Channel 4 Renews 'The Great British Bake Off' Through 2021, Orders Kids Spin-Off 'Junior Bake Off'
By Patrick Munn | March 15, 2019 - 1:36 pm | No Comments
Category : News, UK News
Tags : Channel 4, Love Productions, The Great British Bake Off
The Great British Bake Off is staying put on Channel 4. The PSB and Love Productions have inked a new agreement which will see the series remain on air through its twelfth season in 2021. The tenth season is expected to launch on Channel 4 this summer.
After starting its life on the BBC, The Great British Bake Off moved to Channel 4 in a £75 million deal in 2016. The eighth season aired on Channel 4 in 2017 and the ninth followed in 2018, with both averaging around 9 million viewers. The Great British Bake Off Stand Up 2 Cancer is currently airing on Channel 4 on Tuesday nights.
Alongside the renewal of the main series, under this new deal Channel 4 has commissioned Junior Bake Off, a kids focussed spin-off that aired on CBBC when the franchise lived at the Beeb. A fifteen episode season has been commissioned for later this year, with a further two to follow in 2020 and 2021.
"Over the last two years The Great British Bake Off has become one of the best loved programmes on Channel 4, embodying the warmth, mischief and inclusivity for which the channel is known", said Ian Katz, Channel 4 Director of Programmes. "We're delighted to be continuing our fantastically collaborative partnership with Love Productions and especially to be discovering a new generation of British baking talent with Junior Bake Off."
While Richard McKerrow, Chief Executive of Love Productions, added: "We are delighted to have extended Bake Off's stay on Channel 4 after two great years together. We have been hugely encouraged by the audience response and feedback the show has received during its time on Channel 4 and are thrilled to be bringing Junior Bake Off to the Channel. It seems particularly appropriate to be announcing news of the extension on Channel 4 as we enjoy Bake Off's tenth anniversary on British television."