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Channel 4 has announced that Amazon will be the new broadcast sponsor of ‘The Great British Bake Off’ for 2018.
The sponsorship package includes the ninth series of the baking competition, which returns to TV screens later this year; spin-off series ‘Bake Off: An Extra Slice’; the festive episodes; and for the first time in its brand new home on Channel 4: ‘Bake Off: The Professionals’.
The latter will be presented by comedian Tom Allen and Liam Charles, who was a popular contestant in series eight, which aired last Autumn. The pair will join two judges: Cherish Finden, who is the creative development chef at Godiva Chocolates, and Benoit Blin, who is chef patissier at Belmond Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons restaurant in Oxfordshire.
The sponsorship will focus on Amazon’s Echo speakers and Alexa voice service.
Channel 4 head of digital and partnership innovation Jonathan Lewis said: “It’s a great testimony to the success of Bake Off’s debut on Channel 4 last year that Amazon will sponsor the Bake Off programme brands this year. We’re looking forward to working with Amazon as we build towards the launch of one of the biggest TV events of the year.”
Last year’s final of ‘The Great British Bake Off’ drew a consolidated audience of 10 million viewers and a 36.9% share of audience per episode – rising to 11 million viewers with the addition of linear repeats – making it Channel 4’s biggest audience ever since the current system of measurement began in 2002.
Across the series, each episode drew a consolidated audience of 9 million viewers and a 33.8% share of audience per episode – rising to 10.5 million viewers with the addition of linear repeats.
‘The Great British Bake Off’ was also the biggest series for young audiences on any channel last year, averaging 2.6 million viewers: a 54.5% share of audience per episode.
