iQiyi picks up pair of Fremantle formats

CHINA FORMATS: FremantleMedia has closed licence deals with Chinese video streaming platform iQiyi for two of its unscripted formats.

Perfect Score aired in the US on The CW

Perfect Score has aired in the US on The CW and iQiyi has picked it up for local development, FremantleMedia China CEO Vivian Yin told delegates here at China Formats in Shanghai.

The video platform has also bagged It Girls, a constructed reality format from Israeli company Abot Hameiri Productions, in which FremantleMedia acquired a 51% stake in 2016.

Yin said the deals were significant as they continued the new trend in China for using non-celebrity contestants in a country where audiences and networks are usually obsessed by celebrities.

“It’s a sign of changing demand in the market, as platforms realise that ordinary people can also deliver engaging stories, not just celebrities,” said Yin, who joined FremantleMedia from Star China two years ago.

Vivian Yin

Dating show Perfect Score involves contestants attempting to choose the most compatible person for themselves from a group of 10 strangers, in hopes of winning cash prizes.

FremantleMedia North America made the show for The CW in 2013. The format has since been adapted by MNCTV in Indonesia and by Ho Chi Minh City TV in Vietnam.

It Girls follows female fashion vloggers and offers plenty of brand integration opportunities, added Yin. The show was originally produced for Israel’s Hot Entertainment.

Yin also said FremantleMedia is pitching another of its formats to Chinese streaming platforms. Bang Bang is a live-action game format that puts contestants into an animated video game environment via green screen technology.

It was developed by Danish creative duo Henrik Nielsen and Per Zachariassen when they worked at FremantleMedia before they set up their prodco Skylark in 2015.

Yin added that while Chinese channels and platforms are gradually accepting non-celebrity formats, the top tier of channels were still wedded to the idea of needing celebrities to attract the big sponsors for their primetime slots.

Also, the regulatory limitations on cash prizes means that most gameshows formats won’t sell into China. “We all want to rejuvenate gameshows but have to rethink the prizes,” Yin said.