Be brave and say Tom.

well of course it won't be as Channel 4 operate on 30 or 60 minute slots. So Bake Off will be one hour long including the ads. Of which there will be many, given the price they've paid Love Productions.

A short bbc clip about it all, though it doesn't go in much detail about the deal itself... or lack thereof !
How the BBC lost The Great British Bake Off
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-37345563

Knowing C4's fascination with certain programme types, we can no doubt look forward to

My Big Fat Gypsy Bake Off

8 out of 10 Cats do Bake Off

Benefits Bake Off



Ah well, it was good whilst it lasted. All good things must come to and end etc.

I'm surprised to hear so many people giving up on the show I am disappointed that it's leaving the BBC where it sat very well but sadly it's a done deal.

Have any of the presenters said they won't be moving with the show? They'll be doing the same job but no doubt for a much larger pay packet. Of course there will be advertisements but they'll be shown in between each round, they won't interfere with the baking bits. It may be a disaster, who knows what tomorrow brings but I'm certainly willing to give it a try.

I am really saddened by this news. And your post has hit home, Bake Off on Channel 4 will be filled with fame hungry, "quirky" contestants who will bitch about each other. (think Come Dine With Me - which i used to like until the contestants got more and more off the wall)

There will be no more gentle, supportive Bake Off - it will be all devised to be OTT and headline making. We will have a naturist in the the first series on 4.

And it is about the money. I don't like the fact Love productions have said otherwise.

Apologies! Rant over.

I shall make the most of this series. My fav Michael is out - I should have known it would go downhill after he left.

Ps - Wasn't he lovely on Extra Slice

He so was - a really lovely young man I thought.

And yes, I agree - this is all about the money and the more Love Productions deny it the more they are digging themselves into a hole. The BBC nurtured Bake Off from a slightly quirky BBC2 show to the ratings success it has become and now Love Productions have bitten the hand that fed them.

I'm prepared to give it a go on C4 but I'm also worried that as you say the mix of contestants will change and there will be no room for the Val's, the Howards and the Normans in the commercial world sadly.

Live viewing will halve on C4 and unless they totally revamp their hideous catch-up service very few will bother with that so those figures will collapse too. I can't recall seeing such a blatantly short-termist, take the money and run approach to a hit show in decades.

All the presenters have made public declarations in favour/support of the Beeb so the show will again be tainted if they row back on that and take up the huge sums that'll no doubt be thrown at them. I daresay C4 are hoping the start they gave to Mel & Sue back in the day will sway them back into the fold and PH looks like a man who enjoys a paycheque so I daresay he'll be bought too but I just don't see Mary doing it, no matter how much dosh they offer her.

C4 has made a terrible misjudgement by having a celebrity version on first as it just plays into the dire expectations of what they'll do to the show. I didn't much like the Zeleb version of it the Beeb does as very few of them take it seriously and the show becomes more about them titting about than actually trying hard so my expectations for C4's first outing is already low.

I am very disappointed with it moving to Ch4 purely because it will be have so many adverts and probably not enough baking. I can imagine they'll do a catch up from the previous week followed by whats to come on the show followed by adverts. After every advert break will be a recap of what happened in the previous segment and/or before every ad break a preview of whats still to come. Probably leaving approx 20 mins baking in a 60 min show.

Also - as sad as it is I am a fan of the kids bake off on CBBC so I wonder what will happen to that. Yes they lost the judges after the first 2 series but its still fantastic to watch!

No, its not about the money...

Adverts every 15 minutes, "sponsored by" messages and product placement in the tent are all just going to be happy by-products of the move.

Broadcasters are restricted in the amount of advertising they can show.

Channel 4 can have on average no more than 8 minutes per hour 6pm-11pm, and no more than 12 minutes in any one hour.

That means at worst there will be 3x4 minute breaks, or 4x3 minute breaks - but that would rely on them dropping advertising from another show to keep the average down.

Celeb version next year. This is to comply with the Years Break clause in the contract
Perhaps they'll extend it to 1.5hrs to fit everything in with adverts?
Interesting that none of the big 4 said they'd move from the BBC - we'll now see if money talks

bbc can just copy the format roughly surely...make their own cheaper version. 1 million an episode is just crazy money. Channel four will get 6 million viewers if lucky

I'll still watch it. I never watch anything, on any channel live, so ffing the ads won't be anything new.
Wonder about the Sewing Bee; Interior Design Challenge et al
It's a shame but we are prone to over reacting..... it's just an entertainment programme after all

I think we all know that the show is finished now it's off to the dire realms of Ch4. Pure greed on the part of the makers. But the viewing figures will take a massive hit.

I genuinely don't know how a celeb version of the show complies with that clause in the contract, unless it was so badly written that any lawyer could drive a truck through the loophole. If it is called Celebrity Bake Off, it's still Bake Off made by the same production company, for a different broadcaster. GBBO made celeb versions for Comic Relief, and also produced the brand name in line with ideas for Children in Need. I'm totally unconvinced that they can say this is a 'new' concept entirely unrelated to the competition show currently on the BBC. However, we'll see how litigious the BBC wants to be, and I suspect it could all depend on whether their presenters are poached.

I'm still of the strong belief that Mary Berry stands firm and refuses a move to another channel, no matter how much money they throw at her. Sue has made a small stand with retweeting the BBC's comments about the loss, and Paul Hollywood said people 'wanted the show to stay on the BBC', but I suspect he'll go where the money is, in the end.

It was interesting to see a recent new article about Paul being offered some other show concepts on the BBC - motoring was one, as he's a bit of a petrol-head - but it's clear the BBC are pitching stuff to him to get him to commit to a longer term BBC development deal, outside of Bake Off.

In the end, I suspect C4 will take Paul Hollywood, and put new people around him, and hope that there is a similar enough vibe to the previous version of the show. I'm willing to bet that they would actually prefer a male-female presenting team - a Richard and Judy type (or possibly actually Richard and Judy!) - and then add in some young female baker (wanna bet they have a Hemsley + Hemsley type just waiting in the wings?!) to spice up the dynamic and ensure headlines about the 'sexual tension'?!

As for the contestant choices on C4 - I'm absolutely certain they would want to move out of the quieter, studious, middle class contestants we tend to get on the BBC version, but sticking in a few 'bakers on the dole' would actually look incredibly cynical. However, within a year or so, I would expect the line up to look far more like the cast of Gogglebox - louder, more media savvy, and spotlight craving - which is a rarity on the current show. They'd probably sell it as 'freshening up' the line up, but I just don't imagine it'll be as fun to watch. I love the current mix of contestants.

Seems crazy to pay big money for a popular show when theres more than a good chance it will flop at its new home. Ad breaks for one will ruin the flow of the show and if Mary, Paul, Mel, and Sue decide not to follow its money down the drain, also launching with a celebrity special? No Thanks.

Yep with you both. I shan't miss a show now, not a single segment.
Time to wish it goodbye.
It has been a splendid series over many years.

That would be hilarious. Get Mel&Sue, Paul and Mary back and do:
'Bake the most of it' or something.

Ch4 end up with a crappy show with nobodies presenting and judging it... and no viewers

Won't happen though I don't think.

I think you will find the senior executives at Channel 4 are being paid far more than anyone at the BBC even though a much easier job.

Didn't you see this headline a year ago?

Even one or two million is still a high figure for Channel 4. If they can attract a different audience to the trash they mainly have on Channel 4 then they will attract different advertisers and perhaps be able to charge them more.

I suspect that if the presenters and judges stay silent then I think we can expect to hear they are going to Channel 4 once the present series is over - for a very large cheque fo course.

I won't be watching it on Channel 4.

I don't really understand this attitude, condemning something before it's even had a chance.

Yes there will be adverts (so just start watching 15 minutes late) and yes there will be sponsorship (skip it as part of the ads) but otherwise the format will be basically the same.

I won't be watching it on channel four, the only thing I watch on that channel is Humans, and that is bad enough, with the constant advert breaks. Love Productions will end up spoiling the show by moving it, and I will love it if all four presenters refuse to move with it. It will serve the production company right for their utter greed.

No, the format will either be compromised (e.g. by dropping one challenge) to fit the timeslot (minus ads), or it will have the media-savvy, fame-hungry contestants that proliferate on many shows these days (meaning that the feel-good nature has gone). Just look at how Come Dine With Me has gone, and how Gogglebox has changed as teh Boxers become aware that they are "media stars".

And if the presenters & judges are not there, well the current team are part and parcel of what makes Bake Off what it is. So of course new people would mean a different feel.