Show of the week: Absolute Majority

Absolute Majority is a new twist on the political talk show. Every week a panel comprising well-known political figures, a celebrity and one opinionated member of the public debates the issues of the day. In real time, the studio audience and the public at home votes for the person they found the most convincing.

Contestants are whittled down ahead of a final round in which the remaining participants must win an Absolute Majority to win the game. If no-one secures that, the jackpot rolls over to the next week.

The show started out on German free-to-air broadcaster ProSieben. It was created by Brainpool, which is part of the Banijay group and its sales arm, Banijay International, is selling it internationally,

Absolute Majority does something that no format has ever done before, successfully merging serious political talk show with studio-based game show,” says the company’s head of sales, Sebastian Burkhardt. “It’s quite daring to give out cash prizes for a show about politics – it’s very provocative and got a lot of attention in the German press.”

The distributor will launch the format internationally for the first time at MIPTV.

The show provides a way for broadcasters to attract a younger demo to political programming and attract an audience that often switches off when political debating series start.

There are few, if any, countries in the world where politically engaged programming does not air, and in most of them there is also a strong need and desire to draw a younger audience to it,” Burkhardt. Absolute Majority is an engaging political talk show with cross-generational appeal, which is why we think it will do well internationally.”

Understandably, countries with upcoming elections will be a key sales focus. In Germany it went out in late primetime, where the inaugural season is still on air.

The show: Absolute Majority
The producer: Brainpool
The distributor: Banijay International
The broadcaster: ProSieben
Concept: Competitive political talk show format