CBS Paramount Inks New Format Deals

LAS VEGAS, January 30: CBS
Paramount International Television has secured a raft of international format
deals for hit American franchises such as the reality competition series America’s
Next Top Model and the game show Wheel
of Fortune.

Local versions of America’s
Next Top Model will air on TV4 in
Finland and on RTL in Croatia, titled Finland’s Next Top Model and Croatia’s Next Top Model, respectively. There will also be a Caribbean
version of America’s Next Top Model for CaribVision, titled Caribbean’s Next Top Model. Meanwhile, local editions of Wheel of Fortune will be launched in Turkey, Poland, the Philippines
and New Zealand.

Local versions of America’s
Next Top Model have notched strong
ratings in Australia, Italy, Britain, Germany and France. Australia’s Next
Top Model is Foxtel’s
highest-rated show. Italy’s Next Top Model, which premiered on December 4 in prime time, improved its time slot
on SKY Vivo by 150 percent. The third edition of Britain’s Next Top Model delivered its strongest season to date. Germany’s
Next Top Model is the number-one
series in Germany among female teens. Finally, France’s Next Top Model returned in late 2007 as a daily version of the
series in prime access and reached number one among women 15 to 24 in its time
slot.

The Wheel of Fortune franchise is also faring well abroad, with the
Italian version of the game show out-delivering Italia1’s average for that time
slot by 32 percent. Meanwhile, the fourth cycle of Wheel of Fortune in Spain on Antenna 3 consistently ranks number-one
in its 12:30 p.m. time slot, which is above the broadcaster’s average. In
France, the show entered its third cycle and garnered a record 7 million
viewers for TF1 at 7 p.m.

—By
Irene Lew