TV Asahi takes Notional idea

Japan’s TV Asahi and Yoshimoto Kogyo Corporation have tapped IAC-backed multimedia studios Electus and Notional to produce a new gameshow.

Unbeatable sees two teams compete to win the most squares on a gigantic game board. Notional, which Barry Diller’s IAC helped set up at the same time as Ben Silverman’s Electus, will work with TV Asahi and Yoshimoto Kogyo to develop and produce the show.

Electus, which earlier this month acquired distributor Engine Entertainment to create its own distribution outfit, Electus/Engine Distribution, will handle Unbeatable format sales internationally.

Notional’s creative team, led by Dave Noll and Chachi Senior, will steer the show’s development. The green light from TV Asahi came about as a result an alliance between Notional agency rep CAA’s strategic alliance with Yoshimoto Kogyo. The latter earlier this week signed a development and production alliance with Elisabeth Murdoch’s Shine Group, with which Electus also has a distribution pact.

Unbeatable will air on TV Asahi on an unspecified date, with the English language version being shot simultaneously and used to sell the show internationally. CAA-Yoshimoto will finance the show and take a shared ownership of the final product.

Notional described the set-up as a new kind of TV funding model. “Television producers are continually searching for new ways to get their projects made while retaining a higher percentage of the rights. This model is clearly a huge step in the right direction,” said Senior, Notional’s senior VP of development.