One of the key themes to emerge from our inaugural TV Real Festival in the summer of last year was that the formats sector had the resiliency to weather the overall downturn in the content business. Indeed, it has the potential to benefit from peak-drama fatigue. More than ever, broadcasters and streamers need affordable, reliable entertainment shows, alongside a smattering of big swings, to keep audiences and advertisers happy. But risk aversion is clear, as was seen by the continued prominence of the megaformats throughout 2024. Big brands got bigger, M&A was muted with a shift toward creative partnerships over a chase for scale, and new models across broadcast and streaming emerged as everyone looked for ways to do more with less.<\/p>\n
The Traitors<\/em>, a relatively new megaformat, had a breakout year in 2024, including being hailed as \u201cFormat of the Year\u201d in K7 Media\u2019s Tracking the Giants survey in the spring. The All3Media International format landed deals in Korea, India, Africa, Romania, Spain, and Central and Eastern Europe; a renewal and celebrity extension by the BBC; and a double renewal by Peacock, which scored an Emmy for its version. It was also a good year for another emerging format heavyweight: BBC Studios\u2019 hit game show\u00a0The 1% Club<\/em>. The ITV commission secured a joint Prime Video and FOX window in the U.S. and was ordered for adaptations in Greece, Mexico, and Central and Eastern Europe. Sky Italia committed to more\u00a0The X Factor<\/em>.\u00a0Got Talent<\/em>\u00a0secured a commission for Quebec. BBC commissioned a whopping 19th season of\u00a0The Apprentice<\/em>\u00a0and renewed the rebooted\u00a0The Weakest Link<\/em>.\u00a0The Real Housewives\u00a0<\/em>is headed to London for Hayu.\u00a0The Masked Singer<\/em>\u00a0was optioned in India. CTV opted for more\u00a0The Amazing Race<\/em>.\u00a0Dancing with the Stars<\/em>\u00a0is headed back to South Africa and Spain. Channel 4 partnered with E.ON Next for the return of\u00a0The Secret Life of 5 Year Olds<\/em>. Banijay Rights reached the milestone of 70 adaptations of\u00a0Big Brother<\/em>\u00a0(which was also canceled in Canada in 2024) and\u00a0MasterChef<\/em>.\u00a0Dragons\u2019 Den\/Shark Tank<\/em>\u00a0hit its 50th iteration.\u00a0The Bachelor<\/em>\u00a0returned to Ukraine for a 13th season.\u00a0The Voice<\/em>\u00a0was ordered by S4C in Wales, while a brand spin-off,\u00a0The Voice Pride<\/em>, was commissioned in Thailand. FOX committed to two more seasons of\u00a0Hell\u2019s Kitchen\u00a0<\/em>and further built its Gordon Ramsay business with the renewal of\u00a0Gordon Ramsay\u2019s Food Stars<\/em>.<\/p>\n The success of\u00a0Gladiators<\/em>, which was renewed for a second season by BBC One and is set for a U.S. adaptation by Prime Video, has many looking at older brands again. The spin-off\u00a0Deal or No Deal Island<\/em>\u00a0landed a second season order on Peacock.\u00a0Project Runway<\/em>\u00a0made news with a 2025 return in the U.S. and a new African commission. The British game show\u00a0Bullseye<\/em>\u00a0is returning to ITV. W9 revived\u00a0Temptation Island<\/em>\u00a0in France.<\/p>\n Last year also demonstrated the importance of building digital homes and brand extensions for popular formats to maintain fan engagement. Indeed, some platforms have built up entire libraries of different versions of hit formats and brand extensions, among them 9Network Australia, which did a deal for all English-language versions of\u00a0Married at First Sight<\/em>. BBC iPlayer acquired three international versions of\u00a0The Traitors<\/em>. Peacock renewed its\u00a0Love Island\u00a0<\/em>spin-off,\u00a0Love Island Games<\/em>, and became the exclusive U.S. streaming home for the U.K. reality dating series\u00a0Love Island: All Stars<\/em>. Prime Video has become a key format buyer and continues to see global resonance for\u00a0Last One Laughing<\/em>, including a U.K. order. Pluto TV officially launched a 24\/7\u00a0Big Brother<\/em>\u00a0channel. Passion Distribution\u2019s UpStream Media marked the 20th anniversary of the reality format\u00a0Paradise Hotel<\/em>\u00a0with the launch of a dedicated YouTube channel.\u00a0The Rap Game UK<\/em>\u00a0is expanding its brand through the Fortnite Creative platform. BBC Studios partnered with Reality+ to launch the virtual\u00a0Top Gear<\/em>\u00a0world, The Stigverse, on the social gaming platform The Sandbox. ITV2 launched an interactive companion series to\u00a0I\u2019m a Celebrity\u2026Get Me Out of Here!<\/em>,\u00a0I\u2019m a Celebrity\u2026Unpacked<\/em>.\u00a0BGT Reacts<\/em>, a spin-off of ITV1\u2019s\u00a0Britain\u2019s Got Talent<\/em>, landed on ITVX. The BBC launched an online\u00a0The Traitors<\/em>\u00a0game.<\/p>\n While known entertainment brands, many studio-based, dominated deal news, there were some big-swing announcements, especially on the heels of the success of\u00a0Squid Game: The Challenge<\/em>, including\u00a0Race Across the World<\/em>\u00a0heading to Germany, while ITV1 and ITVX commissioned\u00a0The Summit<\/em>, and Prime Video ordered\u00a0Beast Games<\/em>. Newer formats were also able to gain some traction.\u00a0Stranded on Honeymoon Island<\/em>\u00a0was commissioned by the BBC and ordered in several European markets.\u00a0The Power<\/em>, from Dreamspark and Studio 89, hit a milestone of deals in 18 countries. Belgium\u2019s\u00a0Destination X<\/em>\u00a0was ordered to series by NBC. Crave commissioned Studio Lambert\u2019s new\u00a0The Anonymous<\/em>.<\/p>\n Game shows, dating and talent remained the top performers in terms of format commissions, but factual entertainment emerged as an area to watch last year, as did the branded entertainment space as everyone explores new approaches to funding.<\/p>\n 2024 was also a year dominated by news of creative partnerships over traditional M&A. Banijay entered into an exclusive global development deal with creator and producer Marc Pos through his independent label MPLab, while Banijay UK\u2019s Zeppotron signed an exclusive development deal with comedy duo David Earl and Joe Wilkinson\u2019s Big Oval Place for unscripted TV formats. Jenny Daly\u2019s Critical Content unveiled alliances with LEONINE Studios, Warner Bros. International Television Production Australia, Dubai-based Blue Engine Studios, South Korea\u2019s Something Special, Singapore\u2019s Refinery Media, ITV Studios France and Belgium\u2019s Be-Entertainment. BBC Studios entered a partnership deal with Jolly Octopus Media, a new production company founded by Emmy and BAFTA winners Ollie Brack and James Longman. All3Media International and Tokyo Broadcasting System Television (TBS) in Japan partnered to co-develop new entertainment formats for the international market. NHK Enterprises expanded its partnership with Netherlands-based Lineup Industries and entered a new one with Singapore-based Empire of Arkadia (EOA) for format distribution. Something Special and the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) partnered to co-develop and co-produce new unscripted IP. On the M&A front, Fremantle Netherlands acquired stakes in AMANT productions and BOLDPRINT Studios. Avi Armoza clinched a deal to regain ownership of Armoza Formats from ITV Studios. Zinc Media Group launched a new entertainment label, Electric Violet, led by Andrea Hamilton.<\/p>\n Last year also saw RX France call the curtain on MIPTV, a market that, with MIPFormats, has long been paramount for format distribution executives. MIPFormats will be part of the inaugural MIP London, which will run alongside the London TV Screenings from February 24 to 27, with a pre-opening on Sunday, February 23. \u201cThe biggest international week in unscripted is now in London with MIP next February,\u201d said Lucy Smith, director of MIP London and MIPCOM CANNES, in revealing news that MIPFormats would return for its 15th edition. \u201cWe\u2019ve had clear feedback from each genre community about the importance of maintaining MIPDoc and MIPFormats in the first half of the year. Unscripted is a growing part of the London events in February. By starting MIPDoc and MIPFormats ahead of the week, MIP London helps meet this demand, gives unscripted buyers and producers a head start on the latest trends and potential partnerships, and further brings the MIP experience to London.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A look back at the major stories from the formats business in 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":11040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-features","category-top-stories","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\n