BIG BROTHER FINAL: AN EXPERT'S VIEW.(Brief Article)(Editorial)

The conclusion of Channel 4's Big Brother lived up to the hype and hopes

It was predicted to be the biggest night of the year for Channel 4 and the climax of reality TV. The Big Brother final, which was broadcast live on Friday evening, saw the last three contenders battling it out for the 70,000 [pounds sterling] prize. With approximately 8.5 million viewers at its peak and hundreds of screaming fans outside the studios, it was BIG!

This was the second Big Brother and, just as the first one did, it had the nation gripped. Over the period of nine weeks we sat and watched the 11 housemates, with the late addition Josh, live in the specially designed house in Bow, East London. Fuelled by extensive and over-excited press coverage, this year's Big Brother proved to be unmissable viewing for its legions of enthusiasts.

Despite the fact that the series kicked off a week after ITV's Survivor had started, viewing figures did not seem to be affected and in the first week the Big Brother house had an average of three million viewers. This figure rose quite significantly during the final weeks -- again buoyed by the tabloids -- with an average of 5.3 million viewers. Almost continuous coverage was available on E4 and gave those obsessed enough the chance to view the housemates with no sound or a blurred picture.

So the voting began. Following Penny, the first evictee out of the door, were housemates Stuart, ...