Russia ready to swap wives

Friday TV in Russia has picked up a pair of classic formats for local adaptation from Zodiak Rights ahead of next week’s Natpe Budapest market.

Wife Swap, which was a breakout hit for Channel 4 in the UK and ABC in the US several years ago, will be remade for a Russian audience by Banijay-owned Mastiff Russia.

The format continues to air on Prima in Romania, 1+1 in Ukraine, Markiza in Slovakia and Nova in the Czech Republic, with TV2 in Hungary recently acquiring all seasons of the UK version.

Friday TV is also prepping a local version of Ladette to Lady, which recently launched successfully on Novy in Ukraine.

Elsewhere, Prima in the Czech Republic has licensed the format rights to Fort Boyard and will go into production on its adaptation later in 2016, while studio-based singing challenge format Killer Karaoke is heading to TV2 in Hungary.

In drama, Zodiak has sealed a deal with Ceska Televize for Norwegian political thriller Occupied and multi-award-winning Wallander.

The deals were announced today by Tim Mutimer, CEO of Zodiak Rights, which is part of the Banijay Group.