After 10 series of Big Brother on Channel 4, the reality show's age is beginning to tell. Audiences for the programme have fallen to their lowest-ever levels, which is having a knock-on effect on Channel 4's peak-time share.
The series was once the television highlight of the summer, bringing not only big ratings but guaranteed extensive tabloid coverage, thanks to the paucity of other news in the slow season. However, the antics of Craig, Nichola, Sada and 'Nasty Nick' Bate-man, which apparently gripped a nation over one long summer a decade ago, now seem a lifetime away.
Although the audience for the 2009 premiere night was down only margin-ally on last year, viewing figures were the lowest for a series launch since 2001. Even more worrying is that things have worsened. The episode shown on Saturday 13 June attracted just 1.2m viewers - an all-time low.
Natural selection
Of course most programme formats have a limited shelf-life and Big Brother has been in decline since 2007. How-ever, the fall-off in the audience from the previous series to this one is mar-ked; this season's episodes are bring-ing in, on average, 1m fewer viewers, according to BARB figures.
While the hot weather has affected all viewing, with people choosing not to watch as much television as this time last year, Rhys MacLachlan, head of broadcast implementation at MediaCom, agrees that Big Brother is not aging well.
'It was of its time,' he says. 'It used to be appointment-to-view television but TV has moved on since then and attempts to freshen the format up haven't worked.' MacLachlan does not believe, how-ever, that Big Brother is damaging to the Channel 4 brand.
Advertisers that once clamoured to be the show's sponsor, attracted to its unpredictable and edgy content, have been forced to look elsewhere to reach the audiences the show would have once attracted.
Fortunately, Channel 4 has managed to protect its position and, to some extent, wean itself off its addiction to Big Brother, with other formats including Undercover Boss, Embarrassing Bodies and Alan Carr's Chatty Men.
The broadcaster also defends Big Brother despite its falling viewing figures. 'Channel 4 is focusing on producing and broadcasting an enjoyable and entertaining series,' says a spokes-woman. 'Big Brother continues to be attractive to a young audience, and the show's viewing figures among 16- to 34-year-olds is up on last year. The series has a loyal core audience who are really enjoying the show and engaging with the housemates.'
Nonetheless, the channel refuses to disclose whether it will bid to extend the contract with programme maker Endemol beyond next year; Big Brother 11 will mark the end of the current deal. The spokeswoman says it is too early to speculate.
However, it is perhaps revealing that Channel 4 opted, for the first time, to broadcast its spin-off series Celebrity Big Brother solely on E4 earlier this year, with some success. There is unlikely to be a bidding war for the format next year. Who would bet against Channel 4 retaining the programme, but shifting it to the limbo of the digital-only niche channel rather than putting it out of its misery completely?