Channel 5 boss: I’d prefer to not have Big Brother on my channel
He said the reality programme moved from Channel 4 to Channel 5 before he got there.
Channel 5 boss Ben Frow has said he would be happier to run a channel that does not have Big Brother on the air.
The reality series saw a ratings slump this year as it lost viewers to Love Island on ITV2, while the latest celebrity series will conclude on Friday, and Frow, the director of programming at the channel, said he would prefer not to broadcast a show that originally aired on Channel 4.
He told the Edinburgh International Television Festival: “Most channels want to create their own content because it’s the content that gives you an identity.
“I don’t want a show from another channel, it was there before I came.
“I would be much happier with a channel that did not have Big Brother on it. I want to create our own programmes. I don’t really want other people’s programmes. I want my own that we have created.
Frow said he attributed the successes he has experienced over his time in charge to his focus on regional programming and diversity.
He said: “I would put a vast amount of our success over the last couple of years to the fact we are so regional, that we always think about commissions outside the M25.
He continued: “Commissioners have all been challenged to look at every programme and ask is it representative.
“It’s not just about colour, it’s not just about sexuality, it’s not just about London, it’s about people who don’t have degrees, about working class people, those people need to be invited into television.
“I like to employ people who are talented, passionate, driven and ambitious, whether they have a degree, whether they have a regional accent or not, we have to open our minds up a little bit.”
