Big Brother to return to Australian TV?

Big Brother is rumoured to be returning to Australian television screens.

The reality fly-on-the-wall TV show, which used to be presented by radio presenting duo Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O, was axed in 2008 after poor viewer ratings on its eighth season.

Now industry insiders have revealed that television bosses are considering bringing the show back to air on Channel Ten's new digital youth channel Eleven.

One source told The Daily Telegraph: "It is a perfect fit for Eleven, and Ten believes there is still an audience for this sort of entertainment. There's also that niggling feeling that perhaps the show was axed prematurely."

Ten's head of programming David Mott admitted that he has reservations about the return of the programme, saying: "We've looked at Big Brother. I think audiences have moved on to some degree. It's a summer show for [US channel] CBS, it doesn't play in the heart of the ratings season but it's done a pretty good job for them.

"All broadcasters have looked at it. It's extremely expensive because the house no longer exists. It's not whether we're financially able to do it, it's whether tonally it's right for audiences now. It only finished up three years ago and in some respects audiences have moved on."

TV executives are now believed to be in discussions to build a new multi-million property to film the show following the demolition of the original house at Gold Coast theme park Dreamworld.

The rights to the UK version of Big Brother were recently purchased by Channel 5. The British show, which was originally broadcast on Channel 4, was first dropped from schedules in summer 2010.

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