Case Study: Still Standing

It has been six years now since Armoza Formats launched the game show Still Standing in the international market, and the series has seen many iterations in that time.

The prime-time format offers contestants the chance at $1 million by out-guessing their opponents in a series of trivia battles. If they find themselves scrambling for the correct answer, players are dropped from the game, literally, through the studio floor.

An Israeli original, the format came about as a co-development between July-August Productions and Channel 10. “At the time, the channel was looking for a new prime-time game show to excite and entertain their viewers, and ***Image***July-August had come to them with an idea for a game show based on adding drama and fun through the physical element and excitement of seeing people fall,” explains Avi Armoza, the founder and CEO of Armoza Formats. “One year and two pilots later, they had developed the idea to where they felt that they had a winning game show. We had also been working with July-August on a different format, The Frame, when they shared the initial idea for Still Standing, and we immediately saw the international potential. So throughout the development process, we were brought in for our creative input and consultation from a global distribution aspect.”

Still Standing began airing in Israel in December 2010 and quickly found success as it represented a different type of studio game show for the network. “Channel 10 brought a new and fresh host to be the face of Still Standing and launched it with a strong promotional and innovative presence,” Armoza says. “Six years later and they’re in production for their fifth season, and it is now not only the most ***Image***successful Israeli game show but also the most successful Israeli format globally in terms of number of episodes.”

Armoza Formats debuted the show at NATPE Miami 2011 for the global marketplace and sales began to come quite quickly. “After NATPE, I flew to L.A. to pitch the show to the U.S. networks, and by March, NBC had licensed it in a straight-to-series deal, becoming the second international broadcaster to air the show after Antena 3 in Spain,” Armoza recalls.

Since then, Still Standing has aired more than 4,000 episodes in 20-plus territories. In Spain, the show has been running consecutively for six years, while both China and Hungary have aired seven seasons to date. A third season recently wrapped in Italy. In Asia, Thailand and Vietnam are currently airing their versions. Another feather in the format’s cap: Still Standing will become the first format from Armoza to air in Mongolia.

The Spanish adaptation, locally titled ¡Ahora Caigo!, has broadcast as finished tapes in Panama, Uruguay and the U.S. Hispanic market. In Uruguay, 700 of the Spanish episodes have already been on the air.

“The strength and beauty of any game show is that it’s like a puzzle: once you have all the pieces fitting together, you get something that’s more than the sum of its parts, and it’s important to keep the core elements working together,” Armoza says. “With Still Standing, the structures and the rules of the game are straightforward and fit together so well (which is what is at the heart of the success of the show) so the only main adaptations that have happened are those based on the territory’s budget, such as the set and at what amount to allow exit points. Other than that, the tweaks have been more of an evolution of the show, such as additions of new speed rounds, slow-motion cameras and themed specials, which are often chosen to suit the culture.”

The two key elements of the format, according to Armoza, are the head-to-head battles and the variety and pace of the questions, “both of which are crucial to the success of the show.” The format features one central contestant, “who is usually cast for their potential to hold their ground for an episode, allowing the viewers to really engage with them. It is this person who chooses their opponent in each round, with the loser being dropped from the game through the studio floor. This takes what is usually the peak of a game show—the one-on-one battles—and brings that excitement to the whole episode, with an added physical element that never gets old.”

Armoza says that the fast pace and wide variety of questions make the game show perfect for audiences to play along with. “Because of the way it’s built, Still Standing has more questions per episode than other game shows. In addition, many other game shows follow a linear drama, whereas here, because you have one contestant surrounded by ten challengers, every few minutes you have a new drama. The fact that neither contestant knows how much they’re playing for until after they’ve won the round also means that the tension is high throughout as the stakes could be anything.”

The company continues to look for new territories and broadcasters for which Still Standing “can become an established daily show,” Armoza says. “We know that once you have a successful game show in the right home, it’s a win-win for everyone.”