Dancing to the Sounds of Success

May 16, 2011 World Screen

***Elin Thomas***The BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing has become a global sensation as the BBC Worldwide format Dancing with the Stars.

Twice a week in the U.S., viewers are flocking to ABC to watch celebrities strut their stuff on the dance floor in prime time for the 12th season of Dancing with the Stars. The show is currently number two in the rankings, according to Nielsen, with its Results Show at number five, holding strong against stalwarts like American Idol and NCIS. This success is mirrored in numerous countries around the world.

Having started as an amateur competition for ballroom dancing in Britain, the show was catapulted to new heights with the idea to format the series using celebrity contestants. In 2010, the popular dance show was inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s most successful reality TV format. The show has been sold by BBC Worldwide to more than 35 countries around the world, with more than a quarter of a billion people estimated to have watched an international version of the program since it was launched.

"It’s sold to some of the biggest broadcasters in the world," says Elin Thomas, the VP of format licensing for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at BBC Worldwide. "It’s in prime time everywhere and it absolutely dominates the schedules when it’s on all across the world."

“An interesting thing about the format is that here we are quite a number of years since the original show premiered and we’re still doing firsts,” adds Duncan Cooper, the executive producer for formats and local productions at BBC Worldwide. “We had Albania, Greece and Vietnam last year, and we’ve got France and Indonesia coming out. It’s still selling!” Another kudos, says Duncan, is that "it almost invariably gets re-commissioned" wherever it airs.

A key part of the format’s success comes from its universal themes of music and dance. “The music is a big element and one of the things that makes it work is a ***India's Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa***combination of the traditional dancing and the modern music,” explains Cooper. Each country has its own unique flavor in this regard, and the show is easily adapted to incorporate the local styles. Cooper notes examples of India’s Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, which features Bollywood dance numbers, and Bulgaria’s Dancing Stars, which has traditional folk dancing alongside more modern routines.

Another strong pull for the show is its celebrity allure, Cooper explains. "The casting is definitely really important! We try to get the right people and the right mix to have something for everybody," he says, noting that this helps bring in a broad age demographic.

***Duncan Cooper***"We’ve had some interesting examples of casting recently," adds Thomas. "In Israel, for example, we had for the first time same-sex couples dancing. Also, in Australia we had a blind competitor, which made it very interesting."

Casting is just one element that helps reinvigorate the show and keep it fresh season after season. Other variations have included lengthening the competition, extending the time of dance performances, shifting the number of couples competing and incorporating themes for certain weeks. "There’s constantly reinvention going on and little tweaks being made in different countries, a lot of them led by the U.K. and America," notes Cooper, who also serves as a flying producer for international treatments. "We’re on the ball and quite often we roll out those changes to other countries. We have a menu of different little format tweaks and things they can do."

***The U.S.'s Dancing with the Stars***Dancing as a genre has proven its allure with viewers, and there are many shows on the market that have tried to capitalize on the trend. However, the built-in brand recognition of Dancing with the Stars has helped keep the format ahead of its rivals. "There have been a few pretenders to the throne, but with Dancing with the Stars it adds a lot of confidence for any broadcaster looking to either take it for the first time or re-commission it," Thomas points out. "It gives them a lot of confidence in our in-house know-how, which we impart to the broadcasters with our flying producer team. This is why we’re still signing up new countries all the time."