Markets

On Monday, April 17 at 1pm, Virginia Mouseler opened the market with her traditional conference dedicated to trends and formats around the world in the last six months. “The Traitors and FBoy Island are the true trendsetting formats of the season, she said- adding that the presentation is divided in ”three happy family": Traitors & Friends, FBoys & Friends and The Players & Friends.

In the first group there are the reality series: The Traitors with the strategy game show, The Unknown (All3Media), Destination X (Be-Entertainment), Sing To Survive (Studio1), Rise & Fall (All3media), Tempting Fortune (Cineflix), The Summit (Banijay), Walk of Fame (Newen Connect), Divide (Satisfaction Group).

"The strategy of these reality shows last MIPCOM - said Mouseler - was to keep the secret- as no information was delivered about Unknown and Destination X. Confusion is also a big part of Belgium’s Destination X from Be-Entertainment, just co-commissioned why BBC and NBCU, as the participants travel across Europe in a black bus with opaque windows. When it stops, they have to estimate where they are on a map.
In Sing to Survive (U.S./U.K., Studio 1) the singers have to literally sing for their supper, while in Tempting Fortune (U.K., Cineflix), strangers are dropped in a remote wilderness, with the promise of a huge cash prize. They must reach the finish line without spending money, but then they are faced with expensive temptations.
Another All3Media International proposition, U.K.’s Rise & Fall, invites its participants to the tower where they will be divided into two camps: the “Rulers,” powerful and rich, and the “Grafters,” powerless and poor. Through votes, the players may rise and fall using a lift that links these separate worlds.
“It’s a metaphor of our capitalistic society,” observed Mouseler. “There are lots of moral lessons in these adventure game shows.”
In Australia’s The Summit from Banijay Rights, there is only one: Take the money and run, as 14 strangers are equipped with backpacks containing an equal share of $1 million. They must reach the peak of a distant mountain in 14 days to win the cash.
A really funny adventure show is Walk of fame in this new show they don’t do nothing, absolutely nothing. Two teams take care of two in the wilderness to win a money prize.
South Korea is well represented by The Time Hotel - ia special hotel where you pay with time not money. It started streaming in South Korea and sees a group of celebrities checked in a special hotel in which the only currency used is time. They must stay alert and keep the time because they risk the elimination from the game.
The other korean format is CJ ENM’s The Wooing Choir, where shy men team up to impress women with their song and dance skills, while the musical competition The Beatbox, coproduced by Fremantle and Something Special is the third korean show, that will debut next May in the Netherlands. While France’s Divide (Satisfaction Group), invites couples who went through betrayal to watch their unfaithful partner through a mirrored glass door,

In the FBoys & Friends, she included everything about dating and relations. The first title Stranded on Honeymoon Island from Belgium (RedArrow Studios), with couples stranded on a deserted island following their wedding (“It’s a mix of ‘Survivor’ and ‘Married at First Sight’”), "in which a group of singles takes part at a speed-dating with experts. The next time they meet is for the wedding and then they are stranded in a desert island. Abandoned for three weeks, they must think to themselves with a box of selected items. No run when the rain get tough and experience push them apart. After thre weeks together, they are separated before making a crucial decision: stay together of leave".
I Kissed a Boy - this is not the first time we saw this concept - said Mouseler- as ten years ago we presented First Kiss, but this time the show is focused on gay's world.
Ten single met and kiss before knowing each other. Cupid is the host. At the end they are joined by friend and family for the final kiss.
Then she mentioned Love of DILF, in which "the selling point of the format is the host Stormy Daniels (Donald Trump's scandal); NBC dating show Queen Court; Banijay's Love is Highway, and Keshet's guessing show I Do But Whit Who? in which viewers trying to figure out which contestants ended up married.


The last group The Players & Friends include the project from Glow Media, The Golden Egg, Breaking Poing (BBC Studios), Can You Keep the Money (Phileas Productions), in which blindfolded audience has to guess whether it’s the actual star performing in front of them, or its impersonator. French Canada’s Zenith (KO Distribution) focuses on the generation gap, with artists trying to “win hearts of the viewers of all ages.

Still, a new trend has emerged in the U.K.’s the successfull show broadcast by Channel 4, The Piano (Fremantle), where amateur musicians play pianos in public spaces. They are convinced they are filming a documentary, but pop star Mika and Chinese pianist Lang Lang are secretly watching. In The Pianist (Netherlands, Banijay) celebrities learn how to play and then compete with each other.

Another big trend – she said – is the business trend of IP from P to P format adaptations from Platform to Platform: HBO Max, Prime Video, Paramount + are the main players. Format travel by the same platform in different countries.

Over the last six months, Germany, Poland, India, Finland and U.S. have emerged as top importing countries. Top exporting countries: U.S., U.K., Netherlands, France and South Korea. Banijay Rights, Fremantle, All3Media International, Paramount Global Content, WBITVP, ITV Studios lead the way as format distributors.