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BBC and Channel 4 in public spat over Bake Off drama

A public row has sparked between the BBC and Channel 4, amid The Great British Bake Off’s decision to change station.

It was revealed last month that the popular show would be moving to Channel 4, after the BBC and the show’s creators, Love Productions, had a disagreement over money.

After a BBC commissioner recently revealed at MediaCon that she was “greatly saddened” by the move – James Purnell, the BBC’s director of strategy, has spoken out.

Speaking at the Royal Television Society conference in London, James said, “The audience have been extremely clear that they’re really saddened about the fact that they’re not going to have something that they absolutely love.”

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Drama: The Great British Bake Off has moved to Channel 4 | BBC

“You’ll have your own take on it, but I think something really precious will be lost. I’m saying you’re not sufficiently regulated. This raises a debate about whether Channel 4 can do what it wants,” he said, according to The Telegraph.

However, Channel 4′s chief creative officer, Jay Hunt hit back – and insisted that C4 didn’t poach the Bake Off from them.

“I understand how painful it is to lose franchises, but let’s be utterly clear: this is an independent producer who, after three years of an increasingly dysfunctional relationship, decided they would no longer make the show for you.

“At that point, that franchise was in the market. I appreciate that’s very painful and if I was sitting at the BBC, I would be thinking quite long and hard about how that situation had arisen. But that is what happened,” she said.

The news comes after show favourite Mary Berry announced that she would not be moving to Channel 4 with the show, as she wants to remain loyal to the BBC.

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