Chwarel Secure Two Series Recommission For The Great House Giveaway

18 March 2021

Following a hugely successful first series of The Great House Giveaway, Welsh indie Chwarel has secured a deal with Channel 4 for two new series, with 50 hours in daytime and ten in peak.

 

As with series one, some of these hours will be co-commissioned with S4C, with eight episodes in series two being filmed back to back.  Five episodes have been commissioned to air later this year as part of Channel 4’s Black to Front project.

 

The pioneering series, which was edited remotely around the country during lockdown, was Channel 4’s best performing new 4pm launch since 2018. The series averaged 816k with a 8.5% share; up +21% on the slot average for volume and +17% for share.

 

The series was commissioned for Channel 4 by Kate Thomas, Commissioning Editor for Daytime & Features. The commissioner for S4C is Llinos Wynne.

 

Presented by Simon O’Brien (Find It, Fix It, Flog It; Lost and Found), The Great House Giveaway is a game changing property format, where in each programme two people who have never met and have never owned a home before are given a lump sum to buy a property at auction. The pair then have six months to revive the property into a habitable and desirable home.  If they don’t sell – the house goes back to auction.

 

Kate Thomas, Commissioning Editor, Channel 4 said “I am delighted that this ground-breaking new property series has found the audience it deserves, and I am excited to have the opportunity to collaborate with S4C again on a big hit show that will be transformative for the television community in Wales and the West.’

Sioned Wyn Executive Producer at Chwarel adds: “The Great House Giveaway has been a rollercoaster of a project to work on, in what has been extraordinary circumstances, both in the final post-production for the series and launching a new format in the middle of the year that we've all experienced. 

"We are thrilled by the reaction both from the viewers and from the channel. To be recommissioned and promoted to a prime-time series is everything and more that we could have hoped for. Bring on more partnerships, property and plastering."

At the heart of Channel 4’s 4 All The UK strategy is a significant increase in the organisation’s Nations and Regions content spend – from 35% to 50% of main channel UK commissions by 2023, worth up to £250m more in total.

 

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For more information contact Kate Conway, kconway@channel4.co.uk or Kate Killgour, kate@plankpr.com