Dori Media Group’s Nadav Palti Discusses the Current Market for Formats

With companies in Israel, Switzerland, Argentina, Spain and India, the Dori Media Group produces and distributes TV and new media content and operates several TV channels and video content internet sites. The group has a rich library of scripted and unscripted programs and has built a successful formats business. Nadav Palti, CEO and president, shares with TV Formats some of Dori Media’s most recent formats that are finding success in various countries and highlights innovative deals and uses of AI that are helping keep production costs down.

TV FORMATS: The market has been challenging for everyone. Has non-scripted programming been faring better these past few years than scripted?
PALTI: Our catalog is international, with not only Israeli productions but also Spanish-language programming and a lot of non-scripted. And yes, the non-scripted helps, and fortunately, we have a few titles that are very successful. One is Power Couple, a big reality show for prime time, in which eight couples are tested on how well they know each other. It just finished ten seasons on RTL in Germany, and they are about to order the 11th season. On Record in Brazil, they’ve just finished seven seasons of Power Couple and are about to order season eight. Power Couple has worked very well in many global territories. It’s in 20 countries with more seasons produced each year, and soon we will be announcing some additional big deals.

We also recently launched La Subasta (The Auction), a game show that can air in prime time or access prime, both daily and weekly. We developed the concept with Abot Hameiri and then found a production partner. It started in Peru on América Television. We co-produced it with them and it was very successful. The final episode of our first season aired on October 12. We’ve also sold La Subasta in Italy, where it is planned to run daily. And there is also interest in Spain and France, as well as Latin America. It will be all around the world very soon.

TV FORMATS: Is it difficult selling formats based on original ideas?
PALTI: Bringing a paper format to the market is very hard. People don’t want to take risks right now, so they are generally only interested in a proven concept. For us, the opportunity is to develop a show and convince channels and networks that this show can be great for you. Our advantage at Dori Media is that we can go around the world with our new formats. And we believe it’s necessary to find new ways to launch non-scripted formats because if you don’t, you won’t be able to sell; people don’t want to take risks.

We now offer 10 percent of the IP to the initial producers we work with. We say, “If this format is a worldwide success, you will get 10 percent of what we sell around the world.” So, the one that will be the first to air the format, taking the risk, will get the IP.

We also recently announced that we have sold another format, Intuition, to TVI in Portugal. They will produce 20 episodes of a Portuguese remake of this popular game show for the entire family. TVI has said that if it is successful, they will make it a daily show for the long term.

Overall, we currently have six very good non-scripted shows, and at MIPCOM, we just launched another new game show called The Golden Egg, which will be an example of a completely new era in the business. It includes AI technology, which will reduce production costs dramatically.

TV FORMATS: How will that work?
PALTI: The Golden Egg is inspired by a landmark experiment from Nobel Prize-winning economist Daniel Kahneman, and we are working with an Israeli technology company. The initial investment to make the pilot of this new game show with the format technology isn’t too expensive (approximately $350,000 to $400,000). And after that initial investment, for each episode, only the host, two contestants and a small studio with a green screen are needed. All the rest is done by the AI. Additional global territories will not need to produce their own pilots, since the initial pilot is the only one where we need that investment.

As a viewer, when you turn on the TV, you will see a shiny-floor game show, with a big audience, all created by AI. The viewers at home will not be able to tell the difference. And we will be able to create audience members of different races and ethnicities, depending on which country the show will air in and the composition of its viewers.

This is a really exciting new format idea that we want to bring to the market to help channels deal with rising budget costs, and I believe this new formula will work in the coming years because people really want to reduce costs.

TV FORMATS: In the last few years, has the scripted programming market suffered more than non-scripted because buyers and commissioners are generally paying less?
PALTI: Yes, but fortunately, we have a huge library of scripted content, both new and proven track record titles. We can also do remakes. You can go to your library and take a show that was once a hit and produce a new version, like we did with Lalola in Mexico, or Rebelde Way and the new version with Netflix. We are also working on a new remake of Ciega a Citas with a partner that we will announce soon. We are now in the sixth season of the Brazilian version of In Treatment on Globoplay, and we are working to have the seventh season. And we have En Terapia on TV Pública in Argentina.

And we just signed a deal with two Argentinean companies—Kuarzo Entertainment Group and StoryLab. We will distribute their scripted content around the world. So, we are increasing our library with other companies’ content. This is a way we can boost our library and sell more; we get other companies to believe in us and give us their programming for worldwide distribution.