Vanhalen 0 Report post Posted May 19, 2004 British television producers and formats look set for their most successful year ever for US network business, with five UK shows expected to receive series commissions - collectively worth at least £20m - from American TV executives by the end of this week. The good news for the UK TV industry is emerging at the "upfronts", the series of presentations in New York at which the six US terrestrial networks - NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, WB and UPN - are unveiling their new autumn programming line-ups to advertisers. ABC yesterday ordered 20 hours of the US version of hit Channel 4 reality show Wife Swap from UK independent producer RDF Media - a commission that alone is worth £7.5m. The same network also announced plans to broadcast another UK reality format, The Benefactor, from independent producer 12 Yards, for four months on Monday nights from September. Other US versions of British shows include sitcom The Office, which has been commissioned for a six-part series by NBC despite poor test screenings for the pilot. CBS, which is due to present its schedule to advertisers today, will announce a six-part series commission for a US version of BBC hidden camera entertainment show The Sack Race. And tomorrow Fox is expected to confirm a series order for a new Kelsey Grammer comedy, based on The Sketch Show, the ITV1 format co-produced by Avalon and Steve Coogan's company, Baby Cow. Developing shows for the US networks is a high stakes gamble, with dozens of formats piloted every year and only a tiny proportion actually reaching the screen. But in the ferociously competitive US TV market, the hazards do not end with a full commission - many more shows that do not make the grade ratings-wise are axed after just a few episodes. British shows that have suffered this fate in recent years include US versions of Cracker, Cold Feet, Men Behaving Badly and most recently Coupling. So ABC has shown a lot of faith in RDF Media's Wife Swap by commissioning 20 episodes of the 60-minute show. US networks usually place an initial order of only six to eight editions of a new series, extending the run to between 13 and 24 instalments once a programme has proved it has ratings potential. ABC will not change the name of Wife Swap, as had been rumoured, because of fears that the programme title had risque connotations. The US version of the hit Channel 4 programme has secured a plum 10pm Wednesday night slot this autumn on ABC, following on from the network's biggest ratings hit, reality show The Bachelor. Another UK independent producer, 12 Yards, will be making The Benefactor, which will go out on Monday nights on ABC between 8pm and 9pm, before the network's weekly live American football coverage. The Benefactor is a reality show in which 16 contestants must compete to convince billionaire businessman Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, that they should be the recipients of the programme's $1m prize. David Young, the former BBC head of light entertainment and 12 Yards founder, will be one of the executive producers of The Benefactor. BBC2 show The Sack Race will become Fire Me... Please! and be extended from a 30- to a 60-minute format for its US reincarnation on CBS and may also introduce a studio host. The hidden camera format requires contestants to attempt to get the sack from a new job in the shortest time possible in order to win a prize. CBS has ordered six episodes of Fire Me... Please!, which has no specific transmission date but could be slotted into the network's schedule as a mid-season replacement show this autumn. Sack Race is a BBC entertainment department format devised by Hugh Ryecroft, with the US version being co-produced with American independent producer LMNO. The CBS deal was brokered by Colin Jarvis, BBC Worldwide's director of programming and operations. Mr Jarvis will be an executive producer on Fire Me... Please!, along with BBC Worldwide colleague Robin Meltzer. Fox is expected to order six episodes of The Kelsey Grammer Sketch Show, which is based on UK format The Sketch Show. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mole 0 Report post Posted May 19, 2004 So we're stealing reality shows from the UK now? Great... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
razazteca 0 Report post Posted May 19, 2004 As if we did not have enough reality tv shows as it is. So we're stealing reality shows from the UK now? I believe Survivor and Big Brother were from UK orginally. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2GOLD 0 Report post Posted May 19, 2004 Yeah, the US stole Survivor and Big Brother and made them both suck. Now they want to steal MORE British tv shows only make them more American. Terrific! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mik 0 Report post Posted May 19, 2004 Yeah, the US stole Survivor and Big Brother and made them both suck. Now they want to steal MORE British tv shows only make them more American. Terrific! Let's not forget that American Idol was stolen from the Uk as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vanhalen 0 Report post Posted May 19, 2004 Who wants to be A millionaire, Weakest Link....... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2GOLD 0 Report post Posted May 19, 2004 Looking at the names of all these shows...I'm beginning to dislike the British for making them. And I thought Millionaire was an Aussie show? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dubq 0 Report post Posted May 19, 2004 So we're stealing reality shows from the UK now? Great... Always have been. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
