In this essay I will refer to the first series of Big Brother as BB1 and the second series of Big Brother as BB2.

Nothing has caused the mass interest and media representation that Big Brother (BB) managed. A lot of the other, later ‘reality TV’ shows are trying to ‘cash in’ on the genre, but none of them have ever been as good as or more popular than the original, apart from the next series of Big Brother. Big Brother 2 (BB2) was arguably more popular and media covered than the first series, and I believe that the forthcoming series will be even more popular than the one which preceded it. However this is unlikely to last forever, and one day the bubble will burst as in the case of ITV’s Who wants To Be A Millionaire, which was for a time the most talked about and watched programme on TV, but is no longer particularly popular and is in fact loosing money. This will probably happen to Big Brother in 2003 (Series 4 if they make it, and they probably will.)

The representation of the contestants before they entered the house was almost exclusively controlled by Channel 4. This is because

As soon as the contestants were released into the house and straight into the gaze of the nation, Channel 4 was not the only media organization that could represent them. Suddenly every single newspaper, magazine, television and radio station in the country had exactly the same access to the contestants as every other; something that is unrivalled with any other ‘type’of celebrity. The only regulator of this information was Channel 4, which controlled the cameras and nightly broadcasts of the show. However BB1 was constantly live over the internet and by the time BB2 came around it was available 24/7 live on E4, Channel 4’s digital channel.

contract to work on Sky One’s Lorraine show. These two are most definitely still in the media spotlight.

Some topics in this essay:
ITV’s Millionaire, Dean BB2, Moyles Radio, , Alistair McGowan’s, One’s Lorraine, Little Brother’, Nick BB1, Vanessa Feltz, E4 Channel, channel 4, coverage contestants, tabloid press, media coverage contestants, covered media, example media, entered house, brother’s little, media coverage, evicted contestants appeared, media spotlight, contestants lives,