Lineup Industries has signed a pioneering deal with Mediacrest to produce 60 episodes of NHK’s co-viewing comedy format Chiko’s Challenge for Spanish public broadcaster TVE, where it will air daily. The sale marks the first time one of NHK’s entertainment formats has been adapted internationally. “We are tremendously excited to see Chiko, who is beloved by viewers of all ages in Japan, will be travelling outside her home country and be transformed into Mapi in Spain," Koji Matsumoto, President and CEO of NHK Enterprises, said. "This is NHK’s first entertainment format to be localized overseas and we are very grateful to Lineup Industries, Media Crest and TVE for partnering with us to make this happen. We look forward to developing the program with them, and sincerely hope that Mapi will become a household name in Spain just like Chiko at home.”
The deal for Chiko’s Challenge with TVE follows a distribution agreement between Lineup Industries and NHK Enterprises to help expand the global reach of NHK’s slate of formats. NHK/NHK Enterprises and Lineup Industries originally began collaborating with the hugely successful Japanese adaptation of "Radio Gaga," a uniquely touching format which follows a hyper-local, intimate radio station and is now in its third season on NHK.
“Chiko’s Challenge or Mapi, as we will call it in Spain, is a format that is aimed at a wide and varied audience. RTVE has decided to bet on this humour contest for being visually and technologically innovative in which the protagonist is a girl whose image is created by CGI. RTVE is committed to introducing new formats and in this case, we are very pleased to share this experience created and tested by Japanese public TV NHK," TVE Head of Originals Ana María Bordas said.
"Chiko’s Challenge," also known as "Mapi" in Spain, challenges celebrities with child-like questions which are often surprisingly difficult to answer. The quizmaster is an “eternal 5-year-old” character named Chiko. She is half CGI, half live actor, voiced by a famous comedian. It currently serves as one of the biggest studio entertainment shows in Japan with 162 episodes aired since its launch in 2018.“Chiko’s Challenge is a family quiz show but it’s totally unique," Ed Louwerse, Founder of Lineup Industries, said. "With the increasing demand for lighter entertainment and a continuing move towards co-viewing, this show provides fun and entertainment for the whole family.”