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Unilad falls for first dating format

MIPCOM: UK-based online publisher Unilad has picked up its first dating format, from two former Endemol Shine executives and investor The Story Lab.

David Flynn and Lucas Church

Date or Dump will be launched under an agreement between UK-based Youngest Media and The Story Lab to develop digital-first entertainment formats together.

The collaboration will begin with three formats created by Youngest Media, which was set up last year by ex-Endemol Shine chairman Lucas Church and former Endemol Shine UK creative chief David Flynn.

The other two are challenge show Skills to Pay the Bills and gameshow Human Timer. All three will be funded and distributed globally by London-based The Story Lab, a division of Dentsu Aegis Network.

Unilad, which claims to reach more than 500 million people on Facebook every month, will launch Date or Dump, which sees two singletons attempt to guess revealing details about each other.

It will be one of the first original shows to launch on Unilad, which was set up in 2014 as a Facebook page that licensed viral content.

It has since pushed into original video content, adding editorial content alongside viral videos. It recently agreed a partnership with online poker site Pokerstars to create content including a lifestyle series built around the game.

Flynn, co-founder of Youngest Media, said: “We’ve always known a hit format can come from anywhere in the world, and now it can come from any platform. We believe there’s a new generation of formats coming, which can become viral hits as shortform content as well as capture a mass television audience as longform shows.”

Matt Ford, commercial director at Unilad, added: “We know we have a platform which people engage with, which puts us in a unique position when creating new formats. We can actually see how the format performs with our audience via views and engagements, putting us in a fantastic position.”

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