German nets salute Armoza’s Local Heroes

German pubcaster ARD has ordered a local version of the Local Heroes format, while German-language commercial rival ProSiebenSat.1 has taken the finished series.

Israel-based Armoza distributes the format and struck the deals.

The format follows the emergency services as they go about their daily work. It launched on VTM in Belgium as Local Heroes: Through the Fire, and the commercial broadcaster has ordered a second season.

Prosieben has taken the finished Belgian series for its Austrian Puls4 channel, while ARD will run a local version on the WDR channel. SEO will produce the show, which will go out in primetime later this year.

Philipp Bitterling, programme developer and innovation coordinator at WDR, said: “Local Heroes is for us the dream match between high quality-entertainment and state-of-the-art documentary.”

Avi Armoza, CEO of Armoza Formats, said: “This dramatic format has enormous emotional potential to connect audiences with the stories of people whose work isn’t usually seen.”