The BBC has hit out at Channel 4’s decision to move ‘Great British Bake Off’ to Tuesday nights, issuing a strongly-worded statement and detailing their plans to move their new show, ‘The Big Family Cookery Showdown’ as a result.
On Wednesday (16 August) morning, Channel 4 announced that their new-look ‘Bake Off’ will air on Tuesdays, rather than Wednesdays, as it had done on the BBC for the past three series.
Fans quickly pointed out this meant the two cookery programmes would be clashing and a BBC spokesperson subsequently revealed in a statement that they will be moving their show in response - and it’s fair to say the oven gloves are off.
Their statement reads: “Channel 4′s decision to move ‘Bake Off’ from its long-term traditional Wednesday slot will be a surprise to many viewers who may see this as a cynical move.
“We never intended for our new cookery show to clash with theirs. There is room for both and we don’t, in this instance, see any public value in two public service broadcasters going head-to-head in this way.
“We will therefore move our show to Thursday in the best interest of viewers to avoid such a clash.”
Channel 4 has responded to the BBC’s decision, with a spokesperson telling HuffPost UK: “We made the decision about where to schedule ‘The Great British Bake Off’ a few months after acquiring it and we haven’t moved it since then.
“It is in the original Tuesday evening slot where the majority of past series have played.”
All eyes will be on Channel 4 when ‘Bake Off’ does start on Tuesday 29 August and they certainly have big shoes to fill, as 2016’s series opener pulled in over 11 million viewers.
By the end of the run, the figures were even more impressive, with over 14 million of us tuning in to see Candice Brown crowned winner.