RELEVANCE
It is true that one of the strengths of formats is that they are usually quite simple (not banal): simple for the viewer to consume, relatively simple to create and produce, at least compared to fiction.
What's more, formats are both efficient and effective, flexible (episodes can be added or removed with relative ease and speed, depending on how things are going) and ‘scalable’ (from a concept, it's often possible to produce a big primetime show for a major national - or international - broadcaster, or cheap content for a small AVoD). So it is easy to see why they are a kind of ‘safe haven asset’ in these complicated times.
On the other hand, at least some of them have to be relevant, i.e. they have to have a truly original twist, capable of leaving a mark and being noticed. And therein lies the problem: this season there have been very few original formats (or at least formats that are in any way noteworthy). I can only name two, maybe three. All the others - let's face it - were just (small) 'variations on a theme' of things that had been seen hundreds (if not thousands) of times before.
In short, more courage is needed, both on the part of the production companies and content creators who also have to face greater challenges and more ambitious projects, and above all on the part of the broadcasters who have to air them. Otherwise there is a risk that formats will be seen only as a ‘commodity’, a kind of ‘fungible content’, useful mainly to fill the schedule at a relatively low price.
To discover the other two parameters, go to https://cmmespresso.substack.com/p/rethinking-formats
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