Reality Shows Go Head To Head For Summer Season
Reality TV is set to rule the airwaves this summer as the second series of last year’s hit Big Brother (see Big Brother Finale Gives C4 Largest Ever Friday Night Audience) fights for attention with the UK version of US success Survivor. While the shows are unlikely to directly clash on the schedules, with ITV’s Survivor heading for a primetime slot and Channel 4’s Big Brother later in the evening, both shows are expected to announce launch dates of the end of this month, which means they will compete directly for the headline space that boosted Big Brother mania last year.
Both shows are offering cash prizes to the winners. In Big Brother’s case the sum remains at £70,000, with 10 contestants competing, while Survivor is offering £1m to one of sixteen participants. Survivor’s essential difference will be that footage of its contestants marooned on a desert island, catching food, building shelters and voting each other off has already been filmed. Only the announcement of the winner will be live. It is thought that the show will air in an 8pm slot, following Coronation Street.
ITV is launching its largest ever marketing campaign to support the show, with break bumpers running in every break for the 11 week pre-launch period which began on 30 April. An additional £500,000-worth of off-air media promotion bought by Starcom Media will also push the “You Don’t Win, You Survive” message on national posters, national radio, national press, SMS messaging and ambient media.
Big Brother, meanwhile, is to retain its live and interactive approach. The addition of digital channel E4 to its resources since the last series means that footage will be available 21 hours a day on the channel, with digital viewers able to choose from a range of camera angle options and use their remote control to vote and access further information.
Weekday highlights will go out on Channel 4 each day at 10pm and further information will also be available on the website, which broke records last year for the number of visitors received (see Big Brother Website Makes It Into August Top Ten). Finally, an SMS option is to be made available so that fans can receive updates through their mobile phones.
Channel 4: 020 7396 4444 www.channel4.com ITV: 020 7843 8222 www.itv-survivor.co.uk
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