Paul Mortimer, the commissioning editor responsible for the high-profile reboot, confirmed that it will be given two six-week runs across this year and next and hinted that the channel could consider a celebrity version as per the Channel 5 edition.“This is the start of it so watch this space,” said Mortimer. “We have really bought into Big Brother. A lot of us worked on it before [at different channels] and I can’t imagine we are in it just to do two six-week runs.”The show is returning in October on ITV five years after it was axed by Channel 5, and it also ran on Channel 4 for a decade to 2010. ITV’s version will be produced by Banijay-backed Initial and hosted by AJ Odudu and Will Best.Questioned on why the premiere was pushed back six months at today’s Edinburgh TV Festival, Mortimer said the decision was “wholly legitimate and due to a downturn in ad revenue.”“We are a responsible broadcaster and PLC and have to make money out of programming,” he added.With new streamer ITVX now almost one-year old, Mortimer said young viewers will likely choose when to watch the series rather than sticking to linear. Love Island’s 10th season, which recently wrapped, was for the first time watched by a majority of people at some point other than 9 p.m., he added.
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