Keshet International & NTV Join Forces for Drive Master

Keshet International has launched a co-development partnership with Russian broadcaster NTV, with the companies aligning for the entertainment talent-show format Drive Master.

Bringing the world of cars and driving indoors into a shiny-floor setting, Drive Master aims to find the nation’s best amateur drivers. The show is set within a studio that has been built around a parking lot, and will feature driving stunts and skills to create an action-packed and suspenseful format taped before a live audience. Week after week, drivers who fail the challenges will be eliminated, with the one driver remaining at the end earning the prize and the Drive Master title.

Drive Master is set to be the first format co-developed by Keshet International and NTV as part of a wider agreement, which will see the companies working together on additional nonscripted formats. The series will be produced locally in Russia by Weit Media ahead of a fall premiere. Keshet International will be responsible for international sales.

Revital Basel, Keshet International’s managing director of networks, said: “We are really excited to be formally announcing our first partnership with a local broadcaster to co-develop ambitious new formats such as this high-octane re-invention of the traditional shiny-floor talent show with NTV. Featuring contestants of all ages alongside a compelling cast of cars, Drive Master is going to be a captivating prime-time entertainment series that families can sit down and enjoy together.”

Timur Weinstein, NTV’s general producer, added: “We are happy to be one of the first Russian television companies to launch a brand-new original nonscripted project in collaboration with an international media company. Following the success of The Road to Calvary, we are happy to announce our partnership with Keshet International in the nonscripted projects area. NTV has a vast experience in big-scale show production, and we’ve always put a big emphasis on our production values. The show’s challenges will take place in a pavilion and on the Russian FIA F1 top category racetrack. We believe that our new show would be a hit among the worldwide audience.”