We’ve also had problems with what you might call another kind of ‘cultural’ issue. When we were working at Celador, launching the classic TV quiz show, Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, we found that ‘Ask the audience’ just could not be made to work in Russia. Why not? Because the audience wasn’t interested in helping the contestant to win more money.
Fremantle Media, advising them on the worldwide roll-out of New Zealand TV sensation, Sidewalk Karaoke, created by Maori TV.
One thing we’ve learnt from that relationship is that the Maori people – the natives of New Zealand, who colonised the country around 1300 CE – are very proud of their heritage. As a result, Maori traditions, symbols, cultural artefacts, music, dance and religious ceremonies are protected by law and their use in film, TV, and online is monitored and controlled.
So be sure you understand what language and cultural barriers you may have to overcome.
We’ve also had problems with what you might call another kind of ‘cultural’ issue. When we were working at Celador, launching the classic TV quiz show, Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, we found that ‘Ask the audience’ just could not be made to work in Russia.
Why not? Because the audience wasn’t interested in helping the contestant to win more money.
In Japan, we had to totally re-structure the show’s format to make it more active, adding
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extra hosts so that the show had a more energetic feel.
Tese are all issues which could affect the successful translation of an existing property into a digital product to be launched in other countries.
Ten you have to understand the local moral codes and regulatory system. We ran into a problem with an online game we launched in Singapore. Consumers would win prizes, but there was, as far as we were concerned, no gambling element. We had launched the same game with no problems in multiple countries. In Singapore, however, our game was classified as a gambling product and subject to a heavy extra tax, which made it far less profitable for us than in other territories.
You also need to understand who owns the IP rights in the different countries you want to sell the new product into, which is not always easy, as new technologies are constantly creating new formats, which may require new licensing deals.
Tis last point can be a real pain; you sometimes find that earlier IP rights deals for different territories effectively give someone the rights to all versions of a property, even when what you
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