Netflix eyes gameshow, singing formats to expand unscripted offering

Next In Fashion

Netflix is on the hunt for gameshow and singing formats to help the streamer expand its originals output, according to unscripted chief Nathaniel Grouille.

US-based director of unscripted originals Grouille and director of unscripted originals & acquisitions Sean Hancock told the Edinburgh TV Festival yesterday that the streamer was now “very comfortable” with the reality output it offered.

Netflix has found success with shows such as Love Is Blind, from Red Arrow Studios-owned Kinetic Content, but its competition efforts to date have not fared so well.

Earlier this summer it cancelled style competition series Next In Fashion – produced by LA-based unscripted prodco Theoldschool and hosted by Queer Eye star Tan France and model-designer Alexa Chung – after after just one season.

Others such as semi-reality skewing Rhythm & Flow – which was launched as part of Netflix’s trial of weekly releases – and gameshow formats including Stellify Media’s Flinch have not yet gone mainstream, but Grouille said he was now “poised to move forward in an exciting way” to expand the streamer’s output to find hits.

“Do we have a big gameshow? Not yet. Do we have a singing show? Not yet,” he said, adding that there was “momentum” for more ambitious programming.

Hancock said that he wanted to find “four-quadrant family entertainment shows”, which deliver “really big” culturally relevant moments.

The exec said he was looking for “the kind of show you could explain to a caveman and they’d get it.”