A PUSH AND AN INPUT

Paris Unscripted Showcase & INPUT Bilbao event + 2 game shows

THE FIRST ‘PUSH’

The inaugural Paris Unscripted Showcase - PUSH - took place at the Sofitel Arc de Triomphe in Paris from 28-30 April 2025. Former ITV commissioning editor Asif Zubairy reports (photos by author):

“I love Paris in the Springtime” goes the Cole Porter song and how right he was: the elegance… the romance…the er, TV conventions ? Yes, the inaugural Paris Unscripted Showcase (or PUSH to its friends) - the first solely devoted to unscripted formats - finished last week. A three-day get-together with a distinctly European feel where distributors presented their latest or greatest formats to more than 120 buyers from 15 different territories.

Rumour was that buyers were unhappy about attending a formats sales meet so soon after London in February and sure Sony, Fremantle, Mediawan and Keshet had a presence - some of whom had held back formats they hadn’t shown in London - but the event attracted smaller distributors - many of whom hadn’t attended MIP London - and buyers - possibly attracted by the invitation-only requirement rather than hefty attendance fee. So both parties came hoping they’d have the next air fryer/Dubai chocolate equivalent of a TV format hit.

Very few formats at Paris were only on paper or, in the case of France TV’s studio-based word game Lettrix format by AI-produced sizzle reel [see last FE]. Most of the formats shown at Paris are already on-air somewhere but just as a Bollywood star, mobbed by fans in their own country, can walk down a London Street unrecognised, they’re largely unknown outside their own market. So if you recognise and/or already love any of the following, please forgive me but these are some of the formats I liked and didn’t know.

Belgian distributor Primitives presented Wildlife - a 6 x 45’ factual series that launched on Belgium’s VRT1 in March and which follows a group of young people with mental health issues as they volunteer at a wildlife sanctuary in Thailand. They learn about the animals and through them - and with the help of a therapist - about themselves. No White Lotus in sight.

Trailer here.

Finnish distributor Rabbit Films presented a nice take on the ‘hunted’ genre with Ultimate Escape. The format first appeared on Discovery+ / TV5 in Finland and now has been tweaked and made for Channel 7 in Australia. Two people (father and daughter, brother and sister, husband and wife - you get the picture) are separated by mountainous, difficult-to-navigate terrain and have 24 hours to find a way to get back together.

Trailere here.

Finally, a format that stood out for me was Keshet’s studio-based quiz show Domination where contestants have to answer more questions correctly than the nation when it’s subdivided into inventive groupings: teachers, red-heads, vegans, fitness instructors etc [see last FE].

Trailer here.

I’m pretty much over celebrities doing things like going on road trips, giving advice on how to remove household stains or opening restaurants - I understand the audience they bring increases the likelihood of a show’s success - but I haven’t included any of those that I saw in Paris because I feel like star-power often gets substituted for creative originality.

As producers from Korea, Japan and Thailand have more than demonstrated, formats no longer only come from places like the UK and the Netherlands. The next Who Wants To Be a Millionaire could already be airing in Romania, Türkiye or Czechia but if no-one knows about them what will happen to them?

Hopefully distributors will bring those shows to the next PUSH because, based on the feedback of delegates - both buyers and sellers - I feel certain the event will be repeated (there - that’s jinxed it now!) because it was a chance for sellers who often get squeezed out of the larger more established markets to meet buyers they wouldn’t normally meet.

On the whole, successful formats are hopeful, curious, sometimes humorous and warm-hearted so not surprisingly, the overall mood by the end of the event was positive and upbeat - a welcome contrast to the the tough times the television industry’s been going through the last few years.

While High End scripted TV with its lavish costumes and sets and starry casts continues to do well, broadcasters have to fill their schedules and PUSH was a good reminder that unscripted TV formats will always be the workhorse of the industry.

Asif Zubairy's highly recommended newsletter: asifzubairy.substack.com/

1 UK + 1 US GAME SHOWS

In the last issue we looked at four game shows presented at the first PUSH in Paris. Now we look at two more (a brand new British game and an American reboot), proving once again that the genre is something of a 'safe haven' for formats in these uncertain times: game shows are relatively inexpensive and, when they work, they guarantee high viewer loyalty.

The first one is Celebrity Puzzling, commissioned by Channel 5, and produced by ITV Studios’ Potato and Wheelhouse.

Celebrity Puzzling is a weekly quiz hosted by Jeremy Vine with team captains, actress Sally Lindsay and Carol Vorderman, who each week welcome a new celebrity guest to their respective teams. Together, they tackle a range of puzzles – testing logic, lateral thinking, problem-solving, visual intelligence and memory - to solve various mind boggling challenges “all vying for the ultimate prize: bragging rights as the best puzzle-solvers in showbiz.”

(Ok, it's going to be fun. But where's the twist?)

The second is a reboot of the ultra-classic Match Game, premiering this summer on US network ABC, produced by FremantleMedia North America and hosted by actor and comedian Martin Short.

Match Game is an American television panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the past six decades. Beginning with its CBS run in 1973, the show became a huge success, with an expanded panel, larger cash payouts, and an emphasis on humour; questions are often framed as humorous double entendres. ABC's most recent iteration ran from 2016 to 2021, with Alec Baldwin as host and executive producer.

The game features contestants competing for the chance to win US$25,000 as they try to match the answers of six celebrities in a game of fill-in-the-blank. For those who are nostalgic for old television (I am ;) here is the first episode of the new series on CBS in 1973.

AN INPUT FOR THE PUBLIC CHANNELS

But it wasn't just the PUSH during this period: from 3 to 7 May, the 47th edition of INPUT took place. INPUT is an annual conference of public media professionals and creators who gather to screen programmes from around the world and to discuss opportunities, challenges and innovations of storytelling in the public service environment. What makes INPUT unique in the media landscape is that it is not a festival, market or competition and has no commercial interest.

This event has been travelling the world since 1977 (the first edition was held in Bellagio) and this year was hosted by the EITB, the Basque Public Broadcasting Corporation, in Bilbao.

The event is a mix of programme presentations from around the world, selected for their high interest to public broadcasters (this year 158 productions were submitted and 72 were selected, grouped into 22 sessions), 'special keynote' sessions on topics related to innovation (this year, as expected, AI played a leading role: in addition to the session on AI formats by the author of this newsletter, 'The Grey Zone of AI in Public Service Media - Where do we draw the line when exploring AI? by Kåre V. Poulsen), and other various specialist panels.

The overall impression is that public service still has a fundamental role to play, even – and perhaps especially – in the new global media landscape. Among other things, it plays a crucial role as a guarantor in an information system where it is increasingly difficult to distinguish between accurate and biased information.

“The annual INPUT conference is addressing the most urgent challenges that lie ahead for public media. In a mix of innovative content and special sessions participants have a chance to learn about the latest developments and exchange with international colleagues” said Stefano Semeria, member of the Board of INPUT.

See you next year, in another part of the world!

Photos by Josetxu Palenzuela

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NEWS IN A NUTSHELL

• RTVE is preparing a Spanish adaptation of The Dog House, an international format from All3Media International that highlights dog adoption and will soon be available on public television, produced in collaboration with BOXFISH.

• Play That Song Again, a 'nostalgia music show', premiered on Saturday 3 May 2025 on RTL 4: Dutch artists have to re-enact a music video from the 1980s.

• NBCUniversal-owned cabler Bravo has ordered four new unscripted series for the upcoming year: The Real Housewives of Rhode Island — the 11th entry in the franchise, the revamp of the reality series Ladies of London, which originally ran on the network from 2014 to 2017, The Valley: Persian Style (w/t), which will feature a trio of women who share an unbreakable bond built on years of friendship and rivalry, as well as a deep connection to their Persian culture, and Wife Swap: The Real Housewives Edition, which will show viewers what happens when a "Real Housewife" steps into the shoes of an actual real housewife.

• MasterChef is set to return to Pakistan (after more than a decade) after Karachi-based Pixel Entertainment agreed a deal with Banijay Rights to produce a new local version of the hit cooking show, with the channel to be announced in the coming months.

  

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