John de Mol sells The Voice into China

The international success of singing format The Voice has continued with John de Mol’s Talpa selling it into China, the world’s largest TV market.

Talpa has shopped the format to Zheijang TV, which will transmit The Voice of China later this year. Zheijang broadcasts in the East of China and reaches hundreds of millions of TV homes.

The local version of the format will be produced by Star China, which makes the Chinese Dancing with the Stars and China’s Got Talent, in association with Talpa and formats broker IPCN.

The format has travelled well since its launch in 2010 and according to Eurodata statistics is was one of the top-ten rated entertainment shows around the world last year.

The show started out in the Netherlands in 2010 and local version have now been sold to 45 broadcasters.

Despite recent restrictions on the amount of entertainment programming on satellite channels in China and the axing of long-running singing format Super Girl last year, formats distributors are keen to make headway in a country of 386 million TV homes and singing and talent shows are popular.

Shine has sold Clash of the Choirs to CCTV and FremantleMedia Got Talent to SMG. BBC Worldwide has sold Dancing with the Stars, Last Choir Standing and Tonight’s the Night into China.

Talpa has also sold its I Love My Country and Dating in the Dark shows into China and off the back of The Voice deal it claimed to be the number one supplier of foreign formats into the country.