THE LATIN WAVE OF UNSCRIPTED
Formats from Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela and more...
Spain will be the Country of Honor in the upcoming 40th edition of MipCom, to be held on October 21-24 in Cannes. It is a good opportunity to do an issue entirely dedicated to recently launched Latin formats, some of which are original, which is always great news.
THREE LATIN GAME SHOWS
On Sunday 9th June, Cash, el Peso del Dinero VIP (‘Cash, the Weight of Money VIP’) premiered in prime time on Las Estrellas, one of the main channels of the Mexican-American TelevisaUnivision, produced by The Mediapro Studio and based on an original format by Grup Mediapro, S.L.U and Phileas Production.
Presented by Héctor Sandarti (who hosted the Spanish version of Deal or No Deal), the game pits two teams of four celebrities, led by two captains, against each other to fulfil a family's dream by answering questions on showbiz, geography, sport and culture.
The competition consists of three phases. In the first phase, teams will face three rounds of questions, giving them the chance to increase their prize money. The second phase is an elimination duel to determine which team will go through to the final. In the final stage, the finalist team will face a round of 5 questions. If they can answer them correctly, they will win a substantial cash prize to be donated to a family.
There are five large safes on the stage, which are the symbols of the show. In each battle, the celebrities will have to be very careful as any mistake in their answer will cause them to be 'crushed' by these boxes and sent into 'Limbo'. Celebrities who reach ‘Limbo’ will not be able to take part in the following stages, but they will be able to cheer on their team-mates or annoy the members of the opposing team.
The second are actually two: 100 Argentinos Dicen ('100 Argentinians Say'), which returned for its 7th edition on Monday 10 June on Argentina's free-to-air Channel 13 (known as El Trece, stylised as eltrece), and 100 Mexicanos Dijieron on Tv Azteca (launch date to be confirmed). Both are local adaptations of the 'ultra-classic' US quiz show Family Feud (1976). The concept, of course, is the familiar one: two teams of four, led by a celebrity, compete to guess the most popular answers to questions based on surveys of 100 Argentines/Mexicans, with just a few novelties such as a new set design.
The third game is also an adaptation, but of a much more recent format. Launched last November, Satisfaction Iberia - the Spanish arm of the independent French prodco Satisfaction Group - has adapted the Dutch game show The Connection (2022) for Spanish public broadcaster La1 (RTVE) under the title La Conexión.
The premise of the show is that the answers from all the rounds are connected and lead to a single answer, the 'final connection', which is revealed in the final round. However, the show is particularly notable for combining some physical elements with Augmented Reality, in a scenographic set that also plays an active role in the show's development (the answers to the various questions are also generated with AR).
BRAZILIAN MUSICAL REALITY
Changing genre, 13 August will premiere on the Brazilian free-to-air Globo its new musical reality show, Estrela da Casa (‘Star Of the House’), the broadcaster's main bet for the second half of the year. The final will be on 1 October, 50 days later.
Each contestant - young artists in search of fame - must carefully select songs from their own repertoire to present to the public and the judges. The contestants will have to strategise the release of their music singles and plan their own careers, all the while exposing their vulnerabilities and facing various social challenges in pursuit of their dream.
Interactivity is one of the pillars of Estrela da Casa: it allows the public to actively participate in the destiny of the contestants, not only by voting, but also by supporting their favourite artists by streaming their music. Globo's idea is that the public will choose a new artist not only on the basis of their vocal talent, but also by getting to know their personality, their courage, their fears and insecurities, their mistakes and their successes. The longer they stay in the game, the more visibility their work will get on the country's biggest channel.
VENEZUELAN SARCASM
And finally a classical comedy/satirical talk show. Cisneros Media, the US-based entertainment company that broadcasts Spanish-language television worldwide, has begun production of the talk show Sarcástico ('Sarcastic'), hosted by Venezuelan actor and stand-up comedian Daniel Sarcos and produced by Alton River in Miami. The show will premiere on various Cisneros Media platforms: in Venezuela on Venevision and Venevision Play, and worldwide on VePlus, a subscription channel.
Throughout the 2 series of 13 episodes each, the topics will be developed with the participation of guests and experts who will share their perspectives. From debates on healthy living versus happiness to discussions on virtual infidelity, Sarcástico tackles everyday and controversial issues with a touch of wit and - of course - sarcasm.
NEWS IN A NUTSHELL
Independent distributor All3Media International has named Croatia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic as its latest territories to distribute the global format hit The Traitors.
Prime Video in Germany has commissioned a second series of the competition show The Fifty, produced locally by EndemolShine Germany and Rainer Laux Productions. The second series of the original French format returned last year on W9 and outperformed the first season in almost all demos
The new edition of MasterChef Celebrity will premiere on 18 June on Colombia's free-to-air TV channel RCN (Radio Cadena Nacional)
A second season of the celebrity-led cooking travelogue format The Backpacker Chef has premiered on CJ ENM’s tvN. The show follows a star chef and three celebrities as they cater to clients in extreme locations, including secluded temples, ships at sea and maximum-security prisons
Forbidden Love, produced by Sharp Entertainment, part of Sony Pictures Television - Nonfiction, will premiere on 21 July on TLC (Warner Bros. Discovery's cable television network). The new series will follow four deeply in love couples as they come to terms with the one major hurdle that complicates their relationships - religion
Talpa Studios has announced the recommissioning of its survival show, Million Dollar Island, for new seasons in the Middle East and the Netherlands. The upcoming seasons, titled Million Dollar Land for MBC in the Middle East and Million Dollar Desert for NET5 in the Netherlands, will be produced at the innovative production hub in NEOM, Saudi Arabia, in collaboration with Blue Engine Studios
Finally, two pieces of bad news for those working in the TV sector. On Friday 7 June, Digital TV Europe (DTVE), which was launched just over 40 years ago, and Television Business International (TBI), which has been published for over 35 years, closed and ceased publishing new content. This is very sad news and all of us working in the industry are the poorer for it. Friday's Espresso stands in solidarity with the colleagues and journalists of both prestigious magazines.
