Television

Kaneda Pen, mediaweek.co.uk, 09 June 2009, 07:30am

Big Brother 10 launch show brings the circus to town

Aside from the Susan Boyle media circus that followed, the recent Britain's Got Talent final has been a pleasant surprise. It's demonstrated how live entertainment TV shows are still going strong and that Britain does indeed have talent.

Big Brother 10: off to a slow start

Programme
Big Brother
Owner
Channel 4
What's happened?
Series 10 has launched

Last Thursday's Big Brother launch show brought the proverbial circus to town, with the familiar parade of freakish outfits, over-inflated egos and surgically enhanced wonders. Producers seem keen to push the boundaries of class and questionable sexual preference to create those water cooler moments.

The launch show's "twist", whereby contestants needed to complete various tasks to become "real housemates", seems rather subdued by the fact they'll willingly accept any task thrown at them. Friday night's episode, sadly, had no more to offer - a basic catch-up of events in the house on Thursday.

Similarly, viewing figures do not make great reading. Based on live data (all individuals), the Thursday and Friday shows are down about 12% and 30% respectively year on year. I'm in no doubt Big Brother 10 will suffer declining audiences and follow the trend of its predecessors. Aggressive scheduling from the likes of BBC and ITV1 could further exacerbate this problem.

For some, this might be proof enough to give C4's iconic show the boot from our schedules. But, no other programme has the ability to increase C4 impacts in peak across the summer months like BB. Sponsorship is still an attractive proposition, as the Lucozade/C4/YouTube sponsorship partnership of BB10 suggests. Consumers thirst for engaging online video and BB remains an exploitable property with an extensive content archive. So, we may see BB on our TV screens for years to come, although while BB auditions have evolved through online submissions via YouTube, the show is in need of reform.

What is good?
I'm pleased C4 has not resorted to entering any contestants with physical/mental afflictions as we've seen previously.

What could be better?
A movement away from the extroverts and fame-seekers as contestants would return the "social experiment" feel to the show.

Would I book my clients into this?
Yes. You'd be hard pressed to find other shows in peak time that have greater ability to drive coverage among young adults.

Kaneda Pen, Account director, The Exchange, Mindshare