{"id":10820,"date":"2024-09-16T08:50:18","date_gmt":"2024-09-16T12:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2024-09-17T09:48:01","modified_gmt":"2024-09-17T13:48:01","slug":"mgm-alternatives-barry-poznick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/mgm-alternatives-barry-poznick\/","title":{"rendered":"MGM Alternative\u2019s Barry Poznick"},"content":{"rendered":"

Next month, Amazon\u2019s Prime Video is launching Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?<\/em>\u00a0in more than 240 territories worldwide. The new game show iterates off of the hit\u00a0Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?<\/em>, with Travis Kelce as host. This reinvigorated IP follows on the return of\u00a0Gladiators<\/em>, 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\u00a0TV Formats <\/em>about reviving hit formats, creating new spin-offs to reinvigorate brands and what\u2019s working best in the unscripted entertainment landscape.<\/p>\n

TV FORMATS:<\/strong>\u00a0What\u2019s been the path in bringing back\u00a0Gladiators<\/em>?
\nPOZNICK:<\/strong>\u00a0I 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.\u00a0Gladiators<\/em>\u00a0was 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.<\/p>\n

TV FORMATS:<\/strong>\u00a0Why was now the right time for a format like that one to have a resurgence in the market?
\nPOZNICK:<\/strong>\u00a0Nostalgia is big for buyers, and\u00a0Gladiators<\/em>\u00a0gives them something familiar that\u2019s fun for the whole family. But this isn\u2019t campy. It\u2019s 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\u00a0Survivor<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0The Voice<\/em>. That, coupled with the extreme popularity of television sports, made the market strong for the reboot.<\/p>\n

TV FORMATS:<\/strong>\u00a0Walk me through how the\u00a0Are You Smarter<\/em>\u00a0brand has maintained momentum and iterated along the way.
\nPOZNICK:<\/strong>\u00a0It\u2019s incredible to look back at the track record. When we premiered the original\u00a0Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?\u00a0<\/em>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\u2019ve produced more than 3,000 original episodes in 55 countries. We sold more than a quarter of a billion dollars in\u00a0Are You Smarter\u00a0<\/em>merchandise, so this brand connected with people in a special way.<\/p>\n

TV FORMATS:<\/strong>\u00a0How will the new\u00a0Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?\u00a0<\/em>reinvigorate the format?
\nPOZNICK:<\/strong>\u00a0Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?<\/em>, 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 \u201chelp\u201d 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\u2014and his dance moves.<\/p>\n

TV FORMATS:<\/strong>\u00a0How have streamers impacted your format business?
\nPOZNICK:<\/strong>\u00a0The 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\u00a0Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?<\/em>\u00a0to Prime Video, so with one sale, we get to premiere in 240 territories on the same day. That\u2019s unheard of, and incredibly exciting. And the scale of production, like our series\u00a0007: Road to a Million<\/em>, is premium and cinematic in a way you just don\u2019t see on traditional network television.<\/p>\n

TV FORMATS:<\/strong>\u00a0Overall, what\u2019s working best in the unscripted entertainment landscape with formats at present?
\nPOZNICK:<\/strong>\u00a0There are so many options for viewers, so the formats need to be really sharp, thoughtful and well-executed, like\u00a0Gladiators<\/em>, which was the U.K.\u2019s largest series premiere of the past seven years.\u00a0The Traitors<\/em>\u00a0was another format that broke through in a big way. It\u2019s great to see a new format take off. Game shows work well, too, of course. In addition to launching\u00a0Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?<\/em>, Prime Video has a whole series of play-along formats as part of its \u201cwinning Wednesdays,\u201d including Pop Culture Jeopardy!<\/em>, which has instant appeal.<\/p>\n

TV FORMATS:<\/strong>\u00a0How is your division poised to navigate both the challenges in this unscripted format landscape but also capitalize on the opportunities that are ahead?
\nPOZNICK:<\/strong>\u00a0MGM Alternative, Evolution Media and Big Fish Entertainment produce a wide range of formats, from\u00a0Survivor\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Shark Tank<\/em>\u00a0to\u00a0On Patrol: Live<\/em>. And we invigorate our IP like\u00a0Gladiators\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?\u00a0<\/em>Hopefully,\u00a0High Rollers\u00a0<\/em>is next!<\/p>\n

Additionally, we have shows such as\u00a0Ugliest House in America<\/em>\u00a0that generate spin-offs. The biggest challenge is knowing when the time is right to release formats. In the case of\u00a0Gladiators<\/em>, we had been developing that show for a number of years before we felt that the time was right to reintroduce it to audiences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The general manager discusses reviving hit formats, creating new spin-offs to reinvigorate brands and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":350,"featured_media":10821,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,69],"tags":[3930,3724,3275,3726],"class_list":["post-10820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-interviews","category-top-stories","tag-are-you-smarter","tag-barry-poznick","tag-gladiators","tag-mgm-alternative","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nMGM Alternative\u2019s Barry Poznick - TVFORMATS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/mgm-alternatives-barry-poznick\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MGM Alternative\u2019s Barry Poznick - 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