Whilst the format breaks new records across Europe
Click to tweet: France says Oui to the Great French Bake Off http://bbc.in/VDIEXr via @BBCWpress #GBBO #M6
BBC Worldwide Productions France has licensed the Love Productions format The Great Bake Off to the French commercial channel M6. A local version of BBC TWO's hit series is being produced by BBC Worldwide's production base in France and is set to air later this year. From making Tarte Tatin to Croquembouche, a hand selected group of French amateur bakers will be put through a series of challenges to test every aspect of their baking. As they battle it out, the tension will rise - but will the cakes?
Jean Louis Blot, Creative Director BBC Worldwide Productions France, commented: "Having crossed the English Channel to the spiritual home of the sweet tooth, this warm and authentic format from Love productions, has all the crucial elements to be a showstopper. When it comes to The Great Bake Off, the proof is in the pudding!"
The Great Bake Off's compelling mix of dreams and passion, competition and drama has made it a huge hit with viewers and broken records for BBC TWO in the UK. Ratings for the current series are growing week on week, the most recent episode attracted an impressive 4.7 million viewers and 19.9% market share. However, Britain is not the only country that has fallen in love with the show. In Scandinavia, TV4's Sjuan version has attracted 765, 000 viewers and 27.5% market share, making it the highest rating show on the channel ever. The Danish adaptation, Den store bagedyst, is the most successful of all the new formats that have premiered this season on any Danish channel.
The entertaining and exciting search to discover the best amateur baker has also been licensed to Nine Network (Australia), Poland (TLC), Belgium (VTM), Ireland (TV3), Denmark (DR) and Sweden (TV7/Sjuan) with more to be announced soon.
BBC Worldwide will be taking The Great Bake Off format to Mipcom along with other format titles; the social experiment Lovetown, BBC America’s extreme food format Chef Race, the thrilling competition show Nation’s Best Am Dram, the prime time television event Stargazing LIVE and the hugely popular BBC crime drama Waking The Dead.
For more information, please contact:
Julia Holmes
Communications Officer, Content & Production and Sales & Distribution, BBC Worldwide
Tel: +44 (0) 20 8433 3419
Email: Julia.holmes@bbc.com
NOTES TO EDITORS
Lovetown – 8 x 50’. A BBC Worldwide Production for OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. Love takes centre stage in this inspiring and heart-warming social experiment as residents of an entire town are challenged to transform their community in just 30 days. Kick started personally by Oprah Winfrey, two expert life and love coaches must fix the long-running fights and the feuds, find love for the resident lonely hearts and bring this entire community together.
Chef Race – 10 x 45. A Fresh One production for BBC America. Cooking hits the open road as two teams of chefs face a culinary challenge like no other, with a cash prize at stake. Stripped of their money and credit cards, the chefs are dropped in a strange city. They have just 72 hours to survive, complete the required journey leg and ultimately turn a profit. Chef Race is cooking at its most extreme.
Nation’s Best Am Dram – 6 x 60’. An Oxford Film and Television production for Sky Arts. Nation’s Best Am Dram is a thrilling competition which scours the country to find the best amateur drama group. At stake is the chance to perform at one of the country’s best known theatres. Judging and mentoring the groups are big names from the world of stage and screen. Each week the competing groups wrestle with an acting challenge performing short extracts from famous plays in front of a live audience.
Stargazing LIVE – 6 episodes of 60’ over 2 series. Stargazing LIVE is a live prime time television event. Each episode is themed and concentrates on revealing the secrets of space. By combining revealing VTs and live material from telescopes, it brings the wonders of the night sky into the nation’s living rooms. Presented by a leading scientist and a well-known TV personality, the format has a mix of expertise and amateur enthusiasm. Full of amazing views of our night skies and packed with incredible facts, Stargazing LIVE brings us the very latest science of our universe.
Waking The Dead - 90 scripts of 60’over 9 series. Waking The Dead is an award winning and critically-acclaimed crime drama which centres around unsolved gripping murder mysteries. At the heart of this stylish and modern thriller is a Cold Case squad. The squad consists of a crack team of detectives, a forensic expert and a psychological profiler. Their brief, to reopen the files on unsolved murders cases and by using new technology to re-examine evidence hopefully find the killer. With the best minds in psychology, forensics and detection on the case, if anyone can track down a killer years after a murder, they can.
About BBC Worldwide Ltd. BBC Worldwide Limited is the main commercial arm and a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The company exists to exploit the value of the BBC’s assets for the benefit of the licence fee payer and invest in public service programming in return for rights. The company has five core businesses: Channels, Content & Production, Sales & Distribution, Consumer Products and Global Brands. In 2011/12, BBC Worldwide generated headline profits of £155 million on headline sales of £1085 million and returned £216 million to the BBC. For more detailed performance information please see our Annual Review website: http://www.bbcworldwide.com/annualreview
Having crossed the English Channel to the spiritual home of the sweet tooth, this warm and authentic format from Love productions, has all the crucial elements to be a showstopper. When it comes to The Great Bake Off, the proof is in the pudding!"
