FACT ENT
GENRE REPORT
SUPERCAR SHOWROOM
Supercar Showroom is a new eight-part format from Air TV for Warner Bros Discovery, commissioned by Victoria Noble, VP Factual Commissioning. Air TV is based at Leeds East Airport
and its new series focuses on a supercar dealership on the same site. The show follows supercar dealer
Dean Bartle who gives potential buyers a test-drive experience on the airport runway - driving Ferraris, McLarens, Lamborghinis and Porsches at twice the legal speed limit. There’s a family aspect to Bartle’s
THE GREATEST AUCTION, CURVE MEDIA, CHANNEL 4
business and the show includes interviews with family, customers and the back stories of potential supercar owners, from YouTube stars to retired couples. “We wanted to develop the access
REAL WORLD ISSUES Consumer shows are ever more important as inflation makes households poorer. Channel 5’s 7pm slot has built audiences with key titles including 30 Ways to Cut Your Bills and How Do They Really Do It? At Curve Media Clean It, Fix It is on its third series for BBC Daytime. “It’s a really simple format that speaks to the cost of living,” says Camilla Lewis at Curve. “It’s warm and engaging, it gets you into people’s houses and it shows transformation.” While social experiment sits well on
Channel 4, Lawrie says that “the main thing we want is new, relatable stories. Having no purpose is also completely fine.” Up soon is The Garden’s version of gritty reality series Alone, with a £100k prize for the surviving contestant after a battle against the elements in the Canadian wilderness. Channel 4 is looking for precincts,
or worlds. Lawrie cites the worlds of Channel 4 acquisition Below Deck, Made in Chelsea or TOWIE. He asks: “What are other distinctive worlds?” Plimsoll’s competition show Handmade has fitted a gap in the world of wood- working. Channel 4 is also still looking
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televisual.com Summer 2023
for a format set in the worlds of business, a hard nut to crack where The Apprentice rules the roost. “We welcome ideas in that space, that feel different, some other shape, that explore entrepreneurialism and showcase talent,” says Lawrie. At the BBC, the successful tie-in
with NBCU for The Traitors has led to a second alliance over Geronimo’s format Destination X, already a hit on Belgian linear TV. Ten contestants embark on the road trip of a lifetime, but have no idea of their location. “It’s very smart, very addictive and a very innovative competition show,” says Kate Phillips, BBC director of unscripted, “It promises to be a hugely challenging adventure for our ten brave contestants, with plenty of play along for all BBC viewers, as everyone hopes they’ve got the ‘X’ that marks the spot.” For producers, that elusive X is the
returning format. The security that it brings, both financial and in terms of putting down roots and being able to offer long term contracts and train staff. “Volume formats produced at scale enable us to support and nurture production and on-screen talent over a much longer term,” says Seneviratne.
into a factual entertainment format, so it doesn’t feel too much like a geeky car show,” says Matt Richards, executive producer and managing director at Air TV. “It’s still for fans, but injecting humour and lifestyle - a lighter touch with a family dynamic.” The filming includes FPV drone
footage taken by a pilot using goggles. “It’s not just man sells car, man comes in and buys car,” says Richardson. “The format points make it different to an average car show. People want a laugh and want to be entertained. You can still cover documentary subjects and do it in an entertaining way, with a wittier script and fun from contributors. Dress it up.” It’s a 9pm show, to air on Quest and
Discovery+, made at a lower price-point than a mainstream channel, but given a mainstream feel. “What we do as a smaller production company is to make things fit the money available,” says Richardson. Air’s Bangers and Cash is a long-
running hit for UKTV’s Yesterday channel. Property shows Derelict Rescue and Dales for Sale are both WBD commissions. “With Discovery and with UKTV they really back a successful title and it can then be delivered in volume.”
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