WBITVP’s Andrew Zein

With challenging economic conditions, a squeeze on talent and simultaneous writers’ and actors’ strikes in the U.S., it’s an interesting time to be in the business of unscripted entertainment. Andrew Zein, senior VP of creative, format development and sales at Warner Bros. International TV Production (WBITVP), shares his view on the state of the format industry.

TV FORMATS: How is the market for unscripted entertainment faring at the moment
ZEIN: Broadcasters are understandably careful how they spend their commissioning budgets and are seeking programs that will deliver the audience their platform needs. When budgets get tighter, broadcasters’ focus does move from the higher cost, higher risk drama over to unscripted. While the market is tough out there, we’re seeing plenty of commissions for new series, such as WB Unscripted and Alternative Television’s latest game show Lotería Loca for CBS and The Bachelor franchise spin-off The Golden Bachelor for ABC. The Bachelor will be returning to ABC for its 28th season in the fall, and FBoy Island launches a third series on The CW, alongside the brand-new spin-off series FGirl Island.

TV FORMATS: What’s working best in today’s challenging environment?
ZEIN: We’ve seen particular success with proven brands, whether currently on air or reboots, and longer runs of existing commissions. The Bachelor franchise has earned its status as the greatest dating franchise on the planet, with 38 territories now having adapted the format and new territories still discovering the show. The first-ever season of The Bachelorette launched at the end of May in Denmark with incredible ratings for TV 2 Play.

We also celebrated the 10th anniversary of the studio collectibles format Cash or Trash with ZDF at this year’s London Screenings and new episodes of the franchise air in 2023 in Austria, Greece, Germany, France, Italy, Poland and the U.K. The most recent fourth season launch in Italy continues a season-on-season streak of launch ratings increases for Nove.

TV FORMATS: Are you seeing renewed interest in titles from the back catalog and revivals of stalwarts?
ZEIN: Alongside our evergreen franchises like The Bachelor and First Dates, which have been consistently on-air since launching over 20 and ten years ago, respectively, we’ve also seen interest in reboots of our back-catalog brands. One of our most entertaining and explosive reality series Reality Queens of the Jungle returned after a ten-year break in the Netherlands this year and had an incredible response from audiences. It was the number one streamed show in the whole of the country in January and February and was a viral sensation, inspiring an abundance of online posts and fan-generated content across social platforms. Spin-off series Reality Queens in Search of Nirvana was commissioned shortly after in Spain and launches soon on Mediaset in Spain.

Also, recently announced in Spain, we are seeing the return of one of Cuatro’s most successful dating series, Who Wants to Marry My Son? Originally airing on the broadcaster from 2012 to 2017, the show was an iconic brand for the channel, achieving huge ratings and online engagement. The series returns for a sixth season and fresh look at the world of dating in 2023.

TV FORMATS: What’s the strategy for extending the reach (and maintaining momentum) for some of the long-running and established brands in the catalog?
ZEIN: WBITVP is well set up with experienced in-house production consultants working across our key franchises, as a central resource to ensure excellence in production, advise on content and share new ideas and innovations. As our franchises have evolved over the years, we have worked with broadcasters and creatives with adaptations to suit each territory. For example, First Dates has remained a weekly series in the U.K. and many other territories, but in Spain, the format airs daily, with a 210-episode run per series. As the Spanish team also produces brand spin-offs First Dates Cruise and First Dates Café, the format is constantly on-air in some form throughout the year.

In addition to flexibility around scheduling and working to considerations around budgets, etc., we are continually innovating around the brand editorial. Recent seasons of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette in Australia, New Zealand, Sweden and Denmark have seen multiple lead versions that have put a different dynamic on the format and achieved higher than ever audience ratings. Similarly, Who Do You Think You Are? has experimented with multiple celebrities featuring across the season, in a break from the traditional single-person journey, as well as re-enactment segments that bring to life the pasts of our celebrities’ ancestors. And as you’ll see with recent announcements around The Golden Bachelor and FGirl Island, we continue to expand the existing worlds of our franchises into new and exciting areas.

TV FORMATS: What’s the climate for risk-taking like for brand-new concepts?
ZEIN: While the current climate for commissioning new format ideas is tough, we have a healthy pipeline of new and original programming from across the WBITVP group and partners. FBoy Island was a brand-new concept that launched in the U.S. in 2021 and has already hit six international adaptations in the last two years, proving new ideas can push through and find success with audiences. Our format slate this year looks stronger than ever, and we’ll have some exciting announcements later this year across reality, game shows, entertainment and fact-ent.

TV FORMATS: What must a new concept have in order to break through in today’s landscape?
ZEIN: For FBoy Island, the series really took off with critics, from E! Entertainment to Time magazine, for its smart and funny take on the dating genre. It’s got a feminist edge and razor-sharp wit, which make it addictive viewing, and audiences love it. Ultimately, whilst there may be a lot of good new ideas launching, unless they can connect with audiences and launch successfully in a territory, they will not break through.

TV FORMATS: Where do you see the greatest opportunities in the formats market as you look at the year ahead?
ZEIN: We’ve seen success with reality series with an entertaining heart, and spin-off series FGirl Island, Reality Queens in Search of Nirvana, First Dates Teens and The Golden Bachelor look set to continue this trend. In the same way FBoy Island flipped the script on dating shows, we also have some innovative new takes on the traditional competition format. The BBC’s Bring the Drama is looking for untapped acting talent that reflects the U.K. as it is today, while Five Star Kitchen: Britain’s Next Great Chef is a high-stakes cookery competition set in the exclusive world of five-star luxury for Channel 4 and Netflix. Both prime-time series have a real focus on authenticity in their production, providing a fascinating and unique insight into traditionally closed worlds.