Russian net dives in for Banijay format

A Russian broadcaster has become the latest to licence Banijay International’s celebrity diving format Stars in Danger: The High Dive.

National free-to-air nationwide net Channel One will get an 8x60min run of the entertainment format, with Russian producer Red Square already in production for a primetime broadcast later this month.

Ilya Krivitsky, CEO, Red Square said, “With Russia hosting the Olympic Games of 2014 in Sochi, we are happy to welcome and produce this athletic competition format Stars in Danger closely connected with the Olympics for Russian audiences.”

Banijay remains in dispute with rival producer Eyeworks, which also launched its celebrity diving format, Celebrity Splash, last year at MIPCOM. Banijay claims Eyeworks’ version uses elements of Stars in Danger, which launched in Germany on ProSieben in 2004 and is currently in its eighth season.

But both have proved popular, with Banijay previously selling Stars in Danger into Turkey, the US, China, Italy, Spain and Sweden; and Eyeworks shopping CelebritySplash, which launched on SBS6 in the Netherlands,to the Middle East, the UK, France, Australia, China, Ukraine, Finland and Argentina.