Television
March 27, 2012
Warner Bros. International Television Production to Push TV Asahi’s Entertainment Format “Everything’s A Race” at MIP-TV 2012
(March 27, 2012 – Cannes, France) – The format rights for “Everything’s A Race,” the first collaboration between Warner Bros. International Television Production and Japan’s TV Asahi Corporation, will be pitched to international broadcasters at MIP-TV next month, it was announced today by Andrew Zein, Senior Vice President, Creative, Format Development and Sales, WBITVP and Shuji Tsukasaki, General manager, Content Business Division, TV Asahi.
The comedic/entertainment series originally aired for more than 100 episodes on TV Asahi, with the cooperation of Yoshimoto Kogyo Co., Ltd., Japan’s largest independent television production and talent management company. It features contestants in the studio gambling on predicting the winners and losers of a series of outlandish races in which the participants and the course can include just about any obstacle, with wildly varying competitors whose chances to win are equalized by appropriate handicaps. Who would win a mathematical race: a math whiz kid, a bodybuilder, a female pop singer, a 66-year-old CEO or a middle-aged mom? Or how about a running race that involves an Olympic champion, a baseball pitcher, a hockey player on skates, twins running three-legged and a pro jockey on a pony? It’s anyone’s guess!
The format is being adapted for the U.S. market by Warner Horizon and Next Entertainment. WBITVP will handle distribution of these formats in the U.S., Europe and Latin America, whilst TV Asahi will handle distribution in Asia.
“What’s great about ‘Everything’s A Race’ is that almost anything can be made into a race, and the handicaps are limited only by the imagination,” said Zein. “The format is simple, engaging and hilarious; a highly flexible format which we think can travel into many territories.”
“When ‘Everything’s A Race’ aired on primetime it won over audiences, reaching a wide demographic and providing us with big ratings. It was a super hit game-show, the highest ratings reaching 17% market share,” said Tsukasaki. “I am excited by the idea of reviving this program worldwide. I am convinced that everybody will become enthusiastic and be glued to the TV.”
About Warner Bros. International Television Production:
Warner Bros. International Television Production (WBITVP) aims to establish or acquire production companies in the major television territories around the world in order to become a leading producer of local scripted and non-scripted programming. In those territories where WBITVP establishes a production base, it operates by developing and producing original programming and also producing local versions of formats owned and controlled by the group such as “The Bachelor”, “The World’s Strictest Parents” and “Who Do You Think You Are?” Where WBITVP has no local production capability it licenses Warner Bros. formats to 3rd parties. WBITVP has already taken significant steps by acquiring a majority stake in UK production group Shed Media, one of the UK’s largest and most successful independent production companies, which operates both in the UK and the US. Most recently it has acquired a majority stake in BlazHoffski Holding B.V., a leading independent television producer in The Netherlands and Belgium. TV Asahi Corporation:
TV Asahi, launched in 1959, is a major Japanese commercial broadcaster located in Tokyo, Japan. It has 25 local affiliate stations and 10 international bureaus that extend coverage across the world. TV Asahi is known as the central pillar of the Japanese largest Asahi Media Group, which includes The Asahi Shimbun (largest Japanese quality paper) and Toei (producer and distributor of movies, TV dramas and animation). TV Asahi operates 3 broadcasting services; Terrestrial (TV Asahi), Free satellite (BS Asahi since 2000) and Pay satellite (CS110 since 2003), and has been listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, 1st Section Market since 2000. TV Asahi is highly recognized for its well-balanced programming with a good mixture of news, infotainment, animation, and entertainment, to ensure constantly high ratings and revenues. In the international arena, TV Asahi’s dramas, animation, and entertainment shows have been distributed throughout the entire world. In 2005, TV Asahi steps into the TV format business, and made great progress in the European market with titles such as “Ranking the Stars” and “Fidelity Test” (both from London Hearts). TV Asahi continues to accelerate its sales by developing new formats and exploiting new business models to reach the international markets.###
Warner Bros. International Television Production (WBITVP) aims to establish or acquire production companies in the major television territories around the world in order to become a leading producer of local scripted and non-scripted programming. In those territories where WBITVP establishes a production base, it operates by developing and producing original programming and also producing local versions of formats owned and controlled by the group such as “The Bachelor”, “The World’s Strictest Parents” and “Who Do You Think You Are?” Where WBITVP has no local production capability it licenses Warner Bros. formats to 3rd parties. WBITVP has already taken significant steps by acquiring a majority stake in UK production group Shed Media, one of the UK’s largest and most successful independent production companies, which operates both in the UK and the US. Most recently it has acquired a majority stake in BlazHoffski Holding B.V., a leading independent television producer in The Netherlands and Belgium. TV Asahi Corporation:
TV Asahi, launched in 1959, is a major Japanese commercial broadcaster located in Tokyo, Japan. It has 25 local affiliate stations and 10 international bureaus that extend coverage across the world. TV Asahi is known as the central pillar of the Japanese largest Asahi Media Group, which includes The Asahi Shimbun (largest Japanese quality paper) and Toei (producer and distributor of movies, TV dramas and animation). TV Asahi operates 3 broadcasting services; Terrestrial (TV Asahi), Free satellite (BS Asahi since 2000) and Pay satellite (CS110 since 2003), and has been listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, 1st Section Market since 2000. TV Asahi is highly recognized for its well-balanced programming with a good mixture of news, infotainment, animation, and entertainment, to ensure constantly high ratings and revenues. In the international arena, TV Asahi’s dramas, animation, and entertainment shows have been distributed throughout the entire world. In 2005, TV Asahi steps into the TV format business, and made great progress in the European market with titles such as “Ranking the Stars” and “Fidelity Test” (both from London Hearts). TV Asahi continues to accelerate its sales by developing new formats and exploiting new business models to reach the international markets.