TF1 seeking fact ent, social experiment and cooking formats, Degroote reveals

Factual entertainment format The All New Monty: Who Bares Wins was a hit for TF1

MIPCOM: French broadcaster TF1 is in Cannes on the hunt for factual entertainment and social experiment formats as well as a new cooking show.

Julien Degroote, head of content development at TF1, told delegates about the group’s programming needs during the FRAPA Formats Summit at Mipcom on Monday.

Juien Degroote

Taking the audience through TF1’s greenlight process, Degroote said its key requirements are “big, broad entertainment” that is “safe for the family and the advertisers.”

Looking for content that is light and fun for audiences weighed down by the pandemic, Degroote said The Masked Singer was an ideal format for TF1 because it got people talking without being too edgy.

Degroote said he is here in Cannes specifically looking for more factual entertainment formats after the success of The Real Full Monty, which airs locally as The All New Monty: Who Bares Wins, on the network.

“It’s less in our DNA but it did very well, so we’re looking for new shows like that,” said Degroote, who added that a cooking format as well as shows that encourage co-viewing are on his shopping list, along with a social experiment show.

Degroote recently ordered a local version of dating reality format The Love Trap, originally commissioned by UK pubcaster Channel 4.

The show, which will air on youth-skewing TFX, follows 10 single women who compete over a series of dates to win the heart of one man. However, only half of the female contestants are in it for love, with the other half competing to win a big cash prize.

Created and produced by Great Scott Media, Love Trap is distributed by All3Media International for whom Graham Spencer, exec VP for EMEA, sealed the deal with TF1.

Degroote also emphasised TF1’s willingness to take risks, citing the 31 shows it has commissioned based on paper formats across its channels in the past four years.