'The Great British Bake Off' could be at the heart of a £100 million bidding war.
Dame Prue Lieth wants to stay with GBBO
Channel 4's contract for the programme - which is acquired in 2017, six years after it first aired on the BBC - runs out at the end of the year, and Love Productions have seen interest from both Netflix and Disney+ to take it globally on their streaming services.
A source told The Sun newspaper's TV Biz column: “Having two huge corporations enter the race has hugely inflated the value of the show, which is already sought-after due to its global appeal.
“Streamers are also looking to combine their model with shows that air at the same time and day each week.
"Netflix is already doing this with WWE wrestling and Disney+ recently bought the US version of Strictly.
“The talk is they’re both looking to do the same with a big British show.”
Following previous speculation about Netflix's interest in the show, Dame Prue Leith insisted she didn't think it would leave Channel 4, though she hoped to continue as a judge whatever happens behind the scenes.
Prue told the Daily Mirror about her future on the programme: “Oh my God, I hope to stick with ‘Bake Off’ wherever it goes. But I don’t think it will move.
“I know a lot of people are having a hard time of it and Channel 4 has lost a lot of shows.
“But I am quite sure while Channel 4 is there, they will hang on to ‘Bake Off’.
“It is certainly one of their best shows. I think it has found its natural home at Channel 4.”
Netflix currently has the rights to air ‘Bake Off’ in the US.
Channel 4 said: “Any speculation around contracts is just that and we look forward to bringing many more soggy bottoms to our viewers in future.”
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