SPTI to Feature Four Key Formats in Budapest

LONDON, June 18: Sony
Pictures Television International (SPTI) will be taking four key formats to
DISCOP this year, including the variety show Karaoke Showdown, which will be launching in Poland, Estonia and
Lithuania in September.

Karaoke Showdown has
been picked up by 11 broadcasters across Europe and is already airing in
Germany, Finland, Russia, Denmark, Norway, Serbia and Bulgaria. In the show, two teams of celebrities compete to guess what songs are
being sung karaoke-style by a member of the public who must wear headphones.

In addition, SPTI will also be
offering buyers at DISCOP two game show formats: Grand Slam and One Year Free. Created
by the British independent production company Monkey Kingdom, Grand Slam sets previous game show winners from shows such as Who
Wants to be A Millionaire and 15 to 1 against each other, as they bet their own money for a chance
to win a large cash prize. Grand Slam
originally aired on Channel 4 and has since been a hit on Cuatro in Spain; it
is currently in production with Embassy Row for GSN (Game Show Network) in the
U.S. In One Year Free, contestants use their gut feeling and their knowledge of their opponents to
decide who they should back to win the most points and the ultimate prize of a
year’s salary. Eén/VRT in Belgium has already aired six seasons of One Year
Free, and the show
returns to the
channel for a seventh season in prime time on Saturday nights in November.

Finally,
SPTI will be highlighting Dragons’ Den, which has already been licensed to 14 broadcasters
throughout the world, including the U.K.’s BBC Two, Seven Network in Australia,
TNT in Russia, KRO in Holland, ICTV in the Ukraine, TVR in Romania, MTV3 in
Finland, TVNZ in New Zealand and SET in India, among others.

Alex Elliot, the executive director of non-scripted formats
for Europe, commented: “Music variety
shows such as Karaoke Showdown continue to be highly sought after and its launch in three more
countries later this year demonstrates its appeal to TV viewers. A second
series has now been confirmed for Russia and Serbia. SPTI is committed to
non-scripted formats and we’re delighted to have such a strong line-up of high
quality, appealing shows at DISCOP this year.”