Celebrity Big Brother comes back to C4
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008
Return of the Celebrity Insult Generator
Celebrity Big Brother is to return to Channel 4 next year, the broadcaster has announced.
The hugely popular reality show was taken off the air in 2007 following a race row in which contestants Jade Goody, Danielle Lloyd and Jo O’Meara hurled abuse at Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, prompting more than 50,000 complaints and leading to effegies of the candidates being burnt on the streets of India.
In its place Channel 4 broadcast a successful cookery season on its main channel featuring celebrity chefs Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall among others. Meanwhile a replacement reality TV show, called The Celebrity Hijack, was aired on E4.
However, Channel 4 has since had talks with production company Endemol and is thought to be planning another series on its main network. As part of the new agreement Channel 4 is not obligated to air every episode if it feels that doing so would be inappropriate. A spokesman for the broadcaster said that no final decision has yet been made.
But Jade Goody’s (albeit brief) participation in the Indian version of Big Brother, known as Bigg Boss, shows that the ice is melting. The former Big Brother contestant was called back to the UK after receiving a diagnosis for cancer in the Bigg Boss house.
Channel 4 could certainly do with the ratings boost that another Celebrity Big Brother would generate. The current downturn in advertising revenue means that Channel 4 may face a budget cut. Channel 4 will also have to look at alternative sources of income when the government contribution of £150m currently dedicated to analogue television – 15% of the broadcaster’s total spending – is cut within a few years.
Although Celebrity Big Brother is being reintroduced to the Channel 4 schedule, viewers will also be able to watch celebrity cooking programmes as Ramsay, Oliver and Fearnley-Whittingstall seek to change the eating habits of Brits next season, and will also examine cruel poultry farming practices.
