Germany hopes for Winner with Talpa

MIPTV: Germany’s ProSiebenSat.1 has become the first overseas broadcaster to pick up The Winner Is…, the follow-up to hit John de Mol format The Voice. An 8×90’ German version of The Winner will debut on Sat.1 next Friday in a primetime slot.

ProSieben and Sat.1 recently enjoyed ratings success with a first season of The Voice of Germany and will now go ahead with seven pre-recorded editions of The Winner, plus a live final.

In Holland, Winner ended its first run two weeks ago on SBS6, one of the networks de Mol’s Talpa Media and Finish publisher Sanoma acquired from ProSiebenSat.1 last year.

While the original Dutch version of The Winner – a hybrid talent and gameshow format – didn’t match the performance of its predecessor, a few tweaks ahead of the German version mean this will now serve as the blueprint for further international sales.

De Mol’s sister Linda, who hosts the Dutch version of Winner, will also host the Sat.1 version, marking her return to German TV after eight years, having presented the German version of Deal or No Deal in 2004, also for Sat.1.

The German Winner has been shot on the Dutch set, which is rumoured to be one of the more expensive in the country’s shiny-floor history.

Talpa has linked up with Universal Music Group on the format, which pits aspiring singers against one another in a series of ‘duels’ judged by a panel of 100 people plus one expert. The winners of these stages are then presented with suitcases containing US$100,000 and given the choice of whether to walk away or go on and compete for the grand US$1m prize.

While the Dutch version of Winner didn’t emulate the success of The Voice, Talpa Distribution MD Maarten Meijs told C21 here at MipTV that the German version was now the blueprint for future sales.

Meijs said some “adjustments” had already been made ahead of the Dutch live final, which he said had “scored very well.”

“That gave us the feeling that this format has very big potential,” he said. “You can’t compare it to The Voice. This is a talent show and a gameshow in one – a knockout competition – and The Voice has a totally different approach.

“For international distribution we’re going to focus on the German version [of The Winner Is…]. Now with this show we feel we have the final form.”