FremantleMedia, Fuji Unveil New Format

CANNES: Troubleshooter, unveiled in Cannes today, is the second project to come out of the creative exchange alliance between FremantleMedia and Fuji Television Network that was first announced at MIPTV 2010.

The alliance sees executives from both companies spending time at each other’s operations with the aim of co-developing and co-producing new television formats for the international market. The first project out of the exchange was Total Blackout, which has successfully been adapted in a number of territories. It recently launched on Kanal 5 in Denmark and is also a hit in Belgium on VT4, and in Norway on TV Norge. The format has also been sold to broadcasters in Sweden, Russia, Ukraine, and Indonesia.

Troubleshooter is a comedy game show in which contestants publically air their disputes with a view to settling them with the help of a judge, jury and over-sized games. The format was developed while Jason Tegelaar, director of development and new media at FremantleMedia’s Dutch production arm Blue Circle, was working within Fuji TV’s headquarters in Tokyo.

Simon Spalding, regional CEO for Europe and Asia Pacific at FremantleMedia, said: “Our Creative Exchange Alliance with Fuji is continuing strongly, and we are very excited to bring Troubleshooter to MIPTV. We are having an exceptional response to Total Blackout, and we’re confident that Troubleshooter holds equally broad international appeal. We’re looking forward to developing and producing many more creative and innovative television programmes as part of our alliance with Fuji TV in the future.”

Katsuaki Suzuki, senior executive managing director of the programming and production department at Fuji TV, added, “I’m thrilled that our Creative Exchange Alliance with FremantleMedia continues, and with even more dynamic development since the launch was announced just one year ago. Our first program, Total Blackout, is already showing great success in Europe and Asia. Now, we proudly introduce our second cutting-edge program, Troubleshooter, which arose from the creative chemistry between FremantleMedia and Fuji Television Network. We strive to make our unique alliance even stronger, and to deliver more pioneering programs in the future.”