Drive Master Accelerates with Real People at the Wheel

Out of thousands of applicants, 70 motorists from all across the vast country of Russia—from firefighters to grandmothers—were chosen to compete in the new shiny-floor competition format Drive Master, the first project to come out of Keshet International’s “sharing is caring” pact with NTV. In selecting the participants, the show compiled a diverse cast of contestants that could not only draw in fans of car racing, but also those who tune into a format for a good story.

“When we started, we thought that it would be all men and eventually it ended up being really equal and very diverse,” Revital Basel, managing director of networks at Keshet International, tells TV Formats Weekly. “I think the excitement is to take this world of driving, which we never explore on prime time, and see it in an all-new way as a skill, as a talent, as a performance that everybody can try.”

When Drive Master was first in the development stages, the idea was to have three big driving stunts per episode that all ten of the night’s contestants would perform and either pass or fail. That structure, however, didn’t quite suit the needs of the iteration of the WeiT Media-produced format that was coming together for Russian audiences.

“The Russians said, You know what, if we want people to believe that grandmothers are doing this stunt, they have to be personalized, they have to be doing their own thing,” says Basel, who explains that they opted to tailor the challenges to test participants’ unique talents. A grandmother would not be challenged in the same way as the firefighter, who contended with flames on the studio floor. “We really personalized the stunts for all seven episodes of the edition.”

Though a fit for Russia, Basel doesn’t see this take on the format working everywhere it stands to travel to. For instance, in Israel, where she hopes to see it launch next, Basel believes it will hue closer to the structure of the original Drive Master concept. “By the end of the episode, it’s clear how each one did, and the skills that they are measured by are all the same.”

No matter what alterations are made to the format, Basel foresees it appealing to a broad audience for a number of reasons. One is that it’s inherently relatable to anyone who regularly gets behind the wheel. And another is that the people audiences are watching at the wheel on their screens are, like the majority of them, not professionals in the various car sports. Further, Drive Master is not a “car show.”

“It’s a talent show,” says Basel. “I wouldn’t watch, you know, Top Gear or any car shows that are specifically about cars. This is about the people and the stories and the performance. You really want them to succeed.”

These real people and these real stories that they tell are integral to the format and something that Basel sees as foundational for any local adaptation. “Once it’s professional, then maybe the stunts are more impressive but it would definitely lose the magic of a talent show,” says Basel. “The essence of the format is that it’s regular, normal people.” Though open to a spin-off celebrity Drive Master in the future, there is one caveat: no famous pro racecar drivers allowed.

Drive Master was more than a year in the making after Basel offered NTV the chance to embark on a relationship in which the two companies could co-develop projects—with a Russian team and an Israeli team—that would work in Russia as well as in the international market. “And in the end, of course, if they love it, they can put it on air and we will share the rights,” says Basel.

NTV did love it and premiered the format on prime time in September to the tune of an average number for the slot, something that Basel points out is no easy feat for an entertainment show in a market more apt to settle in for a good crime drama. Basel is hopeful that Drive Master will also see success in several other territories.

“It’s fun, easy-viewing, all-family,” says Basel. “Kids will watch it because it’s action, men will watch because it’s cars, and women will watch it because it’s a show that has a lot of emotional stories of regular people and what they went through.”

Another show to come out of Keshet International’s “sharing is caring” program is the recently announced dating reality show The Big Five. Developed together with the pan-African broadcaster M-Net and the South African production company Afrokaans Film & Television, the show is slated to bow in 2020. With two projects that already went into production and three in the pipeline, Keshet International is witnessing the benefits of the relationships that are being built around the world.

“We find that the channels really relate to this new type of model in which it allows you to make new business and new money,” says Basel. “When you think together in two teams that have experience, one can focus on the local and one on international. You reach amazing results.”