Feature: Big Impact, Short Life-Span
Big Brother finished its run on Friday but has already begun to slip from the public consciousness. The TV phenomenon which dominated the nation over the summer months finished on a high for Channel 4 with the grand finale gaining a peak audience share of 56.5% and giving C4 its best-ever Friday night ratings.
The programme did more than any other to lift the profile of C4 amongst both the public and advertisers. After a slow start it was soon bringing in record ratings and media buyers were keen to target the young upmarket audience it attracted, with the final commercial break sold to Optimedia for an estimated £600,000.
But how long will the channel ride in the aftermath of Big Brother‘s success? Big impact television often works as a short-lived boost for a channel’s audience share which slips back on its departure. While C4 increased its monthly share by 10% during August and took a slice out of the BBC1 and ITV’s ratings, it is not expected to sustain this success post-BB.
ITV’s Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? is a case in point. Hitting our TV screens two years ago it took a while to gain momentum, but pushed the audience share of ITV above its average in the first series. At the beginning of 1999, on the strength of the network’s new peak-time schedule, which included Millionaire, CEO Richard Eyre set a target of 39% audience share for 1999.
By the third series, in March 1999, this appeared achievable, with the network’s weekly share at 19% above its average since the show began to broadcast. With media interest fuelling its popularity the channel was riding on the wave of its success.
By September ’99, however, ITV’s share had fallen to a low of 29.1% during runs of Millionaire and by January this year the network admitted defeat in reaching its target. Its planned 40% share target for 2000 now looks far from achievable, with audience share during the most recent run of the game show slipping to 28.5% in the latest consolidated BARB figures.
The series has managed to lift the audience share for the network above average during most of its runs, however, and ITV has, admittedly, had other problems affected its ratings. But those planning second series’ and spin-offs of BB should take heed the swift downfall of the latest “water-cooler” TV.