On Wednesday, 14 September 2016 20:12:02 UTC+1, Mark Jeffries wrote: > As for Channel 4, isn't the reason they had to drop "Big Brother" was > because it had become too popular? And one could argue that they had no > business even putting on their air the UK version of "Deal or No Deal" > (which is about to go off the air after eleven years, I believe one of the > longest-running versions of the franchise). That could've gone on ITV or > C5 with no problem at all. >
I wouldn't argue that Big Brother was dropped before it was too popular - ratings were declining, nowhere near where it was when it was at its peak. It had also become a bit of a toxic brand and I think it was more about that than anything else, to be honest. And I would probably defend Deal Or No Deal as well, because there had always been games and quizzes in that slot on C4 - when it began it will still an era when BBC1 and ITV showed children's programmes at teatime and so C4, with its requirement to offer an alternative, was always that bit more populist at teatime. It fitted in nicely alongside Countdown, which of course had been there since day one. OK, there was a big prize and it was a bit less cerebral, but it could be justified. Even Friends, which of course became an absolute phenomenon, could be justified as well because when they bought it initially nobody else wanted it. Indeed I have a Radio Times from very early in the run which reviews C4's current Friday night line-up and says that, alongside Cybill (I think) and Frasier, "Friends is proving less popular among British audiences". US comedy has never really taken off on the mainstream channels so it was very much an ostensibly alternative path for C4 to tread. But now you've got this, and you've also got them buying Formula One, which I've never been happy with, because I don't see how that fits into its remit either - it appeals mostly to white, middle-class, middle-aged men, the most superserved demographic of them all. It's the least alternative thing you can imagine. They may as well start buying up Coronation Street. -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
