Industry leading media companies from regions across the UK, Australia, and EMEA have all recently commissioned new or returning seasons of A+E formats.
Leading into Mipcom, A+E Networks Global Content Sales today announced several deals from its growing formats division.
“A+E Networks is proud to come to Mipcom with a catalogue boasting compelling, universally resonant formats that tap into the zeitgeist of the moment, and have already found repeat success with audiences all around the world,” said A+E Networks’ SVP Head of Sales, Americas and Formats Ellen Lovejoy.
“These latest commissions from such exceptional, innovative producers and broadcasters prove that A+E’s slate of formats sets us apart from what’s currently out there, and we’re very much looking forward to introducing them to our treasured partners.”
Following years of critical and ratings success, as well as awards recognition in the US and UK, A+E Networks has partnered with RaiPlay and the innovative production company Yam112003 to bring the first non-English language version of The Rap Game to Italy early in 2023.
This news follows years of repeat high performance for The Rap Game, which is produced by hitmakers Naked Television for BBC. The talent competition format features aspiring MCs given the opportunity to perform epic MC showdowns in front of industry-leading rap stars who serve as their mentors, and has attracted a young, diverse audience on both sides of the pond. The Rap Game UK has been honored with multiple prestigious award nominations, including a BAFTA, a Rose D’or, a Grierson Award, a C21 International Format Award, an RTS Award, and multiple Broadcast Digital and Edinburgh TV Awards, winning Best Entertainment Programme at the Broadcast Digital Awards in 2020 and Best Entertainment Series at the Edinburgh TV Awards that same year.
Alone, the self-shot ultimate survival competition series that has been a critical and ratings hit for nine seasons on the History Channel in the US, was recently picked up by Channel 4 for a brand-new iteration of the format to be produced by one of the UK’s leading production companies, The Garden. The six-part series will find ten contestants dropped into the remote Canadian wilderness equipped with only a handful of basic tools, where each must survive the harsh elements entirely alone.
This is only the latest exciting pickup for Alone, which has experienced years of critical and ratings success across the Nordics – Alone Denmark, locally titled Alene I Vildmarken, will return for a seventh season. It was also commissioned by top Australian broadcaster SBS for a version produced by ITV Australia earlier this year.
Additional recent successes for A+E Networks formats include a fifth season commission for Forged in Fire, where world-class bladesmiths re-create historical edged weapons in a cutthroat competition, in Latin America, as well as two seasons of primetime ratings success for Top Dog on RTL in Germany. Top Dog, locally titled Der Beste Hund Deutschlandsim, is a heartwarming competition format that features extraordinary dogs and their owners competing nose-to-nose on a supersized canine obstacle course. The second season of Top Dog regularly ranked as the number one show in its time slot across all German TV in multiple demos, including ages 14-49. The first series performed so well that RTL produced a Celebrity Special that drew in 1.98 million viewers.
