MIPFORMATS CASE STUDY

from MIPTV 2023 MAGAZINE

GERMANY'S FIRST & FINEST SERIES EVENT

The Traitors

EACH year, the global formats business laments the risk averse nature of the TV industry and the lack of ideas breaking through. But the reality is that there is usually one new show creating a buzz — and right now it is De Verraders, aka The Traitors. Created by Dutch writer, director and producer Marc Pos, The Traitors first saw the light of day in 2021, when it was produced by IDTV and PosVideo for RTL4 in the Netherlands. An immediate hit, the show has now been picked up by more than a dozen territories. Media platform Slate described it as “the deviously addictive reality show that’s taking the world by storm.” The Financial Times called it “reality TV at its most immersive, dramatic and addictive”.

At MIPTV, the format will be the subject of a Case Study session involving IDTV creative director Jasper Hoogendoorn; RTL Netherlands content director Peter Van Der Vorst; M6/Studio 89 head of creation and development Céline Caudelier; Syeda Irtizaali, editor of unscripted, BBC; and All3Media executive vice-president formats Nick Smith. The panel will offer an assessment of why the show captured the imagination of Dutch audiences and how it has rolled out globally. The Traitors plays with the idea that not all participants are what they seem. There are 18 contestants, of whom 15 are known as the ‘faithful’ and three are ‘traitors’. The faithful don’t know who the traitors are but the audience is told in the first episode. Each night, the traitors gather in secret to decide who to eliminate from the game. This contestant is said to have been killed and doesn’t show up the next day. There is also a regular council meeting where all contestants vote on who should be eliminated from the game. In this round, the faithful hope to eliminate a traitor. Along the way, there are various challenges to win rewards — including a shield which can provide one-off protection from elimination. Despite its seeming complexity, the format has proved popular with audiences in many key markets. The BBC in the UK, Peacock in the US, Network 10 Australia and M6 in France all had hits with the series in 2022 and ordered second series. In the case of the BBC3 version produced by All3Media-owned Studio Lambert, the audience actually built to a peak across season one — something of a novelty in the TV business. Not only that, it proved popular across both live and catch-up platforms.

NBC Universal-owned streamer Peacock, has demonstrated that there is also a strong life for the show in distribution — picking up tape versions of the UK and Australian shows from All3Media Internation- al, to go with its own US version. When the show was greenlit for season two by the BBC, Stephen Lambert, CEO of Studio Lambert, explained why fans were so enthralled: “They told us they enjoyed the drama and entertainment of watching our players judge each other, often leaping to false conclusions, but also forming alliances and real friendships.”

Another key part of the attraction is undoubtedly the fact that the show is filmed in an atmospheric location, rather than a studio. This gives some of the immersive qualities of established hits like Survivor and I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here. Peacock’s version, for example, was filmed in an evocative Scottish castle. As is often the case, ratings success in the US, UK and Netherlands helps drive global momentum in the format business. New broadcasters to come on board in 2023 include RTL Germany, HBO Max in Spain and TV2 Denmark. In other words, the format appears to be capable of switching seamlessly between public broadcasters, commercial broadcasters and international streaming platforms. The next big question, which may be answered at MIPTV, is whether The Traitors can also secure interest from Asian, Latin American, Middle East & African buyers…