The Great British Bake Off will return to television screens this year, it has been confirmed, after the BBC agreed to waive its right to force Channel 4 to hold off until 2018 at the earliest.
The BBC, which lost the rights to the programme last September after its rival broadcaster bid a reported £25m per year, said it wished the show well.
A BBC insider indicated that it was felt there would be little benefit in enforcing the clause, adding: “We don’t want to get in the way of them reinventing the programme.”
The source said: “In this instance, we believe it would be undignified to have one public service broadcaster in a potential dispute with another and the associated costs for each party would ultimately come out of programming budgets. We don’t believe in driving up costs in the public sector.”
A BBC spokesperson said the broadcaster would not “use its hold back clause against C4 and Love Productions in relation to Bake Off and its associated shows”.
She added: “We wish the programme well for the future and look forward to seeing who is cast on the show. The BBC is proud of the part it has played in growing and nurturing the programme – doing that is at the core of what the BBC does. We have many exciting projects for the future. Watch this space.”
Co-presenter Paul Hollywood is the only member of the permanent onscreen team who has agreed to move to Channel 4, which has bought three series of the programme for a reported £75m. Mel Giedroyc, Sue Perkins and Mary Berry, who was named best TV judge at the National Television Awards on Wednesday night, have all declined to move with the show.
The BBC quoted Berry as saying: “I’m delighted to stay with the BBC and I’ve got all sorts of exciting projects I’m looking forward to doing.” Speaking ahead of the awards ceremony in London, she added that she would have a new series out in February that would be on “every day”.
A spokesperson for Channel 4 confirmed that the show would air this year.
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