{"id":8006,"date":"2021-01-04T09:44:11","date_gmt":"2021-01-04T14:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev2.worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/2020-year-formats\/"},"modified":"2021-01-05T10:28:31","modified_gmt":"2021-01-05T15:28:31","slug":"2020-the-year-in-formats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/2020-the-year-in-formats\/","title":{"rendered":"2020: The Year in Formats"},"content":{"rendered":"

It certainly wasn\u2019t an easy year for the formats business as COVID-19 put numerous productions on hold. Production on Big Brother Canada<\/em>, for example, had to be discontinued in March<\/a>, ITV shifted <\/a>Love Island<\/em><\/a> to 2021<\/a>, and CBS had to pull <\/a>Survivor<\/em><\/a> from its fall schedule<\/a>. But this business, known for its creativity and rapid problem-solving, found ways to thrive. MTV\u2019s Catfish: The TV Show <\/em>was filmed remotely<\/a>. FOX picked up the <\/a>Gogglebox<\/em><\/a> format with a twist<\/a>, launching Celebrity Watch Party<\/em> in May. Game and studio show producers across the globe were able to devise standards to get a slew of formats back into production safely. Even those in the dating and reality space were able to adapt to the times; Lifetime greenlit a new Married at First Sight<\/em> spin-off, Married at First Sight: Couples\u2019 Cam<\/em>, a self-shot series from Kinetic Content<\/a> featuring couples from the show\u2019s last ten seasons.<\/p>\n

That ingenuity has the format business starting 2021 on firmer footing, especially as the delays still plaguing major drama-producing markets have left prime-time slots on broadcasters in dire need of compelling content. Indeed, data from Ampere Analysis in the fall of last year found that Western European commissioners were driving a new boom in format production<\/a>. European format commissioning activity reached a high in July, with 30 unscripted remakes announced. From September 2019 to September 2020, Western European commissioners ordered 194 new shows based on formats.<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s in demand? These days, shows that can be quickly shot with social-distancing measures in place are hot commodities, with producers spending much of last year either retooling existing formats for the COVID-19 age or devising new ones that would fit with current requirements. The pandemic hasn\u2019t changed the long-running trends in the business, namely the continued popularity of game shows<\/a>, dating formats<\/a> and competition series. Korea remains a market to watch as The Masked Singer<\/em> continued its global march (with a new deal in Ukraine<\/a>, sustained ratings and a new U.S. spin-off, The Masked Dancer<\/em><\/a>). Last year also saw the arrival of the U.S. version of <\/a>I Can See Your Voice<\/em><\/a>, while TBS ordered <\/a>Celebrity Show-Off<\/em><\/a>, a talent competition series based on the popular Korean show My Little Television<\/em>.<\/p>\n

With markets canceled, it wasn\u2019t the best year for unveiling new concepts, but several did make waves in 2020, among them Red Arrow Studios International\u2019s Beat the Channel<\/em><\/a> and Fremantle\u2019s Game of Talents<\/em><\/a>. Meanwhile, long-running legacy brands had a banner year, with the likes of Wife Swap<\/em>, Power Couple<\/em>, 10 Years Younger<\/em>, MasterChef <\/em>and many others scoring renewals. TVI inked a deal to bring <\/a>Big Brother<\/em><\/a> back to Portugal after a 14-year hiatus, with the Banijay format also returning to the Netherlands. TBS said it would reimagine <\/a>Wipeout<\/em><\/a> (the future of that reboot is unclear following the death of a contestant in November). Survivor<\/em> was ordered in Mexico. NBC commissioned a new version of the BBC Studios format <\/a>Weakest Link<\/em><\/a> with Jane Lynch as host and executive producer. BBC Studios licensed the Dancing with the Stars<\/em><\/a> format into Mongolia<\/a>, making it the 60th territory to adapt the hit entertainment series. The talent reality show <\/a>Popstars<\/em><\/a>, reimagined for 2021<\/a>, is set to return to TVNZ 2 in partnership with Screentime New Zealand and Warner Music New Zealand. FOX will premiere a new take on the musical game show <\/a>Name That Tune<\/em><\/a>, with Jane Krakowski tapped to host and Randy Jackson on board as bandleader.<\/p>\n

It was also a busy year for the scripted formats business, seemingly everywhere. In Latin America, A+E Networks secured its first scripted format sale in the region with UnREAL<\/em><\/a> in Brazil<\/a>. In the U.S., FOX ordered a pilot for the Argentine series <\/a>La chica que limpia<\/em><\/a> (The Cleaning Lady<\/em>); NBC gave the green light to Someone Out There<\/em>, an adaptation of <\/a>Little Coincidences<\/em><\/a> (<\/a>Peque\u00f1as Coincidencias<\/em><\/a>)<\/a> and put The A Word<\/em><\/a> into development<\/a>; and CBS put a remake of Danni Lowinski<\/em><\/a> into development with Jennie Snyder Urman<\/a>. In Europe, notable deals included The A Word<\/em><\/a> heading to the Netherlands<\/a>, and Elephant adapting <\/a>Marcella<\/em><\/a> for TF1. Asia was particularly fertile ground, as the Filipino version of Descendants of the Sun<\/em><\/a> premiered on GMA<\/a>, ANTV signed up for an Indonesian version of <\/a>Ruby Ring<\/em><\/a>, BBC Studios and Tokai Television Broadcasting Co. inked a format deal for the psychological drama miniseries <\/a>Thirteen<\/em><\/a>, JTBC opted for a local edition of <\/a>Undercover<\/em><\/a>, and Netflix announced a Korean adaptation of <\/a>La Casa de Papel<\/em><\/a> (<\/a>Money Heist<\/em><\/a>)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the frenetic pace of M&A activity seen in the formats business in years past was notably absent in 2020. Banijay finally closed its takeover of Endemol Shine Group<\/a>. Elsewhere, Fremantle bought 100 percent of Naked Television<\/a> and appointed founder Simon Andreae as CEO for its U.K. business; Simon Cowell acquired Sony Music Entertainment\u2019s stake in their global joint-venture talent and production company<\/a>, which owns the Got Talent<\/em> and The X Factor<\/em> formats; and Plimsoll Productions acquired Andrea Jackson\u2019s distribution outfit Magnify Media<\/a>, after having taken a minority stake in the company in 2016.<\/p>\n

Keep up with all the developments in the formats business by subscribing to\u00a0TV Formats Weekly<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0TV Formats Breaking News<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and TV Real Daily<\/em><\/a> and by visiting\u00a0TVFormats.ws<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

World Screen Newsflash looks back at the major trends in formats in 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":8007,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-profiles","category-top-stories","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\n2020: The Year in Formats - 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\/2020-the-year-in-formats\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2020: The Year in Formats - TVFORMATS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"World Screen Newsflash looks back at the major trends in formats in 2020.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/2020-the-year-in-formats\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVFORMATS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-01-04T14:44:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-01-05T15:28:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2017\/07\/2021-01-04-2020-year-in-review.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"319\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mansha Daswani\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mansha Daswani\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/2020-the-year-in-formats\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/2020-the-year-in-formats\/\",\"name\":\"2020: The Year in Formats - TVFORMATS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-04T14:44:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-05T15:28:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/2020-the-year-in-formats\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/2020-the-year-in-formats\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/2020-the-year-in-formats\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"2020: The Year in Formats\"}]},{\"@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\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\",\"name\":\"Mansha Daswani\",\"description\":\"Mansha Daswani is the editor-in-chief and associate publisher of World Screen. 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