But they are not huge salaries compared with what ITV, CH4 etc pay their 'star' presenters.

If they had scraped together £25 million to match CH4 then CH4 would have bid £30 million, £35 million .... The BBC could never hope to match them.

Apologies for my ignorance :rolls eyes: lol

Yes I do know that c4 have offered a lot more money. The point I was trying to make was that GBBO is one of the BBC's most successful shows and they must have to pay for other shows (hence my examples of other food shows - I mean, does anyone still watch the great British menu?!) so surely there could have been a way of keeping their most successful food based show. Clearly I'm wrong!

Anyway like a lot of other people's feelings it simply won't be the same after the move.

So since we haven't heard from Paul and Mary, we can assume they are doing it.

I think most die hard GBBO fans will watch it, some just to pull it apart, I'll probably be guilty of that myself.

Jamie Oliver has said he'd 'love to be a judge', personally I can't think of much worse unless they drag on Rylan or Jimmy Carr. There are quite a few people who you can now imagine calling their agents frantically 'GET ME THAT JOB'.

I think it was a bad move for C4 to buy the rights to the show without having all of the hosts locked down for it. Effectively what they've bought now is just the name and the concept without the presenting team that have made the show what it is, whether you like Mel, Sue or Hollywood, they have helped to make the show a success. A new team is going to change the look and the dynamic totally.

Maybe Netflix will pick it up!

Jeez, give them time!

Not necessarily.

Paul is apparently in Los Angeles at the moment and has not had chance to discuss it with Mary.

I would expect them to issue a joint statement indicating their decision, and I expect that decision to be the same as Mel & Sue's.

This situation (and the speculation around it) is very similar to the C;arkson, Hammond and May situation with Top Gear. Just like Mary, Paul, Mel & Sue, CHM were an integral part of Top Gear and they had all indicated that they would stick together. After Clarkson went there was much speculation that Hammond and/or May would remain with TG (as they already had several BBC projects and the promise of more to come). But ultimately, after a period of silence, they both decided to stick with their colleague. I would expect Paul & Mary to do the same.

There's a piece in the Daily Mail this morning which quotes Mary's husband as saying 'She's happy at the BBC' - into which you can read what you will, but I know what I think.

For those who don't get why adverts are a turn off - we know it's not a huge problem, we're not comparing it to having a leg blown off by a landmine. But it's an irritation and a distraction that we don't currently have to put up with to enjoy the show. Even FFing through them breaks the flow, tugs you out of the cosy Bake Off bubble. Then there's the inevitable "who will win the Technical Challenge? It will be...revealed after this break" faux-tension building and the "before the break we saw..." recapping that currently just isn't necessary. Little changes but they chip away at what makes GBBO special for many of its fans.

And as for not watching live...you do know which thread you're posting on, don't you? The one which gets its heaviest traffic by far between 8-9pm every Wednesday because people like to watch and discuss with others, even if that's virtually. It's the 21st century equivalent of the water cooler conversations. The BBC regularly pulls in around 10m viewers before adjustment for timeshifting, so that's approximately 1/6 of the country's population all choosing to watch the same thing live. Hardly insignificant.

I think Mary would do well to retire on the phenomenal success of the BBC GBBO and end her career on a high.
Does she really want to be on a programme telling a big fat gypsy benefit claimant that her cake is wonky, while the countdown clock whirls in the background, amid commercial breaks for maltesers and thrush treatments?

ITV apparently did offer more than £25m for the show, but the producers' former links to C4 helped form their decision to sell to them.

She also does other cookery shows for the BBC so may be happy just to do those now that GBBO has given her the new profile and her books sell really well.


That bit drives me insane on any channel - STOP telling me what's coming up, just show me!!
It is all about filling time when they have not enough content.

Of the four presenters/judges, Mary has always been the one that people thought wouldn't be even slightly motivated by money or career progression (she's 81, after all!). I will be amazed if she ends up moving with the programme - at this point, she has nothing to gain for staying with the show, and much more to lose in the bad press that's going to accompany the show on C4.

I do wonder why there's been absolutely nothing from her. Her husband's quote may be the surrogate - but I always wonder exactly when these quotes were secured. In the last couple of days, they were using Mary's quotes from a Today interview she did in late August, and attributing those words as her 'reaction' to the GBBO news.

The lack of information makes me wonder if both sides (BBC and Love Production) are working on Paul Hollywood, and Mary is giving him the space to sort himself out, as perhaps she wants to be able to release a joint statement with Paul, rather than her release her decision and for Paul to be tarred with the 'last holdout' tag, I still think he's the last hold-out, but he'd be crazy to sign up for the show without the other 3, Perhaps he thinks he can weather the bad press he'd get, and come up smelling sweeter in a year or so when the show gets round to being broadcast.

IMO, they need to release a statement today, one way or another. Any longer, and it's going to look like they're in serious negotiations with Love, and that indicates one or both are staying with the show.

BTW, does anyone know what is happening with the 4 Christmas shows that were teased a while back? I don't know the timescale for production, or whether the shows constitute part of this last year's contract with the production company. Given they were said to have a bunch of former GBBO winners, they would actually be a nice way to round off the show on the BBC.

Apparently, Paul is in Los Angeles at the moment and has not had an opportunity to speak with Mary. I would expect there to be a joint statement from them though, I really doubt whether Paul would go it alone and move. And considering the closeness of the judging team, it might look bad if Mary released a statement first.

Really? LA? Paul was in Doncaster as of Sunday, according to his twitter. Not doubting it's true, and it would explain the total media silence from him, but I suspect there's a bit of hunkering down going on. Paul is totally on my list as 'likely to move, unless seriously persuaded with a load of cash/opportunities not to'!

I daresay Four would make much out of either signing-up, so grateful would they be to get even one of them at this stage. I would suggest at this point the identification of Paul and Mary is at the same level as Mel and Sue, and the thought of either of them going it alone was always unthinkable, so the Silverback should think long and hard before taking a short term view. If the Beeb can make reassuring noises to him and Mary about doing something with Mel and Sue again (format lawyers permitting) then that may be enough to swing it. It'd be quite a noble thing to do and reputation-enhancing to a significant degree.

That was the press report that I heard - it's not impossible for him to have flown out to LA late on Sunday of course,

It was Donington Park though wasn't it?

Get a grip peeps! Talk about over reaction; it's only a tv programme
Paul and Mary are "in discussions" They will either add 15mins on for ads, or, get rid of the historical and rerun bits. The success will depend on how the new presenters and the judges ( whether new or old ) meld together. Channel 4 does not automatically dumb down programmes...and...LP seem to have a very firm hand on the tiller of this one!
It's going..... there's nothing anyone can do about it..........Let's enjoy this series - on tonight! ( in case anyone has forgotten in all the angst )
BATTER WEEK!!!
Hope Val goes and Selasi gets star baker

Is talking about the future of GBBO in the GBBO thread an "overreaction"? Seems odd...

Have to disagree with you on that point.
They will want the bakers to be having sex with each other on the worktops in no time!
(overstating it to make a point)

Evening standard, Paul and Mary expected to quit.

http://www.standard.co.uk/stayingin/...-a3344321.html

Reading this thread I wonder what people watched Bake Off for

It seems as though people watched it for Mel & Sue and not for the baking

if you watch for the baking the loss of Mel & Sue should not be a turn off

as for C4 having ads
shows like Victoria, GOT, Downton Abby, Broadchurch ect. prove a programme can still be popular and a hit even with adverts

A Victoria Sponge without the jam and the cream is still edible but it's not a Victoria Sponge anymore.

Wonder who they will get to present the programme when it goes to C4, I wonder if we'll end up with Rylan and Davina

Except that the history bits are only on for a few minutes (five at most), and not every week either. the rerun bits don't comprise more than a minute or two.

And no, I very much doubt that an entertainment programme would be extended by 15 mins (make that 20 to allow for the extra ad break in the extra time).