It’s seven days since my last blog, and hence seven days since I gave up watching the nightly highlights - after ten years of not missing a single episode.
I’m still roughly aware of the main events of the week, such as the not exactly mind-blowing tasks, and Big Brother proving just when you think things can’t get any worse, they have Vanessa Feltz and Iain Lee - on the same show!
Anyhow, enough moaning - this blog is intended to be a bit more positive.
And by that I mean it’s time the producers took some positive action - if they act within the next week, they have a change of rescuing something out of the mess that is BB10 and lift the ratings from around the 2m mark back towards the heady heights of nearer 3m.
How, I hear you ask?
Well, desperate times call for desperate measures so nothing should be ruled out. Let’s first take a look at what other countries have done mid-season when viewers have turned away from Big Brother, with varying degrees of success.
Evict Half the Housemates
The sixth season in Belgium was at a ratings low, so on Day 23 they announced half the housemates would be evicted. The housemates were split into two groups, with viewers voting for which group to evict. On Day 27 the “Big Exit” took place and six replacements were sent in, including two moles.
In the end it didn’t work out - there has only been one celebrity series since - but at least they tried something.
New (yet old) nominations
Not the best example, as BB Australia actually did give their final series the overhaul it had been waiting for. However, it didn’t boost the ratings as the network would have liked, so a few weeks in they admitted their new nomination format (with the viewers nominating, housemates evicting) wasn’t working, so introduced a “new” format - which seemed remarkably similar to the format used in the seven years previously, with housemates nominating and viewers evicting.
In the end it didn’t save the show from the axe, but it was enough to make it feel like Big Brother again - after a first few weeks where for many, it didn’t.
Big Brother - Reloaded
Not all revamps lead to the axe, and for Big Brother Germany, a very public relaunch helped the show recover from a poor start in the ratings. With the show running for a lengthy seven months, the producers took action just one month into the latest series - and made a lot of noise about the changes they would make.
The theme tune was changed, the show was rebranded “Big Brother Reloaded”, and whilst housemates were locked in the task rooms for a weekend, the house itself even had a makeover. The rules surrounding their Heaven and Hell divide were changed so that Hell would primarily be home only to the nominees and any rule breakers, while three “All Stars” - popular housemates from previous series - entered the house as fully fledged contestants.
And although these mid-season revamps had mixed success, it’s clear that it’s better to try something than to try nothing at all.
Indeed even Big Brother UK has usually had a trick up their sleeve in previous series to give the series a boost after the initial interest calms down, with twists such as the Secret Garden, the House Next Door and even BB8’s “Fake Week”.
So what can producers do to rescue this series of Big Brother?
Well, stay tuned to find out.
