What’s old is new again.
One of the headliners on Banijay Entertainment’s formats slate at London TV Screenings this week is a rebooted returning show, “Fear Factor: House of Fear,” Lucas Green, Banijay Entertainment’s chief content officer, operations, tells Variety.
Green says that it “really hit the sweet spot of what audiences and clients want,” adding “What they’ve done with ‘Fear Factor’ is a very simple twist, which is they’ve turned it into an arced reality.”
“By turning it into an arced show with a reality cast who are in it together, and rather than just doing one off, very terrifying challenges, it’s got a bigger reality storyline as well, which links them all together. And I think it’s no coincidence that it’s done amazingly well on streaming.”
The show, hosted by Johnny Knoxville, is Hulu’s number one streamed show, he says, and between Fox and Hulu the new season, after the fifth episode, has seen 1.5 billion minutes streamed already.
“It totally justifies this idea of turning it into an arced reality show that you want to come back and see what happens to the ‘Fear Factor’ contestants. They’re living in a scary cabin in the wood, and as well as trying to overcome their fears, they’re trying to overcome each other and have an ultimate winner.”
Banijay is already in talks for the show to return and for European territories to make local versions.
“It’s not just been a case of bringing back an old title, but it’s a really neat response to the types of shows and the structure of how people are consuming their shows.
“It’s taken what was previously a close ended show and turned it into an arc reality.”
Other hot returning shows include “The Summit” and “Shaolin Heroes,” which both launched in the last two to three years, and are now gaining traction. “The Summit” has local versions in seven territories and “Shaolin Heroes” in six. He ascribes the success of these to a certain extent to producers “being able to learn from the lessons of other territories.”
“I think combining all of that editorial expertise to not just be the format police who tell you how you have to make the show, we really do provide opportunities to allow you to take these big, new IPs and work with them creatively and adapt them to local needs and budgets and cultures.”
One thing these shows have in common, he says, is that they are stripped reality so they are very bingeable. “They are all the types of shows that you would watch two or three episodes back-to-back. They work very well on streaming.”
One aspect that is relatively new is the introduction of content creators to the mix. For example, they have been included in the cast of Banijay’s “The Fifty.”
“[These shows] are very well suited to content creators who can bring pre-existing followers and audiences. They’re a kind of a new breed of VIP. And I think that in the past, the word ‘influencer’ got a bad name, but actually a lot of these content creators know their audience really, really well, and they have got very passionate, dedicated followings.”
variety.com
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