Nippon TV Bets Big on Game-Show Market

Nippon TV’s Tom Miyauchi, head of formats, international business development, talks to TV Formats about the proven popularity of feel-good studio game shows.

As productions were put on pause while a pandemic swept the globe, the international content industry proved its resilience by shifting its focus to the development of new ideas, which ultimately generated new commissions and productions, according to Tom Miyauchi, head of formats, international business development, at Nippon TV. “The global format industry has flourished with bright new ideas and attractive formats in the recent years,” says Miyuachi, who has found that feel-good studio game shows in particular have served to boost family co-viewing habits, which have generally taken a turn for the better over the last year.

A game-show format with “visual impact, simple concept, feel-good family entertainment with a ‘twist’ to spice it up” is one that can travel the world, says Miyauchi. “All of these ingredients mixed, and with scalability added, would make a truly global game-show format.”

Nippon TV’s catalog of game-show formats features the recently launched Crush Park, in which contestants must break objects in their quest to win the prize. The company’s slate also includes Mute it! and Sokkuri Sweets, both of which are produced by BlazHoffski Productions in the Netherlands, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. International Television Production. “All of these formats are Covid-19-friendly studio game shows,” says Miyauchi. “Players take on the challenges either solo, in small numbers and/or with families, minimizing the risk of contact during taping, making it appropriate for the current times.”

The studio game-show format Stacking It!, made in collaboration with ITV Studios, is Nippon TV’s latest co-production. Ideal for co-viewing, it sees two families face off in a series of stacking challenges in order to win a haul of prizes. “It’s a scalable format that anyone can take part in,” says Miyauchi. “There is no need to have general knowledge to answer quizzes, nor dancing skills nor singing talent!”

Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, game-show formats have proven to be particularly adaptable, as well as being the kind of lighthearted entertainment that viewers crave in tough times. “Game-show formats are now tested and proven for their production capabilities under the safety protocols during the pandemic, as can be seen by the Dutch adaptations of our formats this year,” says Miyauchi. “Also to note, Nippon TV and ITV Studios collectively proved that the co-development of a game-show format can be done remotely.”

At Nippon TV, changes caused by the pandemic stretched beyond the streamlined methods of production and into how the company conducts meetings, with some of the shifts likely to establish some permanence. “Scheduling is much easier, there is no need to reserve a big conference room even if there are 12 people in a meeting, and there is an atmosphere where everyone has an equal opportunity to speak up and be heard,” says Miyauchi. “All of these adjustments made the co-development process very smooth and fast, which we may maintain moving forward.”

As Nippon TV looks ahead, studio game shows are poised to remain a central focus, but Miyauchi is keen to explore other format genres as well. “Family entertainment and studio game shows are in our blood,” he says. “Next up, we would like to explore opportunities in outdoor, on-location production to create exquisite new formats for post-pandemic ages.”