ENTERTAINMENT


GENRE REPORT


Entertainment TV has


recently seen a wave of fresh formats hitting the screen,


and the streamers are taking notice of the genre too. Tim Dams reports


ENTERTAINMENT I 46


t’s all change in the world of entertainment. Once the most predictable of genres


– where Saturday night behemoths like the BBC’s Strictly and ITV’s The X Factor would slog it out year after year – it’s now


experiencing plenty of innovation and change. Many long runners, like Strictly, still reign


supreme, but former staples like The X Factor are no longer (at least for now in the UK). Ever since The Masked Singer launched to acclaim in January 2020, there’s been a sense that audiences are up for change – and will reward risk-taking entertainment shows that challenge the status quo.


FRESH IDEAS A slew of new shows prove that broadcasters are


up for trying new things. ITV, for example, has launched shows such as Ant and Dec’s Limitless Win, Starstruck, Moneyball and Sitting on a Fortune this year – and has given each a recommission. The BBC’s unscripted launches this year include I


Can See Your Voice, Gordon Ramsay’s Future Food Stars and Freeze the Fear with Wim Hof. Coming up are shows such as a UK remake of That’s My Jam, NBC’s breakout comedy variety gameshow, hosted by Mo Gilligan, while Michael McIntyre returns with his Big Show and The Wheel. Channel 4 is also focusing more heavily on


entertainment since Taskmaster successfully transferred from Dave in 2020 and is expanding its slate with shows such as Jimmy Carr’s I Literally Just Told You and The Real Dirty Dancing. It has also piloted many shows from a set at dock10 in Salford, greenlighting series such as Quizness, One Question and Jon and Lucy’s Perfect Couples as a result.


televisual.com Summer 2022 Notably, the streamers are beginning to push


into the genre in a concerted way. Netflix has made a series of bold plays in unscripted, expanding its focus beyond its traditional scripted base. Buoyed by the success of Too Hot to Handle and The Circle, its UK team has greenlit a spate of unscripted shows including quiz The Cheat and entertainment formats Dance Monsters and Dance 100. “It is fair to say we are expanding our portfolio,” say Netflix directors of unscripted Ben Kelly and Daisy Lilley. It’s easy to understand why platforms like Netflix


are focusing on entertainment. “Entertainment could become hugely important


for the streamers,” says Jonno Richards, managing director of Talkback, which produces Too Hot to Handle and The Cheat for Netflix. “It’s quicker to turn around than dramas and films and a break- out hit can get huge audiences and noise.” The figures prove his point. Audience


demand for the entertainment genre remains high, despite continual industry and press focus on the booming drama genre. Four of the top 10 highest rating shows of 2021 were unscripted: 12.2 million tuned in for the Strictly final (based on seven- day consolidated figures from Barb), followed by 10.8m for the final of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!, 9.9m for The Masked Singer and 9.3m for The Great British Bake Off. Viewing figures are also strong


on streaming platforms for the right kind of show. The BBC iPlayer’s most watched boxset in the first quarter of 2022 was The Apprentice, ahead of


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