Campaign Profile

Kelly Wright, MD of distribution at Keshet International, gives her take on the state of the market, how things are changing for unscripted content and the role of YouTube in the company’s distribution business.

What are your thoughts on the state of the market, following your trip to Mipcom last month?

Positive. We’re feeling really upbeat about this year’s Mipcom. As usual, we arrived in Cannes en masse as a company – sales team, acquisitions, Tresor, marketing, management – with diaries full of one-to-one meetings with regular clients, and many new ones too, across the week. We met partners from dozens of territories, secured important commitments to our factual presale titles, found buyers hungry for formats, and discussed AVoD and SVoD revenue share opportunities, and non-exclusive deals and second windows, with buyers across the board in every territory. It definitely feels like things are opening up – if not already wide open.

Keshet’s new drama Red Alert was a key title at Mipcom. What was the market reaction to the show?

We were honored to have Red Alert,our powerful drama based on the real events of October 7, included in The Wit’s Fresh TV Fiction at MIPCOM. Red Alert is the highest-rating drama in Israel in the last decade, and to have that recognized internationally was a validating moment. So many people asked after Red Alert, possibly because the second anniversary of October 7 had just occurred the week before Mipcom, and the hostages were released on the market’s opening day, possibly because it is coproduced by Bender Brown Productions and legendary Hollywood producer Lawrence Bender – his first non-English-language TV series. Quite a few buyers wrongly assumed this drama wouldn’t be available in their territory, having read about our global deal with Paramount, but we can license this title everywhere on a non-exclusive basis, except in the US and Israel.

Another key drama for you is Nutuk. What can you share about that show?

Nutuk is a beautiful suspense drama that puts a child experiencing past life memories in the middle of a murder investigation. As a format, this striking premise is really cutting through – less surprising when you consider that over two billion people globally believe in the concept of past-life memories. The eight-part series is currently premiering in Israel on Keshet 12 to rave reviews. Episode one delivered a 15.4% rating and 24.6% share, with another 7%-plus ratings on catch-up, making it the second highest drama debut of the past five years behind Red Alert. Excitingly, we already have a US partner working on adapting the format and expect to close more territories soon.

What are the latest fruits of Keshet International’s Greenlight: Factual & Formats initiative?

While we weren’t the first to this content commissioning model, we’ve really committed a lot to our Greenlight initiative and have taken a lot of joy in watching it roll out and pay off. Buyers are more open than ever to discussions about investing in presales, as the model really answers their current budgets and commissioning resources by first securing distributor financing and other partners. Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, for which we secured five presale deals upfront, is a great example of this. The three-parter over-performed for terrestrial broadcaster 5 when it debuted in the UK, delivering an 82%-plus viewing share on the slot, and smashed it for SBS when it premiered in Australia. We’ve also sold Catch Me If You Can in the UK now, to 5, after bringing TVNZ and Sky Germany on board. We’re now stitching together the financing for the next wave of shows, including the Hugh Bonneville-fronted Secret Royal Homes and Caledonia TV’s Hitler’s Favourite Royals, so we hope to have news to announce there soon.

You recently teamed up with Gavin Rossdale. How has that show gone down with buyers?

This show is a personal favourite of mine. It’s a standout because of the deeper conversations it generates with the celebrities Gavin cooks for. The Brooke Shields episode made me laugh and cry because she was so open and vulnerable with Gavin. By taking the conversation from the kitchen to the dinner table, this show is just more intimate and personal than the more saccharine or sarcastic celebrity hosts. Having already sold this show into Canada, Australia, Poland and across Latin America, we’re set on broadening the show’s reach into Europe, Asia and the UK right now. Gavin is a Brit, after all!

How is global demand for unscripted formats changing?

It’s always been there and been consistent, and we’re seeing that interest broaden. If before we were white water rafting, all of us chasing after that format thrill, that thirst has flattened, broadened, grown calmer. More buyers want locally produced content and understand that the perfect fit for their schedule might appear as a new take on an existing format, not a new title, so we’re seeing strong interest in our factual and entertainment formats, old and new. In Spain, our relationships with Spanish producers are also bearing fruit as both Topanga Crea and The Mediapro Studio grow their successful adaptations of The Hit List for TV Canarias and The Search for Aragon TV to secure further commissions from TV Galicia and Canal Sur TV respectively. This fall, we added a new take on The Search in Belgium, titled The Search Kids.

How is Keshet International capitalising on the trend for format reboots and revivals?

Proven IP and legacy titles aren’t going to stop being in vogue. We’ve been working with BOOM! creator Ido Rosenblum to bring a surprising twist to this best-selling format. In BOOM! Heist Mode, two teams of trivia enthusiasts battle it out to crack safes wired with questions and loaded with cash and prizes. On the revival side, Teddy TV’s Norwegian remake of The Great School Swap for TV2 has generated renewed interest in a format. The original format, produced pre-Covid by Top Hat Productions for Channel 4 in the UK, is now being optioned in multiple territories across Europe, and we hope to share news of further licences soon. Latin America is also taking a crack at Keshet’s legacy formats. One of them is Live Elevator Pitch, a brand-new business reality competition format we’ve co-developed with Bellino’s Unlimited, based on a paper format Keshet developed in 2015, set to debut in Brazil in 2026.

What is the role of YouTube in Keshet International’s distribution business?

We’ve been working with third parties to monetise relevant content on YouTube in ways that don’t jeopardise current licences and complements our core distribution business. It’s been exciting to see these revenues grow over the last few years and this feedback is definitely providing useful insight that informs our decision-making process elsewhere. This year has seen Tresor license and produce 16 German episodes of the hot and spicy cult celebrity interview format Hot Ones so far, reaching millions on TikTok and Instagram alongside YouTube.

How is growing risk-aversity among broadcasters impacting the market?

As a company with our own broadcast network back in Israel, we understand the pressure. Rising Star is back on Israeli TV screens for a 12^th season on November 17. It’s not really surprising this primetime talent show got recommissioned by Keshet 12 after S11 smashed ratings records with a finale that scored a 47.7% viewing share. Elsewhere in Greece, Alpha TV recently premiered the sixth season of To Soi Sou (Your Family or Mine) after a six-year hiatus, during which time repeats of the show were never off-air – and continued to win their slot. So To Soi Sou S6 returned with an incredible 38.9% viewing share – the highest debut for this title to date, making it the highest-rated comedy on Greek TV in the last five years. Buyers want marketable, sure things but must refresh and answer the competition. For some, it’s big swings; for others, it’s shorter ‘statement’ pieces. We understand that and our catalogue is prepared to answer every such request.

What are the trends in the market that will shape 2026?

A growing appetite for locally produced content; unscripted formats, specifically big primetime shows that deliver ratings or brand partnerships. On the scripted side, there’s no slowdown in the desire for crime dramas but we’re also seeing growing interest in comedies and romcoms. With our factual content, male-skewed and specialist factual shows are generating a lot of interest right now.