The current Celebrity Big Brother series may have slipped under your radar. But that cannot be the case for readers of the Daily Star.
They have been treated to increasingly hysterical hype about a show that just happens to be broadcast on Channel 5, which is owned by the paper's publisher, Richard Desmond.
Day after day, especially this week, the Star has not spared ink and paper in its mission to boost the programme. It is impossible to say whether this has been responsible for the show's undoubted ratings success (as the Barb figures illustrate).
After all, the producers have gone out of their way to coax the participants into taking part in salacious scenarios specifically aimed at attracting viewers.
The Star, exhibiting shameless cross-media promotion, has responded with laughably titillating editorial coverage. Roll up, roll up! See sex on screen and be appalled!
On Monday, it splashed on the previous night's show having been the "most X-rated show ever!" and carried an inside spread of raunchy pictures.
That was hardly a surprise because the housemates had been provided with a room resembling a nightclub, scanty black PVC outfits and told to perform what the Star coyly called "adult-style entertainment."
This nonsense was duly reported by the Star as if it was a terribly shocking display:
"Celebrity Big Brother bosses were forced to censor their filthiest-ever sex scenes last night. Producers went into meltdown as the gang's X-rated antics were too shocking to broadcast even after the 9pm watershed. What happened cannot be described in detail in a family newspaper."
Love that "family newspaper" bit. Anyway, on and on it has gone through the week, with front page coverage and pictures of barely dressed women accompanied by articles gasping with faux outrage about the antics of the housemates.
From the moment Desmond acquired Channel 5 in 2010 the Star has been its greatest cheerleader. Now, as this week has proved, it is little more than a daily marketing pamphlet for the TV outlet.
The Star editor must be concerned about the possibility of Desmond selling off Channel 5. However unlikely, if it does go, she may well have sleepless nights wondering how to fill her paper. Reported by guardian.co.uk 19 hours ago.
They have been treated to increasingly hysterical hype about a show that just happens to be broadcast on Channel 5, which is owned by the paper's publisher, Richard Desmond.
Day after day, especially this week, the Star has not spared ink and paper in its mission to boost the programme. It is impossible to say whether this has been responsible for the show's undoubted ratings success (as the Barb figures illustrate).
After all, the producers have gone out of their way to coax the participants into taking part in salacious scenarios specifically aimed at attracting viewers.
The Star, exhibiting shameless cross-media promotion, has responded with laughably titillating editorial coverage. Roll up, roll up! See sex on screen and be appalled!
On Monday, it splashed on the previous night's show having been the "most X-rated show ever!" and carried an inside spread of raunchy pictures.
That was hardly a surprise because the housemates had been provided with a room resembling a nightclub, scanty black PVC outfits and told to perform what the Star coyly called "adult-style entertainment."
This nonsense was duly reported by the Star as if it was a terribly shocking display:
"Celebrity Big Brother bosses were forced to censor their filthiest-ever sex scenes last night. Producers went into meltdown as the gang's X-rated antics were too shocking to broadcast even after the 9pm watershed. What happened cannot be described in detail in a family newspaper."
Love that "family newspaper" bit. Anyway, on and on it has gone through the week, with front page coverage and pictures of barely dressed women accompanied by articles gasping with faux outrage about the antics of the housemates.
From the moment Desmond acquired Channel 5 in 2010 the Star has been its greatest cheerleader. Now, as this week has proved, it is little more than a daily marketing pamphlet for the TV outlet.
The Star editor must be concerned about the possibility of Desmond selling off Channel 5. However unlikely, if it does go, she may well have sleepless nights wondering how to fill her paper. Reported by guardian.co.uk 19 hours ago.