France’s TF1 to Focus on latest gameshow format from Satisfaction stable

French commercial broadcaster TF1 has greenlit Focus, the latest original format to emerge from the expanding Satisfaction Group.

Arthur Essebag

Focus sees 50 contestants compete across six levels of increasing difficulty, each designed to test one of the brain’s core abilities: logic, calculation, memory, visual perception, spatial awareness, and language.

Set to premiere on TF1 and hosted by Satisfaction founder Arthur Essebag, Focus poses the simple question – how far can your brain take you?

Such mental competition formats are proving an increasingly popular trend on the international distribution scene, headlined by the success of ITV and BBC Studios’ breakout success The 1% Club.

Essebag said: “Focus is an exciting new kind of game show, intense, intelligent, and wildly entertaining. It’s not about what you know, but how your brain works under pressure. We wanted to create a format where every viewer can imagine themselves in the arena. I can’t wait to challenge the audiences and see how far their brain can really take them.”

Founded in 2010, Satisfaction Group acquired Sony Pictures Television Productions France in 2020 and continues its expansion by partnering with players such as Talpa, Fulwell, and Keshet.

Satisfaction Group has also invested in Yes Yes Media (Richard Bacon & Elisabeth Murdoch) and recently launched Satisfaction Iberia & LatAm to develop unscripted programming for Spanish and Portuguese-speaking audiences.