BBC turns to variety shows to win over Saturday night audiences

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/jul/20/bbc-turns-to-variety-shows

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The BBC is planning to respond to fresh calls for more variety in its Saturday programme schedules with just that: more "variety" and cabaret-style shows. A pilot for a show called Nina Conti's Va-Va-Riety is to be recorded live for BBC2 in a London theatre on 28 July. Compered by the ventriloquist and standup comedian, it is billed as a mix of cabaret, burlesque, magic, musical comedy and circus performance.

Conti, who is the daughter of actor Tom Conti, has also been singled recently out by the BBC's head of entertainment, Mark Linsey, as one of the talents who will help to increase the number of female comedians on screen.

An attempt to harness the old-fashioned appeal of music hall, sprinkled with some of the glamour of cabaret acts, could answer some of the criticisms levelled by the BBC's first full review of television output, published last week, which exposed an audience demand for shaking up the schedules on Saturday nights. The report, by the BBC Trust, found that many viewers were fed up with the stranglehold of long-running dramas, such as Casualty and Waterloo Road, on the BBC1 evening schedules, but also felt that both BBC1 and BBC2 were too prim and middle-class in tone. In the last three years, the channel's reach in lower-income homes has fallen by three percentage points, and by five among black, Asian and mixed ethnicity viewers. Some of the blame has been pinned on BBC1's Saturday night lineup.

The report said: "BBC1 was felt to offer less breadth across its entertainment programming, with issues around the Saturday night schedule significantly influencing perceptions."

The BBC hopes to alter this impression by finding presenters with wider appeal. Also in development is a new comedy chatshow called Delete, Delete, Delete in which the Welsh comedian Rhod Gilbert questions two celebrity guests about the wilder shores of their internet history. The producer has explained that the show will involve Gilbert asking his guests questions such as, "What on earth were you thinking?"

The BBC is also filming a new daytime quiz show called Decimate to be presented by EastEnders star Shane Richie, to be broadcast in the autumn. It pits three contestants against each other to maintain a £20,000 Wall of Cash over four rounds. The success of any of these entertainment formats could see them rolled out later for a prime-time series on BBC1 or BBC2.

Going in straight on Saturday night on BBC1 remains the big risk, although there is no lack of nerve according to Andrew Newman, chief executive of Objective, which makes ITV's Saturday night show The Cube and made BBC1's recent Saturday night show Reflex and the successful John Bishop's Britain. "We are developing two new entertainment shows for BBC1 on Saturday nights. They are trying all the time. So it is a perception thing," he said.

"The challenge is to make new shows that are not singing or talent elimination," added Newman, who is chair of Bafta's TV committee. "But you never know where the next great Saturday night show will come from. Will it be physical, mental, or a panel show? I go to meetings with TV commissioners, and the truth is I don't know. But it is the holy grail. A family show can get a 10 million plus audience."

Newman suspects the BBC receives the bulk of criticism because it is in the public eye and finds it harder to justify spending on entertainment than it does on drama, where there have been recent hits such as Happy Valley. "There is a little bit of snobbery about entertainment. But Bafta gave its special craft award to Strictly Come Dancing this year, for its choreography, the costumes, the makeup. It is at the top of its game, and has sold round the world."

Three years ago, the BBC bid successfully against ITV for The Voice, due to a perceived need for a singing show in its schedules. In January, it tried out Reflex, a game show that tested contestants' reaction times. Before that in 2013 it cancelled two ambitious tries, I Love My Country and That Puppet Show.

The quiz show Pointless has been given a showbiz treatment, as Pointless Celebrities, and Lee Mack's All Star Cast, in which the star presided over a mix of chat, music and comedy, was given a later Saturday night outing.