A baking show divides a nation
Dear All,
Britain is reeling in shock -- and it’s not just because of the Brexit vote! Earlier this month came another bombshell -- the news that the BBC has lost its hit show ‘The Great British Bake Off’ to rival Channel 4.
Jaws dropped -- how could this be possible? The hit show was in its seventh season on the National Broadcaster, it had managed to reach an audience of up to 15 million viewers, and it was a fun, feel-good show watched by a wide variety of individuals. The show, in which 12 contestants ‘baked off’, competing against each other in a large well-equipped tent with colourful appliances, was filmed on beautiful locations around the country. The format was simple. It was hosted by comedy duo Mel and Sue, and the judges were the glacial 81-year-old Mary Berry, the stern, bearded Paul Hollywood (in a bit of a ‘bad cop’ role), the contestants were varied (teenagers, grannies, doctors, engineers, businessmen, housewives etc), and the mood was warm and fuzzy and quite light hearted.
Bake Off had begun to be regarded with the sort of affection that many of the Beeb’s most quirky and best-loved programmes have been, spoken of as being something only a non-commercially motivated, national broadcaster channel could come up with, a slightly eccentric, uniquely British production that nobody really ever thought would be on anywhere other than the BBC.
But, as it turned out, the show’s format belonged to a private production company, one Love Productions, who in renegotiation with the BBC wanted substantially more than the maximum amount the public broadcaster was able to offer -- so they signed up with the rival channel, who (reportedly) are paying five times as much.
The public and cast reaction has been interesting, because although the move is not illegal, it is being regarded as an act of disloyalty. The show was co-developed and launched by the national broadcaster and obviously a public broadcasting corporation, funded mainly by the public through the license fee, it doesn’t have the big bucks to get into a bidding war. Although the production company tried to emphasise that C4 was not Sky, calling it "a public service, free-to-air broadcaster" (true) the overall impression was one of disloyalty which is why presenters Sue and Mel resigned immediately, and Berry after days of considering her options also announced that she would not be with the show when it moved.
So, only Hollywood has remained, prompting a few ‘Et tu Paul’ type jibes on social media.
The idea that what the production company decided was not quite "he done thing", was also clearly articulated by a former BBC controller Lorraine Heggessey who said that although in her time "there would always be tough negotiations on programme budgets… in the end there was an unwritten rule that you did not walk away and take your show somewhere else."
The former controller also criticised the move because her view was that the BBC had invested a lot of license payers’ money into "growing the show".
It’s interesting how the move of a baking show from one channel to another seems to have divided opinion across the country, but the matter does raise a number of relevant points to ponder. One is that it might be good to reflect on the whole system of outsourcing work and bringing private contractors in to do work for government organisations (as also happens in the NHS).
Another is that however much BBC professionals may grumble about the way the organisation is run, they appear to have a deep sense of loyalty to the idea of a public broadcaster, a sense of almost national loyalty that much of the public seem to share. And lastly, this episode makes it clear that the Beeb cannot be treated as just another broadcaster within a cut-throat media marketplace -- it is unique and it is special, and it should not be embarrassed to declare that this is the case.
Best wishes