ITV Content Boss Kevin Lygo: ‘Big Brother’ Reboot Driven By “Extraordinary Success” Of ‘Love Island’ – Edinburgh TV Festival

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Love Island’s “extraordinary success” drove ITV to commission its Big Brother reboot, according to content boss Kevin Lygo, who said duty of care is being considered for the upcoming reality show but “I don’t think we should stop allowing the public on TV.”Lygo told the Edinburgh Television Festival that Love Island, which has now run for eight seasons, had “defied current logic” by regularly topping 3M viewers per night across its eight-week run for multiple seasons.“More young people watch it than any other and we should all take joy in the fact that if you get the right show, they will watch,” he added.Lygo said Banijay’s Big Brother reboot, which was unveiled during the Love Island finale, will likely skew older than Love Island, attracting audiences who watched two decades ago and “remember it fondly” from days on Channel 4 and Channel 5.The UK broadcasters have come in for criticism for the plethora of current reboots in the offing, with former Channel 4 CEO David Abraham earlier describing the trend as “profoundly depressing.”But Lygo said it “feels right” after five years off air to bring back Big Brother and that ITV isn’t taking much of a commercial risk.“Half of this room will come and have a look to see if it’s any good and will probably stick around for eight weeks and ruin their lives,” he joked.With reboots in mind, ITV Head of Entertainment Katie Rawcliffe, appearing alongside Lygo, said rumors that Pop Idol is returning are incorrect.Duty of careFollowing another Love Island season in which duty of care was in the spotlight, Lygo said he recognises the challenge but “I don’t think we should stop allowing the public on TV.”He said British TV “had a wake up call” following the suicide of contestant Steve