It's amazing how seeing something in print can make you think it's true ... even if you know that it's not. The people at Endemol will be reading all about this today, and getting texts, phone calls and Tweets from people who know they're involved, congratulating them, telling them how exciting it is, etc etc etc. All of which will serve to make them think themselves that it really must be exciting, they really have done something clever, etc. As a result, whatever the final sticking point is, the one thing that stopped the contracts being signed weeks ago, might now just seem not important enough to keep holding out on. They may just go back into work on Monday morning and give Desmond whatever it is he has been demanding.
Never underestimate the power of a PR campaign, especially when you own the newspaper that's doing the PR.
