Will Endemol miss Peter Bazalgette?
Although neither Big Brother or Deal or No Deal were invented by him, Peter Bazalgette is still probably the main reason for Endemol’s success in UK television. Strategically, the company made itself an international force not by setting up its own production entities but by buying companies that, territory by territory had, above all, top-level relationships with key buyers. And when they bought Bazal – then part of broadcast Communications – off the Guardian Media Group, they bought Bazalgette. Very few people have ever been as well placed in British television. He’s ex Cambridge University, known and trusted by all at the top table and oozes a patrician sense of public service but has an absolute passion for popular programming. For Endemol, Bazalgette’s recruitment was a masterstroke. When it was bought by Telefonica and lost its indie status (because the Spanish telecom giant owned a TV station), he single-handedly persuaded the government to rewrite the rules. One might even wond
