Format Frenzy

Kristin Brzoznowski checks in on the latest trends in the format business across Europe.

With cord-cutting heating up in the European TV landscape and the number of on-demand platforms mushrooming, the craving for shows simmered in local flavors has intensified among broadcasters in the region. Channels in Western Europe and across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), hoping to attract younger viewers in particular, are looking to formats as a way to stand out amid the vast buffet of entertainment options on offer these days.

“Across Europe, there is an appetite to create homegrown content,” says Mark Lawrence, executive director for EMEA at Endemol Shine International. “The constraints on the volume of regional production will always be governed by budget considerations, which can be balanced with finished acquired programming—and indeed, the finished and format of the same show on a platform can complement each other.”

Lawrence points out that long-running global formats are continuing to do well in Europe. For example, from the Endemol Shine stable, Big Brother is celebrating its 20th anniversary and “is enjoying one of its best years yet,” he says. “The teams have been implementing innovative tech to revitalize the production process.” The show made a comeback in Poland after 11 years off the air and also returns in Finland this year.

MasterChef, too, is “universally loved in [many] countries and is constantly being innovated,” Lawrence adds. “In Spain, they have launched bespoke content on YouTube to draw in a new, younger audience.”

“Our globally successful talent shows continue to be renewed and are delivering for our respected partners, especially our iconic entertainment brands Got Talent, Idols and X Factor,” says Daniela Matei, CEO for the Nordics, Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans at Fremantle.

The company has also recently received “a lot of interest” for its new entertainment format The Greatest Dancer, according to Matei. She adds that prime-time game shows such as the classics Family Feud and Golden Brain, as well as comedy panel shows, including What’s My Line (Inkognito), To Tell the Truth and Who Knew, are continuing to notch up recommissions.

HERE TO ENTERTAIN
“Generally, the interest from Western Europe and CEE is in the same genres, such as shiny-floor entertainment, game shows, dating shows and comedy panel shows,” Matei says of the regional format tastes.

Keren Shahar, the COO and president of distribution at Keshet International, reports “very healthy” format sales across both Western and Eastern Europe. “We haven’t seen much change in Western Europe in the past six months, and the needs remain the same. We have, however, seen steady growth in Eastern Europe, in both scripted and non-scripted formats,” she adds.

Like Matei, Shahar says that game shows have been top draws. “Studio-based game shows for access prime very much remain in demand,” she notes. “BOOM!, our best-selling game show, works very well in the daily access-prime slot.” The format has been licensed in 20 territories to date, including Italy, where more than 400 episodes have aired, and Spain, where the show celebrated its 1,000th episode this year.

“In CEE, prime time is still very much dominated by shiny-floor, studio-based formats and reality shows that have a proven track record in several territories,” she says. “While in Western Europe, factual entertainment is being added to the mix,” a trend she also sees beginning to make its way into CEE territories.

“In general, CEE is becoming more open to experimentation, with different genres and also formats that have not necessarily aired in major, or multiple, territories being considered,” Shahar adds. “We are also seeing increased interest in the Nordics for our fact-ent formats.”

“The Scandinavian territories are, in a way, waking up,” agrees Amos Neumann, the COO of Armoza Formats. “There was quite a decline in their consumption of formats recently, but we now see an interesting awakening in these territories. They have realized that there is a limit to what you can do with older things that keep coming back, that you need to open yourself up.”

In CEE, he says, “Besides the usual suspects—which are the big prime-time shows—they are looking for strong factual entertainment.” The Western part of Europe is “more U.S.-oriented in terms of content,” Neumann adds. “Shows that will find themselves in prime time in Eastern Europe will be daytime, afternoon or access-prime-time shows in Western Europe. They are still looking for the big franchises for prime time.” However, he has seen that broadcasters in this part of the world are getting edgier in the content that they are seeking out. “Channel 4 in the U.K. [which aired Armoza Formats’ social experiment Sex Tape] has been edgy for a while. But in Poland, they bought the U.K. [version] of Sex Tape, and we have a Belgian version, a Dutch version and soon it’s going to be picked up in Germany. They are more inclined to get edgier content than they used to be.”

One reason for this, he says, is the declining audiences for traditional linear broadcasters. “When you’re looking at the opportunity to attract the audience, you have to be different…. Another thing is attracting younger audiences. The decline in younger audiences is much greater than in the 55-plus demo that is watching traditional TV. This decline drives the broadcasters to try different things and to engage their digital outlets—to perhaps start things on digital and move them to traditional channels and vice versa.” He points to Scandinavia and the U.K. as positive examples of this.

Ben Packwood, sales manager for EMEA North at all3media international, says that recently, Eastern Europe has proven to be “a strong market for formats because local productions are necessary there to grow channels, and local content is needed to resonate with audiences. Successful, well-traveled formats tend to be the most attractive in the region, as they generally look for tried-and-tested ideas.”

RISK-TAKERS
Russia and Poland are willing to take more risks, Packwood says, highlighting the sale of 24 Hours to Hell and Back into Russia as the format’s first international version. “Other countries in the region tend to look at Poland and Russia; if they have adapted a format, it’s easier to get the attention of other countries, as they can better see that it works for budgets typical for the region.”

Indeed, according to Packwood, one of the most noticeable differences between the regions is budgets. “Another difference is that CEE has an appetite for constructed reality,” he adds. “This has contributed to the success of our constructed-reality strand over the last decade,” with hits such as Day and Night and Cases of Doubt. “Other factors include that it offers a large volume of scripts. This allows channels to strip content.”

Likewise, Global Agency has seen the greatest traction in CEE with its daily stripped shows, says Senay Tas, regional sales director. “Our style shows have sold best, but also our cooking shows. In CEE, we recently licensed our cooking format My Wife Rules to Bosnia, and we are very excited to see how it will work, as this is our first format sale to the country in many years. We are also pleased to collaborate with the Slovenian public broadcaster on our quiz show Joker. The channel has already ordered additional episodes for next year.”

Looking ahead, she forecasts that “the trend of reality, cooking and daily stripped shows will continue in CEE for another couple of years. In Western Europe, we will continue to see reality, social experiments and factual entertainment in the future. Shiny-floor talent shows always have a chance.”

Pictured: Global Agency‘s Shopping Monsters.