Love Productions is a UK-based television

production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and v ...

. Its cooking competition series ''

The Great British Bake Off ''The Great British Bake Off'' (often abbreviated to ''Bake Off'' or ''GBBO'') is a British television baking competition, produced by Love Productions, in which a group of amateur bakers compete against each other in a series of rounds, atte ...

'' is among the most watched shows in the UK of its era.

History

Richard McKerrow and Anna Beattie formed Love Productions in 2004. In 2014, Sky acquired a 70% stake in Love Productions. In 2020, Sky bought the remaining shares making the studio a wholly owned subsidiary, seemingly part of a strategy to build a production empire. The acquisition came on the back of increased dividends for Sky 2019 of £22.7 million compared with £3.5 million in 2018; while two directors received £4.6 million in 2019, up from three directors receiving £1.4 million in 2018. In 2020, the company's key "Bake off" series of productions has been postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

which is likely to result in a loss of income in 2020/21. Love Productions is also associated with the brands Love West, based in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...

, and Love Productions USA.

Productions

The list of programmes produced by Love Productions include:

Controversies

Love Productions' best earning programme, ''The Great British Bake Off'', had moved network channel from

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

after three series due to its increasing popularity. Towards the end of series six, Love Productions's profits were decreasing; the company wished to remain on BBC One, however the £75 million asking price for three series was unacceptable to the BBC. Controversy arose as there were concerns the nature of the show would change with the move to

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

and because most of the show's presenters did not make the move for the following series.

References

External links

* {{Sky Ltd, state=collapsed Film production companies of the United Kingdom Mass media companies established in 2004 Television production companies of the United Kingdom 2004 establishments in the United Kingdom 2004 establishments in England Companies established in 2004