Formats Trending This Spring

From singing and dancing competitions to physical game shows to reality dating series, the trend-trackers at The WIT have shed light on which new format adaptations premiering around the world this spring generated buzz on Instagram.

Last month saw the launch of several new high-profile format treatments, including the rebooted Wipeout on TBS in the U.S. The show garnered some 59,000 Instagram followers, with hosts John Cena and Nicole Byer each having their own dedicated social media following: 15 million and 680,000 followers, respectively. The revival of the physical game show that aired on ABC from 2008 to 2014 features contestants competing in wildly creative and hilariously out-of-the-box obstacle courses.

“TBS wanted it to be a little more athletic than it was in the past,” Matt Kunitz, co-creator and showrunner of Wipeout, told TV Formats Weekly of the reboot. “So we worked on a balance between athleticism and humor. They wanted decision points, so on many of the obstacles, the contestants have to make choices: this route or that route. You don’t get to sit and watch previous people run the course. You have to look at the course and think, if I go to the left, I’m going to get hit by three sweeper bars; if I go to the right, there are only two sweeper bars, but I have to leap over those podiums. What’s going to be easier? Those choices make it more of a competitive show. We also wanted a bigger focus on the contestants.”

A local adaptation of the megahit dating reality show Love Island debuted on Neox in Spain, notching up 51,000 followers on Instagram. The format brings young and glamorous contestants to live in a beautiful villa in the Canary Islands, where they are in a race against time to couple up. Love Island originated in the U.K. on ITV and has sold around the world, including in the U.S. Cristina Pedroche (2.9 million followers) hosts the newly launched Spanish version.

Also in Spain, La 1 debuted its version of the BBC One talent contest The Greatest Dancer. With 41,000 IG followers, the series, locally titled The Dancer, sees competitors of all ages and styles fighting to be crowned Spain’s greatest dancer. La 1’s treatment is led by Sandra Cervera (84,000 followers) and Ion Aramendi (28,000).

In March, All Together Now premiered a buzz-generating local version on TVI in Portugal. Cristina Ferreira (1.5 million followers) hosts the Portuguese treatment of the format, which sees talented performers (solos and groups) take to the stage to perform in front of The 100, an audience of great singers with big voices and even bigger opinions. Its Instagram following stands at around 58,700.

Earlier this spring, TV4 in Sweden debuted a localized version of the hit singing competition format Masked Singer, in which 12 masked celebrities face off in a singing competition. Masked Singer Sverige garnered some 55,000 IG followers in its initial launch, with about 75,200 to date. The local treatment is hosted by David Hellenius (651,000 followers) and features a panel of experts that includes singers Pernilla Wahlgren (633,000) and Måns Zelmerlöw (448,000), actress Nour El Refai (218,000) and actor Felix Herngren (119,000). The wacky guessing game-style competition originated in Korea, where it aired for years as The King of Masked Singer before being brought to America by Craig Plestis. The show is soon to wrap its fifth season on FOX in the U.S. and has been adapted in a slew of markets around the world.

Social media has played a key role in propelling The Masked Singer’s success in attracting viewers, Plestis told TV Formats Weekly. “This is a unique phenomenon that will change the course of what we do with TV shows and formats for a long time. It’s a new way to engage the viewer. [Before,] it was easy to be passive and sit there and watch a performance and say if it’s good or bad. It’s not like that anymore. What we’ve done with the guessing game of who is under the mask has opened up a whole dialogue and engagement level, online as well as on the couch. Families are watching and having debates at home. You have to do that for viewers, especially on a broadcast level. How do you get them to engage? Luckily, we figured it out.”