Development Slate RTBF

When Belgian network RTBF licensed its new environmental entertainment format La Yourte(The Yurt: Celebrity Green Challenge) to French commercial broadcaster TF1, it was more than just a sale – it was a statement of intent. The Brussels-based pubcaster has been quietly entertaining and informing the Frenchspeaking population of Belgium since 1930 but has struggled to gain recognition in the wider world.

It’s somewhat ironic, then, that RTBF shares its initials with the internet abbreviation ‘right to be forgotten.’

All that is set to change, as the French-language broadcaster readies a slate of formats from its inhouse production arm, RTBF Creative, to shop internationally, starting at MipTV.

“It’s a new beginning for us because we are not very well known,” says Sandrine Roustan, MD of content at RTBF. “Selling La Yourte to TF1 was important to us as a way of saying, ‘Hello! We are here!’, to show we exist and to shout about our work.”

Coproduced with Why Why Productions, La Yourte sees pampered celebrities give up their city lives to spend five days in a yurt. To win up to €10,000 (US$10,900) for an environmental charity, they must learn to live more eco-conscious, sustainable lives using only the natural resources available to them.

Screened towards the end of 2022, the four-part series was a hit for RTBF, achieving a 20% audience share and record-breaking ratings on young adultskewing channel Tipik, according to Roustan.

“We had been looking for an environmental format because we know the younger generation care about this issue,” says Roustan. “We had tried unsuccessfully with documentaries, magazine and talkshows before settling on this entertainment format, which was much more successful than we could have imagined.

After decades of relying on acquisitions and imports, Belgian pubcaster RTBF has started creating its own formats and shopping them globally, MD of content Sandrine Roustan tells Neil Batey

“Viewers enjoy La Yourte because alongside the central theme of environmental awareness, it’s also very entertaining. People don’t want to feel punished and be constantly told that the planet is going to die.”

The show is just one example of an outwardfacing global strategy devised by Roustan two years ago when she set up a research and development team.

Comprising six staffers from both the youthful digital division and the more experienced TV and radio departments, the unit has since developed a handful of formats.

Of), an immersive show in which celebrities step inside a sensory dome which triggers emotions and memories; sketch show Comme a la Maison (My Friends Got Jokes), presented by YouTuber GuiHome; plus an untitled political talkshow about democracy to tie in with the Belgian general election in 2024.

Its MipTV slate also includes 5-Star Village, in which celebrities compete to discover the most beautiful villages, and cooking-themed talent show Chocolate Stars, which will be shopped by RTBF’s head of distribution Tuyet Nguyen Canry.

The team’s two major objectives are to continue acquiring, revamping or adapting established formats – one example being The Dancer, RTBF’s remake of The Greatest Dancer, a talent show from Simon Cowell’s Syco Entertainment label which ran for two seasons on the UK’s BBC One. These shows screen in primetime slots on RTBF’s main channels La Une and Tipik.

The second ambition is to create IP in-house, seek coproduction partners to gap finance and license the content to international territories.

Original programming that RTBF has high hopes for include Dans le Bulle de (In the Bubble

“At RTBF we have small budgets but big ideas,” says Roustan, a former Canal+, Endemol France and France Télévisions executive. “We try out our new content in non-risky time slots on our digital channels, test and learn, then decide if it has the potential to be launched internationally as a format.

“We don’t have enough money to make all our content in-house, so RTBF continues to import shows. At MipTV, I’ll be looking to acquire documentaries, biopics and true crime factual, while on the formats front, I think entertainment and gameshows are coming back.

“Currently at RTBF, we produce four small drama series per year specifically for the Belgian market, but because these shows are so original we are starting to get interest from streaming platforms.

“There is so much talent in Wallonia [the Frenchspeaking region of southern Belgium], with great producers, writers, actors, animators and directors. It’s a great time to coproduce and partner with us Walloons.”