Romania’s Antena travels to Love Island

Love Island US has been reordered for this year by CBS

Romania has become the latest territory to commission a local version of ITV’s hit dating format Love Island.

Commercial broadcaster Antena has greenlit a Romanian version of the show, making it the 15th international territory to commission the format.

The news follows an announcement in November that streaming giant Amazon had picked up the format in France for its Prime Video subscribers, the first time a streamer has adapted the show. It will debut there in March.

The show originated on ITV2 in the UK where it is moving to two seasons a year, its sixth and seventh runs, from this year. US broadcast network CBS has also reordered its version for this year after a successful debut in 2019.

Last year the show also launched in Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland and Hungary. It has run for three seasons in Germany, two in Australia and Norway, and has also been commissioned in Sweden, Denmark and New Zealand.

The deal with Antena comes on the eve of ITV’s Formats Festival at London’s Camden Roundhouse on Wednesday this week, where new and existing shows will be presented to global buyers.

Maarten Meijs, president of ITV Studios’ Global Entertainment division, said: “We’ve consistently said that the essence of Love Island is about the road to finding love, and this is something audiences the world over can relate to, as it’s increasing international reach and popularity proves.”

Following the reorganisation of ITV Studios’ international and commercial division, Global Entertainment brings together international unscripted format sales and exploitation across the group under one roof.

Global Entertainment now showcases the catalogues of Talpa Media, Israeli format creator Armoza Formats, Twofour and the existing ITV Studios unscripted formats catalogue.