Ben Frow / © Martin Hobby
5’s director of programming Ben Frow has insisted that he has no regrets about being the man who sent Big Brother off the air in the UK for five years.
The executive has been in his role at the head of 5 since 2013 and made no secret of his dislike for the iconic reality format, arguing that it sucked up his programming budget and consumed a significant number of primetime hours in the schedule.
In 2018 Frow succeeded in axing Big Brother – a move that left the show off the air until it was revived by ITV in 2023.
Asked if he regretted not keeping the format, Frow said at the Edinburgh TV Festival: “Oh my God, no! I was delighted to get rid of Big Brother.
“It took me a long time to persuade the business to get rid of Big Brother because I think they were very frightened that the wheels would fall off.
“But we would not be able to be doing what we’re doing if we still had Big Brother. It wasn’t a Channel 5 show, it was a Channel 4 show.”
He continued: “It cost far too much money. It was only going one way, and we couldn’t have done drama if we still had Big Brother. So, look what it’s done for us. It’s the best decision ever.”
In its three years with ITV, Big Brother has delivered more than 157 million streams on ITVX alone.
