Banijay Benelux recently signed deals for the two new formats, premium competition's format from the Netherlands, "Blow Up," from EndemolShine Netherlands and reality thriller “Hunted into the wild," by SimpelZodiak, due for a new spin-off.
Showcasing a display of balloon artists, "Blow up," dives into the world of balloon art. The competition original format, produced for Dutch broadcaster RTL 4, contestants must create unique balloon artworks, with only one artist declared the winner in the end. “Blow Up is a brilliant addition to our ever-growing portfolio of innovative competition formats tapping into unique creative communities,” James Townley, Global Head of Content Development said. “It’s exciting to further grow our expertise from MasterChef and LEGO Masters, delivering high-end fun to primetime audiences, and we expect this show will inflate interest with broadcasters.”
"Blow Up" is simultaneously added to Banijay's slate of collaboration projects along with "Hunted Into The Wild." Already producing both the civilian and celebrity versions, SimpelZodiak will now bring Hunted into the wild to NPO 3. The reality thriller format, produced by Dutch label, SimpelZodiak, has now been commissioned in 11 countries. Currently on-air in the Netherlands with its latest VIP series, it continues garnering positive ratings in the region, with its sixth season achieving the best ratings to date.
The show was so successful in Australia that Endemol Shine Australia has committed to producing an adaptation for Channel 10. The format's first season also became successful in Belgium, where it was the first season being the most-watched weekly show on Play4 that season. In the UK the format continues to rise in popularity, with the most recent series more than doubling the slot for younger viewers. In total, the number of series which aired was double that of 2020 including Italian, French and German versions for Amazon Prime Video.
“Hunted is factual entertainment at its best,” Lucas Green, Head of Content Operations of Banijay, said. “This new spin-off highlights the expanding potential for Hunted’s thrilling social experiment, as anonymity becomes increasingly harder in modern life. SimpelZodiak always produces high-quality programming, and we are sure this new series in the ‘escape genre’ will be no different. Having already established such a strong following for this format in the Netherlands, we know they are a safe pair of hands to further develop this new chapter of Hunted.”
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