Media, popularity and public opinion

Mark Lawson asks Is it time to kill off Big Brother? in The Guardian.

In an analytical piece he reflects on Big Brother's ten years and suggests:

• That there's a natural eight year lifespan for popular television series
• Big Brother has influenced other areas of public life: politicians and football coaches now fear instant 'eviction' if public opinion turns against them
• The media tries to predict rather than report the public mood, and it's turned its back on Big Brother this series (contributory factors being the busy news agenda this summer with MPs' expenses, swine flu and Michael Jackson dominating news and commentary pages).

Comments

[Penny]

I was working at C4 when BB1 launched and the excitment was incredible - not just because of the viewing figures, which were unprecedented, but for the possibilties it opened up for using different technologies and platforms to communicate with people. The commercial cynicism which is all that's keeping BB going now is terrible. C4 should return to doing what it was set up to do - innovate. Let's have something that can prove that television isn't past it as a creative form.