BBC Studios Spotlights Game & Quiz Formats at MIPCOM

Kate Phillips, director of unscripted at the BBC, and Sumi Connock, creative director of formats at BBC Studios, showcased trends in the vibrant game and quiz formats sector at a MIPCOM session this morning, where they were joined onstage by the producers of some of the company’s latest launches.

Connock highlighted the importance of game shows to most broadcasters’ schedules. “It’s the most adapted format genre ever,” she said, “with the top three most adapted formats of all time coming from game show. We’ve seen significant growth over the past 12 months. In 2023, a quarter of new format adaptations were game shows. This year, that number has grown to a third. To date, five of the six top traveling formats are all game shows, including our own The 1% Club.”

On the demand for the genre, Phillips noted, “TV is going through a tough time. Quiz and games, first of all, are cost-effective. We can record four or five episodes a day. You could literally record a series in two days if you wanted to. Also, it gives you a bit of certainty: They are your blocks in the schedule, and you know the audience you’re aiming at. Particularly with daytime, it can be a habit-forming thing. In these uncertain times, quiz and game give certainty.”

On programming across daytime, access and prime, Phillips said, “usually daytime would develop their quizzes separately from entertainment; now, they look at it together. Daytime can be the kind of nursery slopes to prime time. When we’re developing in daytime, we’re always looking at if it would have the potential to go prime.”

Referencing the competitive environment, Phillips said she has her eye on “a really simple USP of the quiz, with great production values, a great talent and could be ramped up to prime time as well. And play-along is really important. I want the questions after, like, three minutes. You want lots of questions, lots of answers. You want play-along. You want speed.”

One of the BBC’s recent daytime successes is The Answer Run, which BBC Studios is showcasing at the market. Suzy Lamb, managing director of U.K. entertainment at BBC Studios, joined Connock and Phillips on stage to discuss the show. “We were all obsessed with swiping!” Lamb said. “We wanted to create something that felt really familiar. One of the team came up with a line that was: ‘What is the Tinder for quiz?’ It’s all about swiping left and right, and that’s where The Answer Run came from. I am also obsessed with play-along and getting the questions in as quickly as we can. That’s what The Answer Run is.”

Made as a daily strip, the show was designed for a “prime-time look and feel,” she explained, “and it’s meant to be scalable up and down. The graphics have a real Candy Crush vibe. We were really keen that it had players coming together. You get that conversation. And arguments between the pairs. You need a quick-thinking host, and the comedy of Jason Manford really allowed us to get more fun out of the quiz as well. It launched in August; it’s the highest-rated launch of a quiz in a decade.”

Phillips responded to the pitch for many reasons, including Manford hosting, the comedy and the play-along factor. “The answers are on the screen. You don’t want quizzes that people feel stupid watching. This way you can always have a stab at it. The swiping thing was interesting. And the couples thing I really liked—you get the arguments.”

Several daytime quizzes at the BBC have moved to access prime, such as Bridge of Lies. On choosing the ones to make that leap, Phillips said, “It’s the ratings. It’s about the host. The energy as well. A lot of these shows, we then play them early Saturday evenings for that. That’s a springboard for Saturday night, so it has to have that kind of fun and energy. It’s cost-effective; if you’re doing a daytime series, you can do your prime-time celebrity series on the back of it. You can get big-name celebrities, and they know they’re not needed for much time.”

Connock then introduced Nation’s Dumbest, based on a show Montreux Film & Fjernsyn created for TV 2 in Norway. Erik Solbakken, producer, said of the origins of the show, “We have this tradition in Norway, especially with TV shows like Paradise Hotel and Ex on the Beach, of a lot of dumb celebrities. In this competition, it’s a game show you don’t want to win. You want to get out as soon as possible.”

On the approach to casting, especially given the name of the show, Solbakken explained: “It was surprisingly easy. People have different motivations. We wanted all kinds of celebrities. It needs some iconic dumb people from your country. We said to them, You can show that you are a bit smarter than we think. For the smart ones, like the politician and the newsreader, it’s a nice way to show that they are not taking themselves that seriously.”

The formula has worked—1 million viewers have tuned in to the series in Norway, with a second season in the works.

Connock then highlighted Silence is Golden from Yes Yes Media, with Richard Bacon, founder, on hand to discuss the origins of the series, made for UKTV’s U&Dave and launching in 2025. “When I come up with shows, I try to find something universal in human nature at some level. For me, this is like when you were at school and weren’t allowed to laugh in class or the giggling fit at a funeral. That’s the game show.”

Three comics enlist a range of entertainers to enlist audible reactions from the audience, with a cash prize up for grabs for the audience or a charity donation for the celebrity panel. “I wouldn’t call it the easiest edit: nine studio cameras and cameras on 75 people and three cameras in a green room.”

From a buyer’s perspective, the show is appealing because of the clear USP, its marketability and the fact that it’s noisy, Phillips said. “For U&Dave, this feels unique, funny and original. Although you’re not playing along at home, you’re so entertained.”

Plus, Bacon said, “I see it as a series of viral moments. That’s part of the idea behind it.”