The Second Coming of Formats

Until recently, any discussion about the market for formats – the blueprints for how to make a show rather than the completed program itself – referred specifically to the market for game shows. Spinning the wheel and giving the final answer are concepts that most easily lend themselves to local adaptation, or so international broadcasters appeared to believe. But while the likes of Wheel of Fortune and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire have dominated the scene for many years, they are no longer the only programs proving effective as formats.

Trish Kinane, joint managing director for London-based producer/distributor Action Time, says her company originally focused on traditional entertainment programs – quiz and game shows. “Then it became apparent that there is a whole area of lifestyle, cookery, gardening and decorating shows that are also format-able,” she explains. (Surprise Chef, The Mole and The Caterers are a few of Action Time’s formats.) Peter Van den bussche, director of sales for Endemol Entertainment UK/Gem (the London-based distribution arm of Dutch prodco Endemol), agrees. “All of a sudden there are broadcasters saying this is a great idea.”

Encouraged by massive reality/voyeur hits such as 1900 House, Big Brother and Survivor, broadcasters are waking up to the opportunities offered by a broader spectrum of factual formats. For example, Curt Sharp, NBC’s VP of primetime, alternative programs and specials says, “The doors are really open at NBC for factual-based programming, both as continuing series and shows that have the possibility of making good specials for us as well.”

Certainly the financial advantages of factual programs have not been overlooked. “Compared with the costs of ER or Friends,” says producer Alex Graham of London-based Wall to Wall Productions, “even a well-budgeted factual show for the networks is a lot less. There’s an economic logic driving this.”

The other important facet of formats for broadcasters is the opportunity to pump up local content. Notes Van den bussche, “Five years ago, most European broadcasters realized that to be successful they needed local programming, but when you start from scratch, developing local programming can be quite expensive. So, often the route they opted for, particularly the commercial broadcasters, was buying into formats.”

From an independent producer’s standpoint, the sale of formats can be an additional bargaining chip when pitching. Says Rob Weller, executive producer of California’s Weller/Grossman Productions, “Last year we were thinking ‘what’s the internet component that goes with my little show?’ Now if I pitch a show idea, I need to include the format possibilities that go with it. It’s becoming an important adjunct to any pitch. . . [Formats] are a huge cash cow, that’s why everybody wants them.”

Creation or evolution?