Is it time to revive Big Brother yet?
Last week’s reunion of the infamous reality series on A Current Affair reminded us how ground-breaking the series was.
We laughed with Sara-Marie, we fell in love with Marty & Jess, we cheered as Chrissie stood up to Ben, we were spell-bound with the trickery of the Logan twins and awe-struck by Merlin’s “Free the Refugee” protest. Nothing else has come close to replicating unscripted television.
Now Channel Five in the UK is reviving the series as a low-cost to create some buzz for the low-rating channel.
Could Big Brother work on a digital channel in Australia: ELEVEN, GO! or 7mate?
Made properly, the show has the ability to revolutionise digital channels with a youthful audience hooked on the characters that populate the house. In an early evening timeslot it could be dynamite.
“The strength of the show was it’s guarantee of huge quantities of content. It both guarantees interest in itself and fuels interest in itself because there are so many points of entry into so many different stories,” an industry source told TV Tonight.
“This is also its weakness. Small issues and stories can consume the public and the main stories can become lost in the noise. Turkey slaps were 2 seconds of behaviour and barely worthy of a second thought in the bigger picture.”
Central to reviving Big Brother is the issue of cost. Revenue for digital channels is still growing from its low launch base.
In the UK eviction shows were staged on premium channels with the Daily show on the less-profile multichannels. Eviction shows that bear a high cost per hour, could be complemented by the bulk of the show on a secondary channel at a low cost per hour.
“I don’t think it can be made on much less than $15m. That’s still less than the rumoured cost of The X Factor but with far more content,” said the source.
TV Tonight understands commercial networks have previously toyed with the idea of reviving BB, but the idea is yet to become serious. Readers regularly express their desire to see the Southern Star show return -but what form might it take?
In the fourteen years since the show first began in the Netherlands it has undergone numerous twists and turns in territories across the world: fake evictions, Power of Veto, all-female house, artificial village, housemates with best friends, housemates with mothers, Big Brother family, Vote to Evict / Vote to Save, Celebrity Hijack, the house in a Bubble in a shopping centre -and more…
In France it has morphed into Secret Story (logo pictured), a series in which each contestant enters the house with a personal secret. Housemates are compelled to interact with one another to try and discover each secret and win cash prizes. Result: no more flying under the radar.
But has there been enough time between Sunday night evictions for the Australian public to wipe the slate clean and revisit this bold social experiment?
“Within the next few years there’ll be a generation of potential housemates and audiences for whom the show will be fresh,” says an insider.
“Rather than having to change the show to bring it back, there needs to be a re-set on audience expectations and a fresh set of housemates who don’t all speak in reality show soundbites. The later series had a lexicon based on a repetition of previous series by the housemates.”
Which brings us to the question of where the show might best fit.
“Nine needs it right now. A show of its size could transform their schedule and ratings. That said, it’s probably premature in a timing sense for them to buy it – the show hasn’t rested long enough. But it could work on Nine + GO!
“Seven doesn’t need it. It would be a big change to their screen culture were they to buy it. It could work on TEN + ELEVEN but the same factors preventing Nine doing it now, probably prevent TEN.”
It may still be too soon to bring the format back, but Big Brother‘s power to create buzz to an audience now linked by social networking, can’t be denied.
“The show can be made as a zoo or as a circus. It can reflect and illuminate aspects of society or not.”
BB in 2012 should be like successful debate show with more intellect – combine successful features of stuff like Q&A on ABC, 7PM project and all that – we need some diversion from just “celebrity fetish”, go for more politcs (and sex of course
Big Brother is for the brain dead.
That’s it – trashy and entertaining.
)
If you get your values from a reality show it says more about you than the program.
The reunion on ACA reminded me of just how trashy and entertaining BB was. Time to bring it back I say….with Gretal at the helm again.
The only thing Big Brother achieved was to teach a generation of young girls how to behave like sluts and young men how to be a d***head.
I think BB is great – both from the UK & Oz (not so much US). I think it’s amazing that the people who hate it know so much about it. If I don’t like a programme I won’t watch it.
I agree with Jason, one of the best things (in the early series anyway) was the opportunity to watch ‘live’, for free (through the ‘red button’ on E4 in the UK and on the net in the UK & Oz). You could see how the housemates interacted without the editing.
Yes.
Eleven – The Daily Show, The Late Show.
Ten – Nominations, Evictions.
Simulcast – Opening Night, Closing Night.
Or put it on Nine if need be. Just bring it back to its former glory days. Of course, Nine has already hinted at its interest in the show with its recent ACA special.
I’ll just chime in here with a “yes, please”.
I think Ryan hits the nail on the head here – once Analogue TV gets switched off in the metro areas we’ll see the multichannel ratings go up and up, at that point it will be economical to virtually have your station on BB almost the entire day (obviously you’d have other shows to be able to promote while BB is your tentpole, but huge amounts of Daytime and Late Night could be filled by this show.
I think the big thing with “Summer” — is how long are you going to run it for over Summer??
There is No way that they would keep the contestants in the house during Christmas/New Years, or be able to get enough staff to man the house for filming purposes.
The “Northern Summer” is lasts effectively 3 months from the end of May until late August, the “Southern Summer” doesn’t last anywhere near that long.
To those suggesting this could run over Summer: are you living in fairyland? With the cost involved the networks are hesitant to run it in peak ratings season let alone in non-ratings Summer…
It would be great to see one of channels relaunch BB. Sure-it’s had its fair share of controversaries but is a worldwide hit in many countries. No one bothers to air UK/US BB here.
I would love to see it back in 2012. Same format (don’t let Shine take interest) and have Gretel back! Hopefully it would air on its original network, Ten, although I wouldn’t be surprised if 9 picked it up considering their terrible ratings so far. Im sure the first season would rate well but I wouldn’t bet on keeping it after that. Please bring it back!!!
Channel Nine should bring back Big Brother next year. They need something desperately at 7pm and there is no reality at 7pm anymore so the stage is clear for this format at 7pm.
I wouldn’t mind a return of Big Brother to be honest, just needs to have colourful characters and if they look good then that’s a plus, and well the uncut shows late night were fun to watch.
bring back big brother. i almost did a little bit of wee at the thought. didnt realise how much i missed it. Sad sad life I lead
bring it back- Quick!!!
I’d definitely welcome it back in some form or another, just as long Mike Goldman gets a uplate gig.
Big Brother would be a perfect show for Channel 9 + GO!, it’s true it needs more content in it’s programming. Although keeping orginal format with host gretel killen, mike goldman, friday night games, eviction stage and runway, eviction night sunday, theme song from 2005. In 2012… Dreamworld the home for Big Brother, Big Brother’s new home on Nine, Welcome Home to Channel Nine and GO! – this would ideal
I agree totally that Australia hasn’t seen the last of Big Brother – or the format at least. Once analogue television is switched off in the final market, a configuration of major shows (Launch, Evictions, Finale) on a primary channel and minor shows (Daily Shows, Nominations) on a secondary channel could work very well – either between 7/7Two (my original thoughts before Eleven was announced), 9/Go! or 10/Eleven.
Could a shift in compound add to the success of a revival – e.g. somewhere in Sydney? Though the uniqueness of having BB within a themepark was a great idea.
If BB is not revived I’m sure the format will carry over to a new reality show.
@ CatFan
I agree, a summer series would be great. TEN never has anything to run during Summer, especially at 9:30. I think a show like BB could really boost their shares over summer and help them to launch better at the start of the year.
It could run from the week before the end of ratings. eg.
7:30 Junior MasterChef Final
9:30 Big Brother Launch
Then run…
Daily Show 9:30 week nights (1hr)
Uplate 10:45 week nights (only have 15min Late News Update at 10:30 while BB is on)
Eviction 8:30 Sunday
Uncut 10:30 Sunday
FNL 7:30 Friday
Then have the Finale 8:30 on the first day of ratings the following year.
Tell Coles if they want to sponsor MasterChef, they also have to sponsor BB’s Supermarket.
@ Courtney, “a large portion of gays as well”… where did this come from? Do you have facts behind this statement?
Put it on ONE. They have pi**ed us sports fans off as it is, just finish us off with Big Brother.
@ Courtney,
Very good point.
Though I don’t really think that we really need another ‘male-oriented’ channel, unless they’re willing to show Boston Legal that 7mate have stopped showing. Or The West Wing.
If they want to put it on their main channels it’d be fine. I just won’t watch. But I really hope no-one ruins their multi-channels with it. Especially Eleven because they are already behind and need to catch-up still with many shows. To me when they put Big Brother on the rest of the channel (Ten ) just became unreliable. That includes other reality shows as it causes them to be extremely late. I think that’s why some people gave up watching their scripted content. Why wait 20 or more minutes when something else is on right now? Ugh.
Let us all pray that they never let that piece of brain-dead trash back on any channel. It was the worst of the worst, catering to the lowest of the low bogan idiot demographic.
Compared to BB, Conviction Kitchen et al are Shakespeare and Dickens combined. Our obsession with shows about renovating, backyards, cooking and the rest are embarrassing, but BB was positively harmful to our sense of self-respect and basic human decency.
come back big brother! I reckon channel 9 and GO! are the perfect channels.
Put Big Brother on already channel 9!
Has anyone thought to rebroadcast the UK version in Australia?
@John A lot of people have made the suggestion that Big Brother should go to ONE HD; but people forget; what is Big Brother’s biggest demographic?
Answer: Women. And a large portion of gays as well. ONE HD, when relaunched, will be aimed at young men and while there is a significant male demographic in BB, I doubt this would be the best move for ONE HD’s image. I think either ELEVEN or TEN for Big Brother.. Or both.
It could make a come back but only if they fix the two main problems.
Casting and Demographics.
No more ‘pea brains’ as someone said and no more aiming at the tween market. If the contestant have to be 18 to enter then it should be an adult show with more adult timeslots.
Could Big Brother on ONE be the anchor program it needs to build a reputation and establish viewership?
Though I did read comments that Nine had purchased the rights.
…and bring back Uncut along with it…
A show for people with nothing to do, watching people doing absolutely nothing.
A show which taught 8 – 12 year olds how to “evict” friends from their group, just like the “stars” on TV.
A show which attracted interest based on the revealing of flesh, boobs, bums, the potential for sex, and the diplomacy with which farts are handled.
It had a time and a place, no one denies that. And there’s nothing wrong with people watching a TV show because it was great entertainment at the time. But seriously, can’t we support new programs for our new time and place?
Another idea an Australian network could borrow from the UK version would be to run BB in summer rather than winter. Summer isn’t in the official ratings period but if they make it to a strict budget it could fill in many hours when there isn’t as much competition.
I think BB always had great potential, but the contestants were never let of their leashes and just too controlled. For some that was the point of the show, but I found it boring.
I would prefer a version where people are free to be themselves, i.e. collaborate, and be tactical, form alliances etc, kind of a Lord of the Flies type of show. Basically remove all but necessary rules for safety reasons and let the contestants actually contest with each other.
I’m undecided about it. It was great in the first few years when there was a massive buzz about it. But that’s it, it was only in the first couple of years that those things David mentioned in the third paragraph happened. The show was just ruined after then, and it lost its appeal. I’d love for Ten to be able to relive the golden era it went through with Big Brother, but can it really happen again? Or is it just one of those things that we loved, but has to stay in the past?
Trust me, I’d love to swap Ten’s success with Masterchef and replace it with Big Brother again. I’d love for Ten to be able to bring back BB/Aus Idol/SYTYCD and have them be Ten’s event TV lineup again, god knows it’s so pathetic that a Cooking show is the highest rating thing (in the OzTAM era) on Aussie TV so far.
The daily show on Eleven, the eviction on Ten, and the naked showering on One in HD. The ratings for all three channels would improve dramatically.
Beyond 2000 (1985-1995,1999)
Towards 2000 (1981-1984) this was very succesful. Later again by the 7 Network revived it with Beyond Tommorow that only lasted 3 years which is a lot in todays tv industry however the orginalls lasted almost 2 decades. My point is that when a network chooses to revive a show which was successful in its time they should not expect the same level of success.
May i remind people of some of the other shows which were revived in recent memory. Gladiators was a hit for the 7 Network back in the 90s and then was revived in 2007 the show with new hosts time slot and new cast didnt fare as well as the originall australian version which lasted 3 years i think. Also Perfect match was originally on Network Ten and lasted from 1984-1986, 1989. Originally hosted by Greg Evans who later became a celebrant, the show was later revived by the 7 Network with Shelley Craft and Agro that only lasted 1 year in 2002. Plus Beyond 2000 was a great science show which went from
Hell yeah! Bring back Big Brother! The digital revolution would surely make this work. I am really missing my Big Brother fix. Come on Ten or Seven but not Nine. Nine couldn’t make this work imo.
This could be big again, but the casting is all important. Vile Kyle had input into the casting of the last season and humanity was thin on the ground. Maybe they should get the folk who cast Masterchef to have a crack at this.
I never liked BB in the first place and think that now some of the people who go in there will be acting more then ever to the audience/
@ Paull :
Ever heard of changing channels?
bring back gretel, and put it on the new relaunch of ONE.
In the (thereabouts) words of Robert Langdon, “Surely such a travesty will never occur”.
A slap on the wrist for bringing it up David!!
I’d love Big Brother back, but please not in QLD.
Bring back Big Brother
I really do hope Big Brother eventually returns.
The break has done it good, and really .. At the end of the 8th series, it needed it.
If they stripped things back to the original format, chose interesting personalities and not people who go on the show simply for fame, I really think it could work.
I doubt they would use the original house at Dreamworld, as it is no longer owned by the production company. Dreamworld use the house for storage, and it is very rundown! I think they will eventually demolish it.
So I think strip it back to the original format, choose interesting people and show it at a later timeslot (9-9.30pm). It really could work!
I can’t see 7 or 9 taking it. But I think if Channel 10/11 revived it, it would be successful again.
Big Brother on 10 / 11 in 2012!
David; maybe you should run a poll to see what people would think?? Get a good indication on what people in this site really think.
I’ve said this before, but I totally think Ten should bring this back as a daily 9:30pm show. 9:30 sunday evictions would be awesome!
nooooo! I’d get rid of my digital receiver if such a crime were to happen.
I don’t think the networks should revive Big Brother because some seasons are so controversial, and also, it is suffering its ratings decline in the final season. I was very happy when it was axed as the show has already past its use by date and the 2008 twists are dull!
God Damn It!! Bring It Back Already!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hurry Up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes bring back BB, but, not at 7pm where they have to censor it too much, make it later so there has to be no bleeping etc.
If parents are worried they can use the parental lock for that channel.
For all of you who simply don’t like BB, you simply don’t have to watch!
Only want the show to come back if done properly (stop the extreme censorship!). I miss my yearly trashy indulgence!
David; just something I noticed;
‘In the UK eviction shows were staged on premium channels with the Daily show on the less-profile multichannels. Eviction shows that bear a high cost per hour, could be complemented by the bulk of the show on a secondary channel at a low cost per hour.’
The daily shows and evictions were both shown on the main channel; C4 however its multichannel, E4, was utilized by airing fanzine shows like Little Brother and Big Mouth.
And to all the haters out there; forget you. Big Brother was and still is the biggest show on earth. No other show defines television history as well as BB. Guarantee you, when MasterChef is all done and dusted, No one will ever talk about it 3 years later in the same capacity we are talking about BB now. Big Brother negativity has always been around, even when the show was popular. Now that it’s not even on, it’s easy for negative-noo-naas to raise their point. I’d love to see their faces if and when BB is a hit again!
Bring back BB!
Definitely agree that it should be brought back. Digital channels would be a perfect medium for it. I personally have missed it – I don’t know about anyone else though lol
Hopefully it’s “rest” period is up very soon haha
If Ten/Eleven or any other network can remind people why we fell in love with Big Brother in the first place, it could potentially be huge if executed correctly. It was indeed a groudbreaking show and reality programs are still on the rise in Australia.
haha…I knew this was going to happened!! I think its coming back!! early next year!
It’s never a good time to bring Big Brother back. Our TV content has improved immeasurably by it simply not being on the screen.
A piece of advice if a network is to bring back Big Brother: Don’t fill it with a homogeneous group of pea brain teenagers. A diverse group might make it interesting.
I’ve been waiting two and a half years for this to be brought up. 57,000 facebook fans say Bring it back!!!
Couldn’t agree more! I just hope that the digital multichannels launch in my area before the show is relaunched because its not as good watching shows on the online catch-up services (e.g. Plus7).
I really think BB could be huge if someone were to bring it back. With the explosion of social networking since the last series I think it’s something that kids today would absolute love. I think Twitter and Facebook would go nuts with young people commenting on what’s happening in the house.
I think getting rid of the Uncut show in the last series was what killed it. This is where viewers got to see the “real” housemates. All of the funniest moments in the house were too rude for the 7pm timeslot but they were easily the best viewing.
I can’t see Seven or Nine risking viewer backlash by bringing it back but what have Ten got to lose?
Come on 10 you can do it !
I think TEN/11 should air it after the Olympics next year. That would be 3.5 years rest and keep it simple and in a later slot. Ten’s mistake was to make the show ‘family friendly’ which made it boring to its demographic.
In the UK they aired it at 9pm and kept it raw, not even bleeping swearing.
This could be big hit again and using both channels to air different segments of the show would really work.
No thanks, was so glad when this tripe got axed!
Bring it back!
When it does come back they need to make it feel like the original so it does not lose the magic that captures people’s passion!
Things like:
Gretel Killeen
Mike Goldman
Theme song
Dreamworld
Eviction runway
Evictions stage
Big Brother failed in the last couple of years it was on due to lack of nudity. Once contestants realised what was shown they stopped disrobing. Seriously, who takes a shower in their bikini. If you are going to be on the show, you need to be realistic. One of the highest rating BB shows was the ‘uncut’ show….when there was something to show.
There is way too much bad blood around the big brother brand in this country, if you look at how MasterChef is made it’s apparent just how far we’ve moved pass this nasty show.
It’s time to bring bb back on go!
There seems to be a lot of talk of BB lately. Could there very well be a revival in Australia? As I’ve mentioned in a previous BB-related story, if it were to be revived, Ten could air the daily shows on Eleven at 7pm (seeing as the timeslot is now occupied on Ten) and the Evictions, Nominations, Uncut & Friday Night Live shows could air on Ten. I’d hate to see Seven or Nine get their hands on this show… BB on Ten in 2012!
Omg! Yes! I wish this was a confirmation article that it had cone back. I hope that nine don’t do it though. It belongs on ten/ eleven
Omg! Yes! I wish this was a confirmation article that it had cone back. I hope to god that nine don’t do it though. It belongs on ten/ eleven
Would be just like the Hey Hey reunion, would rate extremely well at first, then people would realise why they stopped watching last time.
Hasn’t the show done enough damage to civilisation? Let it stay in the ground, our children require no further dumbing-down.