Rodrigo Alves removed from CBB house - The importance of Ofcom.

Rodrigo Alves removed from CBB house - The importance of Audience attention.


Last week, Rodrigo Alves, or 'the human Ken Doll' was removed from the Big Brother house for his recent antics in the house and on the show. It is reported that "The scenes were so shocking Channel 5 bosses took the decision not to show them" (The Sun). It would seem the producers of the programme deemed the content inappropriate, despite the post watershed airtime and renowned controversial content of the programme, suggesting the severity of this case.

This situation also followed their choice to air his use of the N-word on the second show. More than 1000 people are reported to have complained to Ofcom, further highlighting the importance of the audience in modern day content.Back in the eight week period where the UK was gripped by the ITV 2 hit show Love Island, Ofcom received over 2,500 complaints over a scene in the show where Dani Dyer was shown a video of her boyfriend Jack being reunited with one of his ex partners.

It could be said that these cases prove the power of the public behind the production of TV. The removal of Rodrigo was undoubtedly the right decision, but it is interesting how this comes after these complaints. This also occurred when the producers of Love Island scrapped further plans for the show which they thought would cause similar issues. The producers find themselves at the mercy of the public with all TV programmes, but even more so if the content is the talk of the country while its on, as it has been the last two years of Love Island and arguably while Big Brother is on.

There is the argument that the more controversy there is surrounding a TV programme, the more people and the better the ratings the programme will in turn receive. it is the burden of the producers and editors to find the balance in the TV show so the hype doesn't disband. In this age it is so important to gain the presence on social media, but often the way to gain this is by controversy. In the ever developing media world, it is only going to become more difficult to break through and grab the audience with something new without it being a little out there.