Swedish format wins over TV Lab viewers

A Swedish format in which a celebrity sets out to meet all of their online friends and followers in person was voted the best programme to come out of this year’s TV Lab on Dutch broadcaster Ned3.

Audiences rated Sputnik Media’s remake of My 5,000 Friends at 9.2 out of 10 on aspects such as innovation and re-watching potential. Previous TV Lab winners have been taken to season on Dutch television.

The show originally came from Sweden’s Veranda Film and broadcast on SVT and has also run in Hungary, where AGB Productions made a version for Viasat.

“My 5,000 Friends delves deep into the world of online versus real-life relationships. It brings up all kinds of questions such as whether having lots of online friends means you are popular or whether we should reveal so much about ourselves online,” said Kris Gaens from Sputnik.

Ned3’s TV Lab hands the audience control of the future of a series of new format pilots, which run across a week in autumn each year. The 2013 edition comprised 11 new formats, which ran on a variety of Ned3-affiliated channels.

My 5,000 Friends is represented on the global market by Eccho Rights, whose managing director Fredrik af Malmborg said: “With the growth of social media, My 5,000 Friends is very relevant for today’s audiences. The show has great potential across the globe.”