First Report: Bye bye Big Brother

Goodbye Big Brother, we take a look at Channel 4’s plans to give its shedule its biggest ‘revamp’ after ditching Big Brother from its line-up after a decade.

Channel 4 is planning the most significant creative transformation in its history after deciding not to renew its rights deal for Big Brother when its contract ends in 2010. Also a look at Gossip Girl’s new role and the X Factor addition to looking pretty.

Big Budget For Channel 4 without Brother

Announcing that next year’s series of Celebrity Big Brother and Big Brother would be the last on the network, Director of Television and Content, Kevin Lygo, said Channel 4 would take the opportunity to review its commissioning strategies in all genres.

The decision will free up to 200 first-run hours in peak time across Channel 4 and E4 from 2011, as well as many millions of pounds for original commissions across Channel 4’s network of TV channels and online services.

Lygo said the decision not to recommission Big Brother had been dictated more by creative considerations than commercial ones.

He explained: “Big Brother is still profitable for Channel 4 despite its reduced popularity and there could have been the option to renew it on more favourable terms. That’s what a purely commercial broadcaster would have done, but Channel 4 has a public remit to champion new forms of creativity. That remit to push the boundaries has been an essential part of the weird chemistry behind Big Brother’s success, but it’s now what is telling us that the programme has reached a natural end point on Channel 4 and it’s time to move on.”

“Cancelling Big Brother does not solve Channel 4’s funding issues; this year we’ve nearly £125 million less to spend on programmes than we did a couple of years ago and budgets for next year may have to be reduced further. However, assuming advertising revenues stop deteriorating at some point, we should have greater flexibility in how we spend our commissioning budget; the significant sums that have been committed to Big Brother in the past should now be available to boost budgets in genres, such as drama, that have had to be cut back sharply during the downturn.”

Because of the longer lead times involved, Channel 4 has already begun reviewing its drama commissioning strategy and is intending to allocate an additional £20 million annually from the money freed up by cancelling Big Brother to commission more drama across Channel 4 and E4 from 2011 onwards.

Lygo said these extra funds would be focused on delivering more event dramas for Channel 4, following the success of mini-series such as Red Riding and The Devil’s Whore, as well as seeking more quirky, returnable series aimed at younger audiences for Channel 4 and E4, in the mould of Shameless and Skins. Channel 4’s drama ambitions also extend to finding a long-running comedy drama and continuing to commission ambitious single films that can sit at the heart of campaigning seasons.

Julian Bellamy, Head of Channel 4 stressed Channel 4 was not looking for a like-for-like replacement for Big Brother but for lots of new ways to refresh the schedule. He said the Channel was hoping to commission some entertainment-led stunts and events to maintain a sense of fun about its summer schedule. He said Channel 4 would also be looking to increase its commitment to comedy across its network of channels, with an ongoing emphasis on new writing and performance talent, as well as to commission a greater number of shows with strong cross-platform elements, such as Embarrassing Bodies.

The new drama commissions We Were Faces, a four part serial from BAFTA winning director Shane Meadows, marking his TV debut; a four part adaptation of William Boyd’s best-selling novel Any Human Heart; and a new four part Peter Kosminsky drama, Homeland.

Gossip Girl Goes To Town

Actress Blake Lively has been lined up to star in a new Ben Affleck movie. The Gossip Girl star will feature in crime thriller, produced by Warner Bros, entitled The Town which is an adaptation of the novel Prince Of Thieves, by Chuck Hogan.

Acting talent lined up to feature in the film include Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm and Jeremy Renner while Chris Cooper is also set to sign up for a part according to THR. The movie evolves around a bank manager, a long-time criminal and an FBI agent.

X Factor For Faces – and Hair

X Factor judge and singer Cheryl Cole has been lined up as the new face of L’Oreal Paris. The 26-year-old Girls Aloud star will feature in magazines, billboards, movie and television commercials.

Cole, from the North East, is following in the footsteps of, to name a few, film star Jane Fonda and Friends actress Jennifer Aniston in promoting the fancy face cream and hair products. Of course the tag-line of L’Oreal is “Because You’re Worth It.” Geordie Cole surely will be allowed to say “Because You’re Worth It, Pet.”.