Swiss Blackout
Sometimes, to find fresh and original formats, you have to look in countries that are generally a little off the radar. On Saturday 29 November, RSI — the Italian-language Swiss public television channel — aired Blackout, a fun programme that combines elements of game shows and entertainment.
Three teams of relatives, friends or colleagues battle each other in five rounds involving general knowledge, quick thinking and intuition. Their goal is not to win money or points for now, but percentages of their LED-wall smartphones! At the end of the fourth round, the team with the lowest recharge level enters ‘blackout mode’ and is dramatically eliminated from the game accompanied by an audio/video effect.
In the fifth round, the teams that have not blacked out will compete in a final head-to-head to reach the grand finale. The percentage of recharge achieved up to that point will be converted into cash: each 1% of recharge is equivalent to CHF 100.00 (€100). However, to win the prize, they must guess a mystery character using only three clues. They can acquire more clues, but each one will cost them recharge and money. Will they win the prize pool, or will they also go into blackout?
As mentioned, another interesting aspect of the format is that the games are often entertaining and spectacular. One example is guessing what an artist is drawing as they create their compositions in the sand.
This entertaining mix of genres proved popular with the public, who rewarded it with an excellent 28.8% share (considering that Swiss citizens can also watch television from neighbouring countries).
Axel Fiacco
