Changing Channels

Now that the dust has somewhat settled I feel comfortable talking about this in more detail from an objective point of view rather than an emotional point of view.  There is a television show in the UK called 'The Great British Bake Off' [GBBO] which sees contestants compete in a series of culinary challenges with the aim to find an eventual champion.  The show is aimed at amateur bakers rather than professional bakers and is meant to portray talent.  The show was aired on the BBC and produced by a production company called Love Productions.  The cost of the show to the BBC for the latest series stood at approximately £7.5m [$9.75m] per year which is paid for through the BBC's funding, the license fee.

For those outside the UK who may not be familiar, the license fee is essentially a tax collected from any member of the general public who owns a TV or a device capable of receiving live TV broadcasts, and to an extent, catchup TV services.  As such the use of this money is often scrutinised by the public and the question of value for money is often raised.  As far as GBBO is concerned it was a TV programme that surpassed 11 million viewers [1/6th of the UK population, US equivalent would be if 53 million people watched it] and at one point surpassed 13 million, which is more people in the UK than tuned in to watch the Rio Olympics.  So you can understand how this show is considered a success and kind of a big deal.

When it came to renewing the show for another series on the BBC, the production company, Love Productions demanded £25m [$32.5m] per year for the show and would not accept anything less.  That represents approximately 3.5x the current cost.  The BBC was outbid by another broadcaster called Channel 4 who bid for 3 series at a total cost of £75m [$97.4m], understandably the BBC could not stretch to this figure and as a result the show was lost to Channel 4.  Amidst the backlash from viewers, two of the presenters of the show, Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins announced they would not be following the show to Channel 4.  One of the judges, Mary Berry went on to announce that she too would not follow the show to Channel 4.  That left the one remaining judge, Paul Hollywood who agreed to leave the BBC with the show, an act which many viewers then reacted negatively toward.

With the possibility that both presenters and both judges wouldn't be continuing on the show there was a lot of talk about the wisdom of the decision on both Love Productions and Channel 4's part.  Many people claim they have both have "shot themselves in the foot" and it remains to be seen how much this holds true after the show moves.  There is some weight to be added to the idea that Channel 4 has paid £75m for a marquee.  There are also a lot of questions to be asked of the viewer base and whether one judge alone from the original line-up, and the format will be enough to save the show; although if US adaptations of UK shows have proved anything with UK viewers it is that sharing a format isn't enough to make viewers watch.

Firstly, for those that might not know, the BBC as a publicly funded broadcaster does not carry any advertising.  There are no breaks during programmes and there are no product placement agreements or ad-rolls before the programmes, as such a programme allotted a one-hour timeslot usually provides one hour of content..  Channel 4 is an advertising supported broadcaster and primarily funds itself through advertisements before and during its programmes, these can in some cases reduce a one-hour time slot programme to less than 40 minutes of actual content.  Both broadcasters also have catch-up services which the same rules apply to and hold the same duration.  Whether watching on TV or on catch-up services, advertisements can be a discouraging factor in whether people will watch, especially if it is deemed invasive.  Of the two broadcasters catch-up services the BBC version, iPlayer, which is void of advertising is considerably more popular.  I personally never watch Channel 4 programming nor do I use their catch-up service because it contains unskippable adverts which I find intrusive.  I haven't watched Channel 4 on TV in over 10 years and while I was a fan of GBBO, I will not follow it to Channel 4.

This isn't a political decision and it has no influence over the fact that it is simply a show changing channels; it is down to the channels themselves, their commercial strategies, and predominantly motivated by a disdain for the actions of Love Productions.  In my opinion this entire episode is a PR nightmare for the production company.  There is no other motivation that will be seen by me or any loyal fan beyond sheer greed to insist on 3.5x the current production cost, or 10x if you take the total amount paid.  Ultimately I believe this move will bite Love Productions in the ass.

Shows can change channels and it can be beneficial to do so, as an example, American Dad was carried by Fox from 2005 to 2014 at which point it moved to TBS.  After moving, the atmosphere of the show changed noticeably.  While it had been on the rocks for a while prior to the move, the aftermath can be considered a resurgence for the brand.  The writing became a lot more relaxed and a change in the level of humour was immediately noticeable.  The shackles of the Fox censors being broken brought forward a much more risqué approach.  In my view the show was always aimed at an adult audience and should not have been watered down for a PG audience in the first place.  Since moving to TBS it is noticeable that the broadcaster understands the demographic of the viewer and has allowed the show to adapt.

While this change of channel was beneficial for American Dad and while other TV shows like Big Brother have managed to change channels and survive, I do not think GBBO will maintain its branding.  The brand itself has already been damaged by losing the presenters and one of the judges, as such I believe the brand for the most part is now dead, reduced to nothing more than a moniker.  The emotional connection to the show has been lost for me, and I am not convinced it will remain for many of the current viewers.  I believe it will survive for a few seasons at least, anything less than 3 will be an admission by Channel 4 that they made a horrible mistake in their judgement.  I think Channel 4 will feel duped when the reality hits that they paid £75m for a show that wasn't worth it.  I loved the show and I do believe it was worth the £7.5m per season the BBC were paying when everything was factored in, but whether I think it can legitimately be hiked to 3.5x the price per season and have the gall to accept 10x the price for 3 seasons, the answer is decidedly no.  When Love Productions feels the reality of the damage they have caused to their own brand it will bite hard, this is no longer contained to just GBBO, but to the production company itself, who for many people before this debacle had never heard of before; while wider awareness of a brand is usually beneficial, it is not when that perception is overwhelmingly negative.  The show is not expected to retain its viewing figures of 13 million, some estimates have expected the show to reach between 3 and 4 million when it debuts on Channel 4, the question then will be whether Channel 4 feels that is value for money, and whether they can even make a show that would even be worthy of the £7.5m that the BBC had paid for it let alone the £75m they forked out.