THE FUTURE OF FACTUAL FORMATS
FACTUAL TV
also a way to reach out: “We know it’s a great way to reach under underserved audiences.” Interior Design Masters, now ordered for two
more seasons and moving to BBC1, is a DSP production, funded by both the BBC and Netflix. “In order to have a make-over that looks spectacular you need to have a decent budget,” says Clark. “You have to take a risk on these formats.” The show’s warm tonality has won audiences
over. Originally, they envisaged more ‘marmitey’ characters, says Clark, but warmth has worked wonders. “Maybe with Covid, Brexit and Trump, after years of the combative in general life and so much confrontation, we go to television to feel nice and warm and factual formats really reflect that.” Coming up, Catton also has Master of
Ceremonies, a BBC Studios wedding series, focused on wedding planners, that mashes up competition and relationships. The format includes a photo booth, where friends and family record their thoughts and feelings. Yes, this and Britain’s Top Takeaways are competitions, “but we’ve played with the grammar of them, the shape, the casting, to skew to a broader, more poppy audience and to build viewing figures that way.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE “When we think of delivering scale for iPlayer it’s not just about competitions,” says Catton. “We’re looking for different sorts of impact.” Remarkable TV has had success on the BBC using VR technology as part of make-over
IN THE PIPELINE
Netflix is now seriously involved with dating and competition shows. Next up is new format The Date from Lion TV (makers of BBC 3 dating format Sexy Beasts). The streamer is also working with Studio Lambert on reality game show Jet Set, with a format that flies contestants to tropical location and includes challenges and a cash prize, plus a competition/ dance show All the Right Moves, looking to uncover a superstar choreographer. HBO Max has its big dating show play Fboy Island in production with STXalternative and hosted by comedian Nikki Glaser. Channel 4 is putting its money behind a blend of factual entertainment and drama with Murder Island, from STV Studios and Motion Content Group. Finding new precincts, it has also lined up The Academy from South Shore Productions, behind-the- scenes of a Premiere League youth football academy. Meanwhile, its dating format Five
Guys a Week is getting a gender tweak with six-part order of Five Dates a Week from Label 1, Changing Rooms is getting a reboot through Shine TV and competition show Good with Wood from Plimsoll is waiting in the wings. Discovery + has commissioned Heritage Rescue, a 12-parter from Curve Media, fronted by Nick Knowles. Discovery is making its first move into relationship shows: Naked and Afraid of Love, a mash-up of survival and love, from Renegade 83; long- distance love in Mountain Love, from Sharp Entertainment, the makers of hit show 90 Day Fiancé; and Mating Season, from Boat Rocker Studios, with eligible men and women looking to the animal kingdom for cues on courtship and dating. US network Fox has gone to Studio Ramsay, working with Fox Alternative Entertainment, for Next Level Chef, billed as “the next evolution in cooking competitions.”
Summer 2021
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