{"id":6396,"date":"2018-08-06T09:06:48","date_gmt":"2018-08-06T13:06:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2018-08-07T17:21:02","modified_gmt":"2018-08-07T21:21:02","slug":"case-study-of-ex-on-the-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/case-study-of-ex-on-the-beach\/","title":{"rendered":"Case Study of Ex on the Beach"},"content":{"rendered":"

Laura Burrell, the global head of formats at Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN), tells <\/em>TV Formats about the dating and relationship format <\/em>Ex on the Beach.<\/em><\/p>\n

That recurring nightmare of an ex popping up unexpectedly while you\u2019re sharing a romantically charged moment with your new flame becomes a reality on MTV\u2019s dating and relationship format Ex on the Beach<\/em>. According to Laura Burrell, the global head of formats at Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN), the series has a \u201cfantastic visual hook, which is the exes coming out of the sea to confront their former significant others in a dramatic style.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burrell adds, \u201cThat\u2019s become the signature piece of the show, and that in itself has propelled it to being in 13 territories.\u201d Another reason behind the format\u2019s international success is that it taps into a universal experience. \u201cEveryone has an ex, and most people at some point in their lives experience that fear of an ex turning up at an inappropriate time in their lives when they\u2019re embarking on a new romance.\u201d<\/p>\n

The format has been on the air across Europe and in Brazil, and it recently debuted on MTV in the U.S. The social experiment sees good-looking singles searching for romance on a summer holiday. One by one, each is confronted by a former lover, and everyone\u2014flames old and new\u2014must live under the same roof.<\/p>\n

The concept for Ex on the Beach<\/em> was brought to MTV by Whizz Kid Entertainment back in 2013. The series was commissioned for MTV International, and MTV in the U.K. aired the first season in the spring of 2014. \u201cThe plan was always to see how that series would perform on the different MTV channels around the world before looking at the possibility of localizing,\u201d explains Burrell.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t necessarily clear on paper that it would be such a successful format, but as soon as it went to air, it seemed to become evident that it would be a very strong format,\u201d she adds. Indeed, season one rated as the highest-ever new program launch for MTV UK, and season nine is set to premiere on August 15 at 10 p.m.<\/p>\n

Sweden was the first country to adapt Ex on the Beach<\/em>, in 2015, through a format license to Discovery. \u201cThe format was perfect for the Swedish audience,\u201d Burrell notes. \u201cThe Nordic territories are quite similar to U.K. audiences; they love reality shows and they embrace a lot of the same types of formats that the U.K. does. It was a natural fit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe sold the Swedish version into Norway as a finished tape, then on the back of the success with that version, the Norwegian broadcaster decided to commission the format to do their own,\u201d she says. \u201cThe Russian series has also been sold to the Baltics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since airing in Sweden, Ex on the Beach<\/em> \u201creally has gone quite wide,\u201d Burrell says. \u201cIt has been a mixture between licensing to other territories and individual MTV channels choosing to adapt the format.\u201d For example, MTV in Holland, Poland, Brazil, Mexico, Italy and the U.S. signed on for local versions of the show, while other broadcasters in countries such as Denmark, Finland, Hungary and France have licensed the format as well.<\/p>\n

For Burrell, the U.S. version, which premiered on MTV earlier this year, is significant because it marks the first time MTV in the U.S. has commissioned a format from another MTV channel. The cast of the U.S. adaptation features singletons who have been on series such as The Challenge<\/em>, Are You the One?<\/em>, and The Bachelor<\/em> and its various spin-offs.<\/p>\n

While casting celebrities is one way to go, the format works equally well with a group of everyday singles. Burrell notes that partners are encouraged to cast either celebrities or civilians, depending on what works best for their audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cEx on the Beach<\/em> does require an intensive casting process because you\u2019ve got to have time to research the past relationships,\u201d she cautions. \u201cCasting is an area for which we work very closely with the different local teams to get it right. We\u2019ve become experts in doing it, of course, because we have so many seasons in the U.K., and there are often overlapping exes and relationships among the cast members. That\u2019s what you want because it helps create the drama; the more you realize that they\u2019ve got overlapping romantic histories, the more drama it creates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other changes that some territories have opted for involve the tone of the program. \u201cIn the French version, the emphasis has changed to be less on confrontation,\u201d she explains. \u201cThat was partly because the format was being adapted for an access-prime-time slot. The original version fits in prime on MTV, so in the case of the French adaptation, we had to allow those elements to be toned down for that access-prime slot, but that just shows how flexible the format is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, not only does Ex on the Beach<\/em> work in different time slots but it also works in varying structures. \u201cWe\u2019ve had weekly versions, we\u2019ve had a daily strip, we\u2019ve had everything in between.\u201d And although there is not a production hub, Burrell says the format is still affordable and scalable. \u201cWe do have quite a few examples where we\u2019ve done productions back-to-back using the same villa or the same location. Particularly for MTV channels, that\u2019s been a great way to get more localized versions.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the format has been remade in different countries, there are some aspects that remain the same in every version, including \u201cthe Tablet of Terror, as it is called,\u201d Burrell says. Ex on the Beach<\/em> is one of the \u201cfirst formats to utilize iPhone or iPad technology as a substitute for a host. It drives the narrative, and the Tablet of Terror features on all of the versions.\u201d The Tablet of Terror doles out tasks such as daring the participants to send out raunchy tweets and asking them to answer intimate questions. There is also a narrator or voiceover in all of the versions, which is encouraged to be tongue-in-cheek.<\/p>\n

\u201cEx on the Beach<\/em> is an example of a format that only MTV would take the risk to commission in the first place,\u201d Burrell says. \u201cWe have a history of risk-taking and that makes it stand out in a crowd.\u201d<\/p>\n

New versions of Ex on the Beach<\/em> are launching later this year in Denmark, Norway and Italy, and Burrell is enthusiastic about the future of the franchise. \u201cWe\u2019re looking to expand the reach of the format wherever possible.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Laura Burrell, the global head of formats at VIMN, talks about the dating and relationship show.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":477,"featured_media":6397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,69],"tags":[624,1076,204,802],"class_list":["post-6396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-profiles","category-top-stories","tag-ex-on-the-beach","tag-laura-burrell","tag-viacom-international-media-networks","tag-vimn","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nCase Study of Ex on the Beach - 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\/case-study-of-ex-on-the-beach\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Case Study of Ex on the Beach - TVFORMATS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Laura Burrell, the global head of formats at VIMN, talks about the dating and relationship show.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/case-study-of-ex-on-the-beach\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVFORMATS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-08-06T13:06:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-08-07T21:21:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2017\/07\/Ex-on-the-Beach-UK-Version.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sara Alessi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sara Alessi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/case-study-of-ex-on-the-beach\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/case-study-of-ex-on-the-beach\/\",\"name\":\"Case Study of Ex on the Beach - TVFORMATS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-08-06T13:06:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-08-07T21:21:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/#\/schema\/person\/3a30a856ec6d9cc2372bf054d26a0418\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/case-study-of-ex-on-the-beach\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/case-study-of-ex-on-the-beach\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/case-study-of-ex-on-the-beach\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Case Study of Ex on the Beach\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/\",\"name\":\"TVFORMATS\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/#\/schema\/person\/3a30a856ec6d9cc2372bf054d26a0418\",\"name\":\"Sara Alessi\",\"description\":\"Sara Alessi is the associate editor of World Screen. She can be reached at salessi@worldscreen.com.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/author\/salessiworldscreen-com\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Case Study of Ex on the Beach - TVFORMATS","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/case-study-of-ex-on-the-beach\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Case Study of Ex on the Beach - TVFORMATS","og_description":"Laura Burrell, the global head of formats at VIMN, talks about the dating and relationship show.","og_url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/case-study-of-ex-on-the-beach\/","og_site_name":"TVFORMATS","article_published_time":"2018-08-06T13:06:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-08-07T21:21:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2017\/07\/Ex-on-the-Beach-UK-Version.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Sara Alessi","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sara Alessi","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/case-study-of-ex-on-the-beach\/","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/case-study-of-ex-on-the-beach\/","name":"Case Study of Ex on the Beach - TVFORMATS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-08-06T13:06:48+00:00","dateModified":"2018-08-07T21:21:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/#\/schema\/person\/3a30a856ec6d9cc2372bf054d26a0418"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/case-study-of-ex-on-the-beach\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/case-study-of-ex-on-the-beach\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/case-study-of-ex-on-the-beach\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Case Study of Ex on the Beach"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/#website","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/","name":"TVFORMATS","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/#\/schema\/person\/3a30a856ec6d9cc2372bf054d26a0418","name":"Sara Alessi","description":"Sara Alessi is the associate editor of World Screen. She can be reached at salessi@worldscreen.com.","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/author\/salessiworldscreen-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/477"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}