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+--- Thread: The BIG Breakfast (/showthread.php?tid=85)
The BIG Breakfast - Bluecortina - 12-09-2021
Flux post_id=39249 time= user_id=766 Wrote:Very disappointing viewing figures for this yesterday, but I agree so much of that was down to promotion. No one seemed to know about Black to Front day in general, let alone the return of the show. It’s as if C4 got cold feet on the whole initiative after a bit of muted backlash and their approach to the publicity was very tentative.
I have no doubt had the BB been brought back for a week, ratings would have grown day by day as positive word of mouth (and social media reaction) got out.
So the reaction was brilliant, but the numbers don’t justify a full time return. All4 might sway it if there’s a strong re-watch based on strong word of mouth (possibly ongoing if they feature it on Gogglebox…) but I doubt it will be big enough for them to feel it’s worth investing in, and as previously discussed the BB is not a viable show for a once-a-week outing. You have to go the whole hog every morning from a bespoke house/setting to successfully capture its uniqueness.
The positive buzz might convince C4 to do something for the anniversary though, and although I don’t think an anniversary special steeped in nostalgia is what the show needs if it stands any chance of a future, it would still be nice to see some form of the Big Breakfast again.
But where is this “positive buzz’?
I see a few positive postings on this forum as you might expect, and whilst I have to admit I’m not a big user of social media I haven’t seen much if anything on there. Nothing in the papers I read. Wasn’t it really just a nice outing for a show fondly remembered from the distant past by a few people?
I think we have to be cautious not to mistake the enthusiastic comments on a forum with public opinion itself which seems muted at best.
The BIG Breakfast - Brekkie - 12-09-2021
It was trending on Twiiter most the day with overwhelmingly positive comments and most news sites reported on it positively on Friday, echoing calls for it to return. It was much more than a few folk getting nostalgic on a forum.
The BIG Breakfast - dbl - 12-09-2021
https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a37539339/big-breakfast-2021-channel-4-mo-gilligan-reactions/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2021/09/10/big-breakfast-gave-morning-tv-wake-up-call-nineties-time-bring/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-9977547/The-Big-Breakfast-viewers-plead-Channel-4-bring-following-one-off.html
https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/big-breakfast-fans-applaud-amazing-24953049
Positive buzz - yes.
The BIG Breakfast - Brekkie - 12-09-2021
Not seen much - well, any - comment from the key members of the alumni. Mike McClean seems to be the only ex-host to have tweeted about it.
https://twitter.com/mikemcclean5/status/1436229852114345986
And seems Richard Orford has joined the world of craft TV.
https://thecraftstore.com/about/the-craft-store-presenters-richard-orford
The BIG Breakfast - Bluecortina - 12-09-2021
dbl post_id=39274 time= user_id=966 Wrote:https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a37539339/big-breakfast-2021-channel-4-mo-gilligan-reactions/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2021/09/10/big-breakfast-gave-morning-tv-wake-up-call-nineties-time-bring/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-9977547/The-Big-Breakfast-viewers-plead-Channel-4-bring-following-one-off.html
https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/big-breakfast-fans-applaud-amazing-24953049
Positive buzz - yes.
I can’t see the Telegraph article as it’s behind a paywall (?) but the newspaper articles seem to me to mainly quote Twitter user X or Twitter user Y praising it to high heaven and wanting it to be brought back permanently. That’s fair enough of course, but Twitter isn't Britain I’m afraid.
The BIG Breakfast - adamiow - 12-09-2021
Bluecortina post_id=39373 time= user_id=1554 Wrote:dbl post_id=39274 time= user_id=966 Wrote:https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a37539339/big-breakfast-2021-channel-4-mo-gilligan-reactions/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2021/09/10/big-breakfast-gave-morning-tv-wake-up-call-nineties-time-bring/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-9977547/The-Big-Breakfast-viewers-plead-Channel-4-bring-following-one-off.html
https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/big-breakfast-fans-applaud-amazing-24953049
Positive buzz - yes.
I can’t see the Telegraph article as it’s behind a paywall (?) but the newspaper articles seem to me to mainly quote Twitter user X or Twitter user Y praising it to high heaven and wanting it to be brought back permanently. That’s fair enough of course, but Twitter isn't Britain I’m afraid.
Here's a real review:
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/sep/11/from-the-big-breakfast-to-gogglebox-channel-4s-black-to-front-day-reviewed-in-full
The BIG Breakfast - tellyblues - 12-09-2021
If Channel 4 had thrown their full weight behind The Big Breakfast they would have been criticised for not giving as much coverage to an arguably more important initiative in Black To Front.
It may well be that TBB returns on a regular basis but I hope that they let it grow and not hype it up. It's what kills most formats these days and in TBB's case, shows where people already have high expectations.
The BIG Breakfast - Whataday - 13-09-2021
Bluecortina post_id=39373 time= user_id=1554 Wrote:dbl post_id=39274 time= user_id=966 Wrote:https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a37539339/big-breakfast-2021-channel-4-mo-gilligan-reactions/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2021/09/10/big-breakfast-gave-morning-tv-wake-up-call-nineties-time-bring/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-9977547/The-Big-Breakfast-viewers-plead-Channel-4-bring-following-one-off.html
https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/big-breakfast-fans-applaud-amazing-24953049
Positive buzz - yes.
I can’t see the Telegraph article as it’s behind a paywall (?) but the newspaper articles seem to me to mainly quote Twitter user X or Twitter user Y praising it to high heaven and wanting it to be brought back permanently. That’s fair enough of course, but Twitter isn't Britain I’m afraid.
You asked for examples of the "positive buzz" and were provided with very clear examples. Twitter isn't Britain, but it does provide a measure of public opinion and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and in turn this was amplified via various news outlets.
The BIG Breakfast - Keith - 13-09-2021
gottago post_id=38992 time= user_id=900 Wrote:44,000 for Big Breakfast yesterday which is about half what the sitcom repeats would normally get but it wasn’t trailed anywhere near as much as it should have been. Ultimately I think they’ll consider this as an on air pilot and it was well received so I reckon it will come back.I suspect that a combination of lack of publicity and the timeslot will have been a big factor.
By only starting at 8am it meant that many people were either already at / on their way to work, or getting their children off to school. Compared to earlier in there aren't as many people working from home or on furlough. If it was brought back permanently then a 7-9am timeslot would surely be better, and give more people a chance to watch it.
Also I imagine that due to the limited publicity many people weren't even aware of it being on, regardless of whether they could actually watch it.
The BIG Breakfast - VMPhil - 13-09-2021
There wasn't very much promotion for the day itself - it feels like Channel 4 got cold feet about the idea after being criticised, but couldn't be seen to drop it completely.
The BIG Breakfast - RDJ - 13-09-2021
VMPhil post_id=39551 time= user_id=1043 Wrote:There wasn't very much promotion for the day itself - it feels like Channel 4 got cold feet about the idea after being criticised, but couldn't be seen to drop it completely.I thought that myself. Too much time and money had been invested into it and there was very little promo of the day itself… apart from the Big Breakfast promos which itself was shown only sporadically.
There wasn’t even anything new presentation wise with the same idents and promo bumpers… just the odd special promo and ad breaks.
The BIG Breakfast - Brekkie - 13-09-2021
The Paralympics should have been the perfect promotional vehicle for the show and the day as a whole, and if they got cold feet about the "Black to Front" name they should have just ran with "Black and Proud". Indeed I think they even have an ident from a previous season of shows they've run and ultimately the day was an extension of that, just concentrated in a single day to get noticed rather than across a few weeks and ending up largely ignored.
What little presentation The Big Breakfast itself had was pretty much faultless. The promo worked, the break bumpers worked, even the simple build up and sting for the titles seemed appropriate for a revival rather than trying to come up with a competely new title sequence. The clock could have been nicer and the news backdrop seemed like it was downloaded from GenericVirtualNewsBackdrops.com but apart from that and perhaps adding one or two stings to titles it looked and sounded great. The theme tune especially really does hold up well - I think it's aged much better than the 1997-2000 version.
The BIG Breakfast - Newshound47 - 17-09-2021
Is the Big Breakfast the most famous programme in the 1990’s to have many episodes apparently missing from the archives.
The BIG Breakfast - JasonB - 17-09-2021
Newshound47 post_id=40499 time= user_id=1854 Wrote:Is the Big Breakfast the most famous programme in the 1990’s to have many episodes apparently missing from the archives.
Maybe that’s what they say over at the missing episodes forums. There’s a good chunk of episodes here at screen ocean which seem to focus on certain chosen celebrities. https://screenocean.com/search/results#/?query=The%20big%20breakfast&type=grid
It has been said on here and on TV Forum in the past that there is an archive but what you get on the label is not what you might get on the tape.
The BIG Breakfast - Brekkie - 17-09-2021
Quite surprising more care wasn't taken considering from the outset it was a noteable show often with significant guests and moments rather than just a generic breakfast show ala GMTV. They never seemingly had any issues finding footage for anniversaries and for people leaving, all from quite early on in the shows history so is a case they were lost after the show finished. Seems there may have been some confusion between C4 and Planet 24 over who was archiving the show.