BBC director general Matt Brittin has revealed that Channel 4 approached the BBC to discuss a streaming partnership, potentially paving the way for The Great British Bake Off to return to its original home. Brittin made the comments during his first major public appearance before Parliament's Culture, Media and Sport Committee on Wednesday, six weeks after taking the top BBC job.
Talks could bring Bake Off to iPlayer
The discussions could result in shows like Bake Off being added to iPlayer, marking a significant return for the cooking competition after it left the BBC in 2016. Referring to the merger between Sky and ITV, Brittin said a deal between the BBC and Channel 4 would be in the latter's interests.
'All of these mergers are driven by the need to have scale. Channel 4 looks very subscale,' Brittin told the committee. 'One opportunity for them would be, in partnership with the BBC, having content on iPlayer that continues to be ad-funded.'
Brittin emphasises public service importance
He added: 'There are an array of commercial, audience, public service, and technical issues, but what we'll do is explore that as quickly as we are able, because I think that's something that's going to be important for public service media.'
However, Channel 4 CEO Priya Dogra previously rebuffed the idea of a merger with any broadcaster. Speaking at the Creative Cities conversation, she said: 'I was in mergers and acquisitions for a long time and the thing you learn is that there are no mergers. There are only acquisitions. Someone is always buying someone else and from my seat, that's the wrong answer for Channel 4, because it would just mean Channel 4 gets subsumed into another organisation.'
Dogra warns of loss of editorial voice
Dogra argued that such a move would result in a loss of the broadcaster's editorial voice and harm the creative sector. The speculation comes after rumours that ITV was in talks to acquire the beloved baking show from Channel 4.
A source told Metro: 'It's a great show. It's on Channel 4, it's doing well and Channel 4 has recommissioned it. This is speculation.'
Channel 4 confirms Bake Off stays for now
Channel 4 issued a statement yesterday: 'Channel 4's GBBO deal is with Love and as such is unaffected by the Sky ITV deal. The show's existing multi-year agreement with Love remains in place, meaning Bake Off fans will be able to continue to enjoy the show on Channel 4 as usual.'
