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Bake Off spin-offs on the rise in Europe
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Local versions of the celebrity version of the Bake Off format will hit French and German screens for the first time after BBC Worldwide shopped the series to free TV broadcaster M6 and its German counterpart Sat.1 on the eve of the annual Showcase.
Worldwide’s local units will make the shows, which were among several European commissions announced ahead of BBC Worldwide Showcase next week.
Cooking shows are relatively new to French TV but the local version of Bake Off – Le Meilleur Pâtissier – has performed well for RTL-owned M6.
Le Meilleur Patissier – Les Professionnels will be made by BBC Worldwide France’s local production unit. That unit has also sealed its first deal with TF1 and will make a one-off live Dancing with the Stars for the commercial net.
In Germany, All3Media and BBC Worldwide joint venture prodco Tower will make The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Sat.1. The commercial free-TV channel has been showing the original show (pictured, top).
In the UK the BBC lost the Bake Off format to rival broadcaster Channel 4, sparking a war of words between the two. Worldwide will, however, continue to sell the format, which hails from Sky-backed Love Productions, after it switches channels.
Tower is also making a local version of the BBC format Everybody’s Business, in which employees take over from the bosses and make key recruitment decisions, for another of the ProSiebenSat.1 family of channels.
Elsewhere in Europe, Worldwide’s recently-formed Nordics division has won two format commissions. It will make a Danish version of Stupid Man, Smart Phone (UK version, left) for TV2 Zulu. In Finland it will produce a local version of the Weakest Link gameshow format for pubcaster Nelonen.
The deals come ahead of Worldwide’s Showcase event in Liverpool. Worldwide’s global markets president and formats chief Tracy Forsyth have both told TBI about the company’s increased focus on formats, with selling local versions of BBC shows a key focus for Showcase.
“We’re proud of our success in localising British shows for audiences around the world and Showcase gives us the perfect platform to introduce even more international broadcasters to our brilliant catalogue,” Dempsey said.
“We’ve got a great line-up planned for Liverpool with very high hopes for the eight new format titles we’ll be launching there.”
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