Industry veterans Georges Leclere and Malachy Wienges are aiming to formatise the news debate show and are taking a Covid-19-themed project out into the developing world.

Georges Leclere

So much of the television industry discussion during the Covid-19 pandemic has been about the physical practicalities and regulatory hurdles of actually making shows. Quarantines, PPE, social distancing on set, smaller crews, regular testing and the extra time and cost of all these things have been front of mind as television has grappled with exactly what can be produced at the moment and what needs to go on hold.

Buyers have also been cautious about commissioning shows specifically related to or focusing on the pandemic. There’s a fear of audience burnout. Stuck in their homes for so long with nothing else to think about but the pandemic and everything that comes with it, by the time they get to the end of their work-from-home day the last thing they need is more Covid-19 chat and programmes filmed on Zoom. Escapism, family-friendly, co-viewing experiences are certainly the watchwords of many buyer interviews at the moment.

But there is still a hunger for information about the virus, the world’s path out of it and back to normality and the lasting effects on the economy, health services, travel and so on. The evening news bulletins regularly dominate the ratings top 10 in the UK, US and elsewhere, and there is also increasing anger and debate about how different countries approach lockdown, vaccinations, travel restrictions and other elements of the situation.

Two veterans of the TV industry are looking to put that thirst for knowledge and differences of opinions to good use with a new format. For now titled The Avenir Format Show, it is the brainchild of Georges Leclere and Malachy Wienges.

Leclere’s eclectic career has seen him work with Unesco and Banff World Media Festival, create the first formats day at the Sichaun TV Festival in China, direct the media division at the United Nations, serve as senior VP of the International Emmys and anchor and produce a host of shows in his native France during the 1980s.

Wienges, meanwhile, spent 31 years at US broadcast network CBS and was more recently named chairman of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (the Emmy organisation) in June 2011. He is president of US prodco Sedona Broadcasting Company, which is on board the new format.

The show pits two experts with opposing views against each other to debate a specific talking point around Covid-19, with a presenter from whichever network picks up the show serving as moderator. The audience at home – initially through social media but hopefully one day soon back in the studio – can help set the question or talking point in advance and then decide on the point of view that ‘won’ the debate and the path the country should take from here.

“The scientific community say we have to do this, the politicians say we have to do that, it’s always somebody else making the decisions and never the people,” Leclere says. “In our show the host will outline the big question, the specialists will fight, the host will make it informative, and the audience will listen and then design the future they like.”

Initially, the show, which works as a half-hour or hour, will be shopped in the developing world, where Leclere’s prodco LGMATV is intending to make the format available for free as a proof of concept before shopping it in development markets. The studio debate has the advantage of having a very low production budget, making it attractive to smaller networks.

“One of the top anchors in the US has guided us. He may end up taking the show but he as said make it international and then he’ll believe,” Leclere says. “Gabon will take it in French, Malawi in English, the EBU [European Broadcasting Union] is talking to us. I’m going to reach all the small countries that have never had a format in their lives; Laos, Cambodia and Singapore are all interested.”

One of the innovations is that several different versions may run in the same country or territory as social, economic and geographic conditions in different cities may create different answers.

Obviously the show will work for topics beyond Covid-19, such as climate change, in the future but for now it is being pitched as a Covid-19 debate show.

“The idea is the audience’s social media will drive the show,” Wienges adds. “If you ido it, hopefully, as a live show the audience can submit questions while on air.

“In US, for example, we had Doug Parker, chair of the board of American Airlines, to moderate the travel discussion, then on the two sides we had the head of the flight attendants union and on the other side we had somebody who is on the road all the time. That was an example in the US version.

“We’ve decided to go with an international version first, and in Africa and developing nations we’re giving the show for free. That’s to build a record for more lucrative countries.”