ITV has announced that Britain’s Got More Talent is moving to an online platform instead.
Bosses at ITV have decided to move the sister show to Britain’s Got Talent, which has been hosted by Stephen Mulhern since it launched in 2007, in order to focus their attention to online and social media, as the younger generation prefer to have content at their fingertips.
The spin-off featured interviews with the talent show’s judges, including Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams.
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An insider told The Sun newspaper’s Bizarre TV column: “Stephen is a much-loved member of the ‘BGT’ family and everyone loved him on the show.
“He is still incredibly busy, with lots of exciting projects for ITV. “Behind the scenes, executives decided it was the right time to move on.
“It will be sad to bring the curtain down on it after so many years of laughs. But it is important to move with the times, and the reality is younger audiences who once watched it now consume a lot more of their content online.
“The plan is to focus more on the digital platforms – clips for social media and things like that.”
A spokesperson for BGT confirmed: “As our 18-34 audience share continues to grow and viewing habits are changing, naturally we are listening to our viewers and focusing more on digital platforms in support of the main show.”
Stephen certainly has plenty to keep him busy, his show In For A Penny recently landed a second series.
The 42-year-old TV star’s spin-off of his popular segment on Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway will return to screens once again as ITV officially recommissioned the show, which gives members of the public the chance to win £1,000 by completing a series of “silly games”.
Stephen said: “It’s humbling to know that people enjoyed watching the show as much as we enjoyed making it.
“We met some incredible people on the first series and I can’t wait to get back on the streets of the UK, meeting the great British public and challenging them to take part in some silly games.”
Games on In For A Penny include Pump it Up, where the Catchphrase host offers to pay for petrol if a driver can deliver the exact amount they had decided on beforehand in two trials.
Check it Out involves shoppers guessing whether goods running on a conveyor belt are more or less expensive than the previous item in a bid to win some free shopping.
Meanwhile, Stephen has another game show set to launch on the channel later this year.
The former CITV presenter has joined forces with Cowell’s Syco and OTT Productions for Rollin’ In It.
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The arcade-style programme will see famous faces, and potentially some of music mogul Simon’s friends, compete with a member of the audience in a giant spinning-coin game, with the chance to bag thousands of pounds.
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