going on in the house. They got an ugly woman on who apparently sorts out their fashion stuff and it was just plain awful,

Anyway, I was shocked at just how Z-list the celebs chosen are. The only ones anyone would recognise are Kerry Katona and Jedward. I only recognised Lucien because I watch Coronation Street. No live feed is the show's biggest negative, as not having a live feed defeats the whole point of the show. You can't run a show like this with just an edited highlights show and short reports, video clips and photos on Facebook and Twitter. I mean, what's the point in Channel 5 buying the show if they can't even cover the show's main point?

As for them using social media to get people involved, they've fucked that up too. They won't even let anyone say anything even slightly negative, even if it's well-written and constructive. I and others were posting constructive negative posts in their Facebook comments section and they kept getting deleted. I could understand the trolling negative posts getting deleted, but non-trolling ones? Really? Why open the comments for discussion if people are only allowed to say positive things? Oh, and as you said, Spanner, there are people spamming the comments there for a live feed and the folks in charge won't answer any of them.

Channel 5 has effectively doomed this show from the start and wasted their money.

[Spanner]

They posted earlier saying that they recognised the fan requests about the live feed but to keep things on-topic. Meanwhile, people continue to spam about a live feed anyway. They can delete posts and remove people from the page, but it won't solve everything. Obviously they want to use social media as much as possible, but that clearly isn't working out.

[Conando]

So I'm guessing Channel 5 is incredibly stupid, because I would assume Channel 4 did the same thing as CBS does with its Big Brother Live Feeds. That is, charge money. How is there a negative to that? Also...the hell is this about an ejaculating dog? That's awful.

This is basically the worst the U.S. version gets:

Sticking an elf suit on a middle-aged New Jersey man because he "won" it in a competition.

Edited August 21, 2011 by Hero Of Fate

[-Mark-]

I've heard a lot of people complaining about this... 'excitable' dog. What the hell?

[Stacy]

I've heard a lot of people complaining about this... 'excitable' dog. What the hell?

Oh Jesus Christ.

Just saw a short advert for Big Brother showing Mohamed Al-Fayed dressed as a bloody Pharaoh and everybody else dress as f'ing mummies, WTF why would do that to yourself on TV, do people turn into idiots when they enter the Big Brother house?