MUMBAI: FremantleMedia is all set for this year’s MIPTV with a range of compelling, entertaining and laughter-inducing new formats that are sure to excite audiences around the world.
FremantleMedia director of global entertainment development Rob Clark said, “Our new formats for MIPTV are a real mix of original, fresh and engaging titles. We’re confident that we have something suitable for all broadcasters and are looking forward to the market.”
First from the line-up is The Most Beautiful Woman, an uplifting and inspirational series, which launched on RTL Television in Germany this year and celebrates real beauty. The series invites women of all ages and backgrounds to take part in a national competition designed to recognize the many faces of beauty, and to find the most beautiful women in the country.
Throughout the series, 20 ladies take part in challenges designed to bring out their confidence, self-esteem and inner beauty. The format empowers the women themselves to choose who shines the most with inner beauty as the series heads towards the live final. During the grand finale, the finalists come together in a thrilling celebration of beauty as the audience votes to decide who is The Most Beautiful Woman.
Next, things heat up in the kitchen as professional chefs dare to put their reputations on the line in Chef On The Block. Produced by FremantleMedia in Finland and Denmark, the series sees professional restaurateurs risk their reputations in a bid to be the best. Each episode features three pairs of chefs as they visit each other’s restaurants and score the restaurants’ food, décor and overall service. The restaurants with the highest score across the series meet in the grand finale as the top three battle it out for the top spot. The competition is tense but the tone is humorous as the national champion is named the Chef on the Block.
Moving from food to matters of the heart, FremantleMedia’s next offering is 10 Questions You Wouldn’t Ask On A First Date, the first reality dating quiz show. Filmed on location, each blind date couple can win big money by answering questions correctly about each other. But these questions are the 10 questions you would never ask on a first date. Imagine if your date asks for your salary details, your political persuasion or… your favourite sexual position? And you have to answer! Before the flirty chat up lines can even begin, the interactive screen pings and the game is underway. Honesty is the best policy in this game as each correct answer builds your cash prize.
Two worlds collide in The Trade Off, a brand new format exploring the huge lifestyle contrasts that occur when two professionals from vastly different working environments swap jobs and salaries for two weeks. The series launched on the UK’s BBC 2 earlier this year and was their #1 show for men aged 16-34. In The Trade Off, both workers will have to learn on the job, impress brand-new bosses and deal with a completely different set of customers. During their time away, the two workers are immersed in an unfamiliar community, meet the family and friends of their opposite number, and gain a unique insight into just how different life can be.
Next up is an eye-opening series about man’s best friend. Dogs: Their Secret Lives provides a unique insight into the behaviour of our faithful canine friends. Commissioned by the UK’s Channel 4 from Arrow Media, the format sees a veterinary expert, take on the role of pet detective to tackle the major welfare issues that affect dogs and their owners. Using spy-cam and GoPro technology, the audience will witness the ways in which being home alone can impact on pet dogs. From issues with obesity and aggression, to neurosis – the expert reviews the surveillance and combines their expert advice with enlightening experiments to demonstrate what can be done to help treat and prevent these types of behaviour.
Next up, FremantleMedia will showcase the brand new family friendly game show format Cash or Splash. An amalgamation of the hit Fuji TV formatsClock Hanger, Boxing Glove, and Run Quiz Run, the format sees teams of contestants compete for cash prizes by answering questions and completing hilarious physical challenges in order to avoid being sent for a plunge into an icy pool of water.
To round off the new line-up, FremantleMedia will present Extreme Love, the fresh new dating format from Israel’s Studio Glam. Extreme Love sees romance, survival and heart-break as the show challenges a group of modern-day Prince Charming’s to prove their survival skills in order to win the hand of their princess. The men arrive with nothing but the shirts on their back. They live together in a simple compound with only the basics to get by. Each week, they must compete against nature, with success ensuring better shelter and more food. Their progress is monitored by the maiden who, located in a luxurious villa, will then chose two of the most impressive suitors to accompany her on a date so that she can get to know them better.
The would-be charmers have to face further challenges to whittle down the pack with eliminations taking place each week until only two remain. Only in the finale does she then have to unveil which of the remaining two suitors has stolen her heart and become her Extreme Love.
