MGM Alternative’s Barry Poznick

Next month, Amazon’s Prime Video is launching Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity? in more than 240 territories worldwide. The new game show iterates off of the hit Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, with Travis Kelce as host. This reinvigorated IP follows on the return of Gladiators, an iconic sports entertainment show that made a triumphant return to television on BBC One earlier this year. Barry Poznick, general manager of MGM Alternative, Evolution Media and Big Fish Entertainment, tells TV Formats about reviving hit formats, creating new spin-offs to reinvigorate brands and what’s working best in the unscripted entertainment landscape.

TV FORMATS: What’s been the path in bringing back Gladiators?
POZNICK: I was a die-hard fan of the original back in the day, and when I got to MGM about eight years ago, it was one of the iconic pieces of IP I was most excited about. Gladiators was the ultimate combination of sports and entertainment, and we saw a tremendous opportunity in the market to bring it back in a really big way. BBC One shared our passion and vision for the series, and the team of producers delivered a new version that had everything fans loved about the original, with new games and format elements that attracted nearly 10 million viewers with the premiere episode. The success of the show has completely blown past our wildest expectations.

TV FORMATS: Why was now the right time for a format like that one to have a resurgence in the market?
POZNICK: Nostalgia is big for buyers, and Gladiators gives them something familiar that’s fun for the whole family. But this isn’t campy. It’s cutthroat, competitive and compelling, with a cast of characters that are larger than life (literally!). Fans tune in to root for their favorites and come back week after week to see how they perform. We have similar viewer engagement with our shows like Survivor and The Voice. That, coupled with the extreme popularity of television sports, made the market strong for the reboot.

TV FORMATS: Walk me through how the Are You Smarter brand has maintained momentum and iterated along the way.
POZNICK: It’s incredible to look back at the track record. When we premiered the original Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? on FOX in 2007, we had nearly 30 million viewers! Since then, more than 800 million total viewers have watched the show, and it has remained the highest-rated game show premiere in broadcast television history. We’ve produced more than 3,000 original episodes in 55 countries. We sold more than a quarter of a billion dollars in Are You Smarter merchandise, so this brand connected with people in a special way.

TV FORMATS: How will the new Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity? reinvigorate the format?
POZNICK: Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?, premiering on Prime Video in more than 240 territories worldwide on October 16,is a fun new twist on the original format. The difference no [is that] instead of a class of fifth graders, the contestants get “help” for a class of celebrities. Will these TV stars, sports icons and headlining comics remember what they learned in grade school? If they do, the contestant can win $100,000. Plus, Travis Kelce! Come on, this guy is the ultimate get. He was a superfan of the original, and he is our class clown, making this version feel more like a late-night version of the original. This is his first time on television as a host, and Travis charms the audience with his hosting skills, his humor—and his dance moves.

TV FORMATS: How have streamers impacted your format business?
POZNICK: The streamers have brought us a whole new world of opportunity. Instead of airing in just one country, we have the opportunity to premiere in multiple countries at one time. For example, we sold the worldwide rights for Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity? to Prime Video, so with one sale, we get to premiere in 240 territories on the same day. That’s unheard of, and incredibly exciting. And the scale of production, like our series 007: Road to a Million, is premium and cinematic in a way you just don’t see on traditional network television.

TV FORMATS: Overall, what’s working best in the unscripted entertainment landscape with formats at present?
POZNICK: There are so many options for viewers, so the formats need to be really sharp, thoughtful and well-executed, like Gladiators, which was the U.K.’s largest series premiere of the past seven years. The Traitors was another format that broke through in a big way. It’s great to see a new format take off. Game shows work well, too, of course. In addition to launching Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?, Prime Video has a whole series of play-along formats as part of its “winning Wednesdays,” including Pop Culture Jeopardy!, which has instant appeal.

TV FORMATS: How is your division poised to navigate both the challenges in this unscripted format landscape but also capitalize on the opportunities that are ahead?
POZNICK: MGM Alternative, Evolution Media and Big Fish Entertainment produce a wide range of formats, from Survivor and Shark Tank to On Patrol: Live. And we invigorate our IP like Gladiators and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? Hopefully, High Rollers is next!

Additionally, we have shows such as Ugliest House in America that generate spin-offs. The biggest challenge is knowing when the time is right to release formats. In the case of Gladiators, we had been developing that show for a number of years before we felt that the time was right to reintroduce it to audiences.