MBC bags Banijay’s Beat Your Host

Beat Your Host will air in the Middle East for the first time

Middle Eastern broadcaster MBC has picked up Banijay Rights format Beat Your Host for adaptation.

MBC has commissioned local prodco Cedars Art Production (Sabbah Brothers) to produce the gameshow under the title Beat the Star, which will mark the format’s first appearance in the Middle East.

Beat the Star will see Arabic celebrities compete to beat Egyptian action movie star Ahmad El Sakka in a series of challenges. It will debut on MBC on April 23.

Beat the Host has been adapted in 10 countries so far and has been running in Germany on Pro7 for more than a decade. In the original version from Brainpool, the host makes a cash wager with a contestant on a challenge, which could be anything from playing football underwater to racing around a BMX course.

MBC has also commissioned a second series of Banijay Rights’ knockout format Strike, from Egyptian prodco Eproducers. The family gameshow from H2O Productions sees two celebrities attempt to help a contestant win a big cash prize through a mix of trivia and ten-pin bowling.

Meanwhile, Wellcom Advertising has secured the rights to Banijay’s music reality competition Popstars in Algeria. The format has been adapted in more than 40 countries.