The Great British Bake Off could be moving to ITV in multi-million pound deal

The nation’s favourite baking competition could be heading for a new home
Channel change: The Great British Bake Off might not be on the BBC for much longer
BBC
Ben Travis27 April 2016

The Great British Bake Off has been a huge success over the years for the BBC – but it might not be on the Beeb for much longer.

According to The Sun, the hugely popular baking competition could be moving to ITV when the show’s contract with the BBC ends after this year’s forthcoming series.

ITV are said to be interested, alongside the likes of Channel 4 and Sky – and with budget cuts at the BBC, there is concern that they might not be able to match highly lucrative offers for the show, currently valued at £20 million.

BBC Controller Charlotte Moore, who was previously responsible for commissioning the show in 2010 and bumping it up to BBC One in 2014, is reportedly in talks with Bake Off creators Love Productions.

Speaking to The Sun, an insider said: “It’s no surprise all the broadcasters want a chance at landing Bake Off. It really would be a fantastic fit for Channel 4.

“But if you were Sky or ITV why wouldn’t you want the most-watched show on telly?”

There could be bad news for viewers if another channel does take the show – due to a contract clause, there would be no GBBO series in 2017 leaving fans with a two year wait, while a move to a commercial channel would likely mean the arrival of advert breaks.

Bake Off: Creme de la Creme 2016

1/6

Last year’s Bake Off final, which saw Nadiya Hussain take the trophy, was the most watched programme on British TV in 2016, pulling in over 15 million viewers.

ITV recently out-bid the BBC for the rights to singing competition The Voice, and is due to debut its take on the show in 2017, while Sky bought the rights to Don’t Tell The Bride when BBC Three moved online.

The BBC declined to comment when contacted by the Evening Standard.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in