WorldScreenings: TV Asahi

Last year was an “attention-building” one for TV Asahi formats. “Although the world suffered from unfortunate lockdowns and travel bans, we were lucky enough to have many new clients realizing the uniqueness and jewels in our catalog of formats,” says Mayumi Nakamura, head of format development and sales in the international business department of TV Asahi.

“This year, we are determined to continue this effort and bring attractive formats to the international market.”

She describes Red Light Green Light as a “game show with uniqueness.” The format sees contestants try to clear challenges under a green light (which clears them to move) but must freeze with a red light (stop). Vibration measurement sensors fitted on contestants’ hands and feet will track their movement to eliminate those who moved more than 2.5 cm during a red light.

Eat This Menu, formerly known as Stuck Till You’re Done, is a game show that challenges players to guess the top ten best-selling items off a menu of a restaurant. As a penalty for an incorrect guess, they have to eat that dish. No matter how long it takes or how full their stomach becomes, they can’t leave the restaurant until they answer them all correctly.

TV Asahi has partnered with Craig Plestis of Smart Dog Media (The Masked Singer) for both Red Light Green Light and Eat This Menu.

Staying in the game-show genre, Trick House demands that its contestants stay calm while experiencing different kinds of pranks and tricks. Their composure is measured by their heart rate.

The multiplatform game show #Hash Tag follows as demons chase escapers by tracking hashtags and photos posted by the public on social media platforms.

The relationship series Happily Ever Apart is billed as a new style of divorce show. It sees unhappily married couples host a formal “divorce ceremony” at a classy venue in front of guests (or it can be online). The true story behind their marriage gradually unfolds in an orderly and ceremonial manner. The show lets the couples sort out their roller coaster of emotions and prepare to move on positively to the future.

In VS KIDS, former top athletes are challenged to beat kid champions in the same sport. “This competition format involves serious matches without handicaps,” Nakamura says. “It is such an uplifting format that we believe it will be an ideal show as an icon for our triumph in the battle with Covid-19 and celebrate the good value of sports and passing the baton to the next generation.” TV Asahi has partnered with Mad Chemists, a U.S. production company led by two industry professionals, on VS KIDS.

Ranking the Stars, TV Asahi’s longest-running format, found a new home on SAT.1 in Germany in 2020, thanks to its distribution partner Warner Bros. International Television Production. The format also counted its 17th season in the Netherlands in 2020 on RTL. “This studio-based celebrity ranking format is travel-ready,” Nakamura says. “It involves a lot of talks but is easy to adjust to local markets’ tastes by carefully selecting topics. It is easy to implement Covid-prevention measures, according to the Dutch producer.”

TV Asahi also has an attractive drama-series lineup, Nakamura points out. Ossan’sLove and dele target younger audiences and have caused social media buzz in Japan. Ossan’s Love is a love story involving three male office mates “that defies many common values and makes you want to love someone,” Nakamura says. It has been commissioned in Hong Kong and production is underway. dele is a high-concept drama about a duo who delete unfavorable digital data for clients after they die. It received the MIPCOM Buyers’ Award for Japanese Drama in 2019. The show has been licensed in Korea and is under development.

Doctor X, which started in 2012, has been a top-performing drama series, with each season achieving number one ratings among all commercial broadcasters. The show features a strong female character, Michiko Daimon, a stunningly beautiful and stubbornly self-reliant freelance surgeon who prides herself on her skills and dignity as a surgeon. Being an “unusual rebellious lone-wolf genius,” she is always questioning the purpose of medical science—“who is it for?”

See TV Asahi’s Spring 2021 Showcase here.