Zoo format gets China VoD nod

All3Media-owned Zoo Productions has sold its factual entertainment format Are You Normal? to China’s leading VoD platform and scored impressive early viewing figures since its launch.

Are You Normal? offers cash prizes to contestants who can correctly gauge public opinion from a series of polls. The aim is to assess what is typical behaviour around a country, with the good and bad habits and quirks revealed in the process.

The format has launched on Tencent, the VoD platform that covers the whole of China, along with a social platform app. A total of seven million people watched the format within 10 hours of its launch this week, according to All3Media, and there have already been three million downloads of the app.

Tencent’s chief video producer, Tina Ma, has cast major Chinese celebrities as hosts, including Taiwanese actor Nicky Wu, pop star Ella and The Voice host Hua Shao.

Ma said: “This is the first big data show ever. Even before the show more than three million people participated in the interactive game. I believe that this show will start a new era in the history of Chinese video websites.”

Are You Normal? was first commissioned through Zoo for OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network in the US.

The Chinese version of the show, titled Ni Zhengchang Ma, is being produced in partnership with Vivid Media. It is the first format that Tencent has launched on its platform.