Formats from Norwegian pubcaster NRK continue to sell around the world, with Comedy Central in Europe the latest to take on Never Ever Do This At Home.
The format, in which a comedian and a scientist join forces in a specially built house to see what happens when you ignore everyday warnings, has been sold around the world by UK distributor DRG.
Comedy Central will produce local versions in Holland and Poland as part of the latest deal, and it has previously been picked up by ZDF in Germany, TV2 in Denmark and, most recently, by Discovery in Canada.
Other NRK non-scripted formats are also selling well, with STV in Ukraine, Rai Due in Italy, DR in Denmark and STV in Sweden taking Teenage Boss, which is about to go into a second season on NRK and YLE in Finland.
DR is about to air a second season of My Celebrity Boyfriend, which has also been picked up by Sub in Finland, while STV has taken Adios and 1+1 in Ukraine has gone for Battlepop.
Ole Hedemann, head of formats at NRK, told C21: “In general, the focus on Scandinavian creativity is down to a stable financial situation compared with many other European countries.
“At NRK, we have the same budgets that we used to have and it allows creativity to happen. It’s more difficult to produce a new show and take risks at a broadcaster where the financial situation is not as good as it is here.”
Andrea Jackson, MD of acquisitions at DRG, said: “NRK spends a lot of time in development ironing out the creases and perfecting an idea before bringing it forward into production. They pilot before going into series, they spend a lot of time in the development process, so by the time a show gets on air it works, it rates and then we have a really effective formula that we can take out around the world.”
C21 04.10.12
http://www.c21media.net/archives/89463