ENTERTAINMENT
GENRE REPORT
established formats that they knew how to make as the safest options for shooting. Banijay is also focusing on the new. The
superindie group has an internal creative fund that is focused on “supercharging” its development pipeline, according to Townley, and recently did a call out with its producers to send through initial development ideas from which it could pick a number to “get behind and support.” Echoing fellow producers, Townley says
unscripted is “very, very bubbly” at the moment, with demand from both streamers and broadcasters. That’s not to say it’s an easy market for
producers to crack though. “Breaking through is a hard as it has ever been – it is so competitive,” says Townley. “Anyone who gets a new commission away or a recommission deserves a gold star.” There are also different dynamics at work
driven reality show (see box), as part of its £30 million Global Format Fund initiative. This underlines how traditional broadcasters are
preparing to experiment on a bigger scale now that lockdowns are easing. The same is true at ITV. Recent commissions
include Starstruck, created by Banijay UK company Remarkable Television, which sees members of the public with an exceptional talent team up to transform into music icons such as Amy Winehouse, Lady Gaga and Marvin Gaye and compete for a cash prize. Meanwhile, Gameface Productions’ new
Saturday night ITV game show - The Void - sees contestants take on demanding mental and physical challenges - all whilst navigating The Void – a chasm of 520,000 litres of water stretching across the arena floor in one of the biggest bespoke water tanks ever constructed for a game show. With society starting to open up again, ITV
head of entertainment commissioning Katie Rawcliffe says that the broadcaster is on the hunt for “bigger” propositions. “What’s the next I’m a Celebrity? What is the next big reality format for us? What is the next big shiny floor show? We are looking for the next big thing.” As an indication of ITV’s ambition, Simon
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televisual.com Summer 2021
Cowell is to return to the channel in Walk The Line, a brand new musical game show format co-produced and co-developed by Syco Entertainment and Lifted Entertainment, part of ITV Studios. The six-part series will debut on ITV later in the
year, offering musical variety acts a chance to win a “life changing prize pot.” But to win the money, talent alone isn’t enough - the contestants will have to decide whether to cash out or physically walk the line and risk it all to stay in the competition.
OLD FAVOURITES Not everything is about the new though. Banijay’s
James Townley says many of the ‘super brands’ made by its more than 120 labels worldwide are proving resilient. He cites MasterChef through to Big Brother, Survivor and Temptation Island which are all playing around the world. Wipeout has also returned in the US, while Banijay added classic format Name that Tune to its catalogue earlier this year. The traditional gameshow re-launched on Fox in the US in January, and has just won an order from Sat.1 in Germany. “Broadcasters want them, because they know
that they slightly reduce the risk because there’s a guarantee to the audience,” says Townley. During lockdowns, broadcasters also turned to
in the entertainment market to take account of. Traditional broadcasters are increasingly thinking about how their entertainment offer can live on on their catch up platforms. The pitching process is skewing in favour of producers that can work up tape rather than paper proposals. Competition for talent – both on and off screen – has intensified. Producers are also coming to terms with a new business model which sees global streamers buy out the IP on shows, meaning they risk reverting to a work for hire model. Meanwhile, traditional broadcasters which allow producers to hold on to rights might not be able to offer a budget that matches their ambition for a show. Indeed, the ambition for entertainment really
seems to have picked up. The experience of Covid-19 also seems to have influenced the thinking of many indies. During the pandemic, many shows filmed without studio audiences – causing some producers to think out of the traditional studio box. Masked Dancer, for example, filmed its
launched season without a studio audience. “It’s really allowed us to think how entertainment shows could be done differently,” says McClean. “How big can we go with an entertainment show? How do we do this in the real world? Why do we need the studio?” From augmented reality to social media,
producers like Bandicoot are also thinking hard about how technology can best be incorporated into shows. Amid heightened competition for the best
ideas from both broadcasters and streamers, innovation in entertainment seems very much on the agenda. Saturday night is unlikely to be the same in years to come.
TASKMASTER
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