BBC Content Boss Charlotte Moore Takes On Channel 4’s Ian Katz Over Reboots: “Well, Channel 4 Bought ‘Bake Off’ Back” – Edinburgh TV Festival

Max Goldbart
·3 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

BBC Chief Content Officer Charlotte Moore has hit back at Channel 4’s Ian Katz’s view on TV reboots by stating “well, Channel 4 bought The Great British Bake Off back.”

Katz used his Edinburgh TV Festival session this morning to describe the current penchant for reboots as “depressing” but Moore said reboots take “creativity and are challenging.”

More from Deadline

Questioned on Katz’s comments, she reminded the Edinburgh audience that Channel 4 had commissioned Great British Bake Off, it’s top-rated show, soon after the show stopped airing on the BBC last decade.

The issue has become a key talking point at Edinburgh and reboots were also criticized by former Channel 4 CEO David Abraham a day before Katz.

“I don’t think it’s easy to bring titles back and make them successful,” said Moore. “It would be  a problem if it was all we were doing but if you’re going to have impact with young viewers and get people to come to shows, there’s no doubt [reboots] create impact.”

Moore stressed there are “plenty of new shows coming through” at the BBC, coming as the Gladiators reboot was confirmed by Director of Unscripted Kate Phillips alongside her at Edinburgh.

Phillips backed up Moore, stating: “We didn’t just say ‘Yeah Gladiators let’s do that. It took a long time and we worked really hard on what the format should look like now. Seeing the public reaction when it leaked made me feel we should be doing it.”

“Difficult choices”

Moor said “difficult choices” are to come as the BBC faces up to a two-year-long licence fee freeze that will hit program budgets and see 200 hours trimmed from the schedules.

“I won’t pretend it will be easy but fortunately we have investment [from third parties] and fantastic co-pro deals in place,” she added. “The freeze presents a tighter focus on value to all our audiences. We’re already evolving, looking at how we deliver high-impact content. This has meant we’ve stopped so many hours on BBC Two and BBC Four, for example.”

Moore stressed several times her network’s focus on BBC iPlayer over linear channels, one of the key priorities for Director General Tim Davie.

She rejected the notion that the recent BBC talent drain, which has seen the likes of MacTaggart lecturer Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel depart, is a major issue, adding: “If people weren’t trying to poach our talent I’d say we were getting something wrong.”

Moore also defended the ratings declines for flagship soap EastEnders, which she said is partly a reflection of modern viewing habits while the soap remains “such an important title for us.”

Moore and her team were speaking at the Edinburgh TV Festival, which is taking place from August 24 to 26 and featuring talks from all major British broadcaster and streamer execs. BBC Chair Richard Sharp spoke Wednesday.

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.