via press release:
THE BRITISH SENSATION, “BAKE OFF,” COMES TO AMERICA
CBS Orders New Reality Series Based on the Hit UK Format
That is Also Sweeping Europe and Other International Territories
CBS has ordered a new alternative series, BAKE OFF (working title), based on the hit UK format “The Great British Bake Off” for broadcast next year.
The series will feature skilled amateur Americans competing in baking challenges with one ultimately being crowned the winner.
“The Great British Bake Off” has become a ratings sensation in the UK. The third season finale, which aired last night (Oct. 16), was one of the highest-rated BBC2 originated shows in the last six years, earning a 25.3% share among British viewers, a series high.
The format is also sweeping Europe and other international territories, delivering big ratings on DR-1 in Denmark and on TV4 in Sweden, where it ranks as the highest rated show in the channel’s history. The series is also entertaining audiences in Belgium and Poland and has been sold in Australia, Ireland, Norway and France.
The executive producer of “Bake Off” is Richard McKerrow and the series is produced by Love Productions USA.
In Europe shares like 25% are nothing unusual. In Poland, “Got Talent” or “X Factor” reaches even 40-50% share in group 16-49. On the other hand, “Bake off” is being shooted and hasn’t aired yet, so it is kind of false to say that it is “entertaining Polish audiences”.
@Remote Patrolled
‘Honestly they’ll watch any old crap in the UK – I know because I’m a Brit who now lives in the US!’
Because all American shows are amazing aren’t they? Animal Practice, Guys With Kids, Partners…. not crap at all!
It’s aired by BBC2. 25% is impressive for them. Their average is below 10%
@Andrea: Thanks for the info. Then that’s exactly what makes the show a hit, doing big numbers on an average network. It’s like a CW series drawing a 3.0 among adults 18-49. Not a spectacular rating by itself, yet pretty amazing on a network like the CW.
They should do a reality show on programming a network.
How original!
I love The Great British Bake off, such a great show.
The shocking thing about this program was that it had apparently managed to get significant male viewing, during its run, for a cookery program in the UK even against live football. Not even Gordon Ramsay (ex-footballer) or Masterchef etc managed this.
For info, initial overnight results
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a431262/great-british-bake-off-finale-peaks-with-72-million.html
Oh joy, more non-scripted filler TV.
This show is a success for may reasons, saying there isn’t much competition, hence it’s share isn’t correct, otherwise all BBC2, Channel 4 and Channel 5 shows would have high shares! Its broke many records and only had a few million less viewers than X-Factor a few weeks ago.
The country is in a recession and people are doing more things in the comfort of their own home, cooking and baking are taking off (again), and baking is especially taking off (cupcake shops popping up everywhere).
People who say we watch any old crap in the uk is also rubbish! Let’s not start a UK/US tv debate and the “crap the UK watch”, when recent US shows that have been breaking records include Jersey Shore and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo!!!! And the equivalent cooking shows on cable in the US are very different, because, like Gordon Ramseys shows in the US, they always rely on drama, and fake drama at that. The gentle tone of this show I wouldn’t expect to do well on mainstream TV in the US unless they put in the awful, contrived drama that the US seem to love in all their reality/competition shows. Bake Off doesn’t need it, for some odd reason, it’s very gripping and I can’t explain why I’m a fan. I think it’s a mix of the tongue in cheek nature of the hosts (Mel and Sue), the genuine contestants who you root for, and a great pair of judges who only judge on the food in front of them, not back stories and not drama.
I hope it keeps the tone and I hope the US take it to their hearts the way we have.
Buddy from TLC already has this show
to my knowledge, here in the UK our channels/networks are a bit different in how they work. BBC 1 & ITV tend to get the bigger audiences with our top peak time (7pm – 10pm) shows like Downton Abbey, Doctor Who, Coronation Street & Eastenders etc. regularly regularly reaching 30-40% audience share (averaging audiences of between 8-10 million viewers).
Channels like BBC2 (tends to be more highbrow and up market in it’s shows), Channel 4 (geared more towards teen to mid 30′s market) and Sky (up until recently generally only showed imported shows) tend to get audience shares below this somewhere around the 10-30% mark (usually in the bottom half).
So for the Great British Bake Off this 25% is actually a good chunk of the share is great and for it to get 6.5million viewers is really good when I believe the average for the channel is always well below that.
Coming Soon: Twitter Idol
A few points here
Firstly a 25% share for a show on BBC2 is incredibly impressive.
Secondly it should be noted that the format hasn’t just been incredibly successful in the UK but across Europe as well.
Thirdly as bizarre as it might sound its an oddly entertaining hour of television. I’m not sure if it’ll translate especially well to the US or not but the UK version at least is incredibly watchable.
Fourthly its also worth remembering that in the UK the show has been a grower. It started OK and has just sky rocketed across a couple of runs primarily through word of mouth. People just really like it.
This will probably run on Fridays.
“Bake Off” is the next “3″
How long before they try to tie-in this show with 2 Broke Girls?
ive seen the british version and this is a great show. much better than any current american baking shows. looking forward to it.. hope they dont screw it up
Another Brit here! Just to emphasise that these kinds of ratings for BBC2 are massive, and that the public has just responded to the show in a unique way. It must give programme commissioners the heebie-jeebies because it flies in the face of everything they know, because despite the lack of drama, sex, excitement, a hate figure, or even prizes, everyone loves it! It’s just a “nice” hour’s viewing, and it works incredibly well, but I just can’t see CBS leaving the format alone…
We don’t need nor want another reality/competition show. I have been keeping a list of this type of programming since May 1, 2012. To date there have been 342 programs of this genre aired. (Both new and in syndicate) Enough already