BELGIUM’S VTM ACQUIRES RIGHTS TO TALPA’S “MARBLE MANIA”

After Germany, the marble racing show “Marble Mania” is now also about to roll into Belgium. Only three weeks after its initial launch on SBS6 in the Netherlands, John de Mol’s Talpa closed a deal with VTM for a local production of the successful format. In detail, six episodes will be produced by Talpa Entertainment Productions in co-operation with Dok1.

After three episodes, the fun family show continues to score great ratings. Last week, the show again scored way above average with market shares of 18,6% in the 18-44 target group and 18,2% in 25-54. After three days of playback, the viewership grew from 1,2 million absolute viewers to 1,6 million.

“We are very happy with this collaboration, since we strongly believe in this concept. ‘Marble Mania’ is an exciting and spectacular show for the whole family, and that's exactly what we at VTM continue to focus on. We are therefore very excited to release this marble sensation now also in Flanders,”  said Maarten Janssen, Channel Manager at VTM.

On each self-contained episode of this marble spectacle, three celebrities take each other on. Each round starts with a skill assignment, such as bowling, mini golf or a special version of penalty shooting. The three celebrities need to prove their skills in order to win the most marbles to start the second game of the round: the game of luck. This marble race is all about speed, gravity and luck. The celebrity whose marble crosses the finish line first, earns the most points. After three rounds, the celebrity at the top of the ranking will get the most marbles to start in the finale, in which the celebrities can win money for a charity of their choice.