Channel 4 Sees Strong Start For Celebrity Big Brother
Channel 4’s latest series of Celebrity Big Brother kicked off last night, with a mix of hopeful celebrities entering the house for an extended two-week stint watched by almost 6 million viewers.
Amongst the famous faces participating in the reality TV show this year are feminist Germaine Greer, supermodel Caprice and indie group the Happy Mondays ex-dancer, Bez. The show’s launch night attracted an average audience of 5.2 million and average share of 21.7%, much higher than that of the programme’s first series, which attracted a comparatively low 4.5 million in 2001. However, last night’s high-profile launch was overshadowed by that of the previous series, which raked in 7.6 million viewers in 2002.
A Channel 4 spokeswoman described the general feeling at the broadcaster as “smug”, revealing that last night’s launch was the highest rated show of the year so far, topping the performance of successful US drama Desperate Housewives, which made its UK debut on the channel earlier this week.
Channel 4 will undoubtedly be hoping for an improved performance from the celebrity show’s third outing, following a dip in average viewing for the last series, despite its impressive start. The show’s last airing in November 2002 saw it notch up an average viewing figure of 4.36 million, down 12.6% on its first incarnation in 2001 which drew an average of 4.99 million viewers.
The show is scheduled to run for two weeks, with a celebrity evicted from the house every other day, however, the show’s previous contestants have demonstrated a habit of walking out early as tempers flare and the pressure begins to rise.
As always, viewers will be given the chance to decide which celebrities stay and which are evicted, with voting available through telephone, text message and interactive TV. Channel 4 has announced that it will donate 16p from the cost of every 50p vote to a group of charities chosen by the celebrity contestants, as well as 9p from each vote automatically going to help victims of the Asian tsunami (see Channel 4 Donates Big Brother Vote Revenue To Tsunami Relief).
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