Seven.One Studios International

Company Info

Seven.One Studios International is a leading supplier of scripted, formats and factual content from outstanding production companies, third-party producers and digital content partners. It is part of Seven.One Studios, which is comprised of an acclaimed network of production companies in Germany and other key territories. Seven.One Studios is a ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE company, one of Europe’s leading media groups. Read more

Contacts

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Tobias Schulze

VP, Sales, French & German-Speaking Europe & Benelux

Rose Hughes

VP, Sales, U.K., U.S., Canada, Australia & New Zealand

Maria Arroyo

VP, Sales, Iberia, Italy, Turkey, Israel & LatAm

Victor Ukmar

Senior Sales Manager, CEE, CIS, Greece & Middle East

Beat the Channel Beats the Ratings

It was five years ago that Beat the Channel made its debut, launching as Joko & Klaas gegen ProSieben on the German broadcaster. The show was developed and created by Florida Entertainment with the aim of “revolutionizing the studio game-show format,” according to Tim Gerhartz, managing director of Seven.One Studios International, which sells Beat the Channel worldwide.

The format’s unique twist pits the stars of the show against their own boss and employer, their broadcasting channel. “What began as a fun and innovative concept has evolved into a channel-defining brand for ProSieben and often captures the national conversation in Germany,” Gerhartz says.

A breakout hit at launch, the show boosted ratings across every demographic, with season one attracting an average 15.6 percent market share in the key 14-to-49 demo and more than doubling the slot average. It has also captured younger-skewing audiences, with the recent season six attracting a 34.8 percent average market share this spring in the female 14-to-29 demo (a 255 percent increase on the channel average) and a 31.8 percent market share in the male 14-to-29 demo (a 195 percent increase).

“Beat the Channel features some incredible real-time watercooler stunts and games; however, the most unique element of the format is the prize of 15 minutes of live television and forfeits—a clever mechanism to extend the show across the schedule, bringing viewers back to the channel,” says Gerhartz. “These events drive national conversation, often dominating the news cycle and going viral. They prove time and again [to be] an unpredictable, noisy and sometimes anarchic event that everyone tunes in for. They can be fun and frivolous or make an edgy point with a political message; they have seen everything from giveaways to giving a voice to marginalized groups like the unhoused or refugees, from hosting a gig broadcast live from a Kharkiv bunker following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict to an examination of gender politics in a post-#MeToo world.”

The show continues to hit ratings highs and smash its own records. The penultimate episode of season five in Germany scored a 21.3 percent market share in the 14-to-49 demographic, making it the show’s highest-rating episode to date. The sixth season, which aired in spring 2024, saw the format celebrate its 50th episode, for which the usual 15-minute prize increased to 24 hours. The winning channel takeover dominated ratings and propelled ProSieben to its best day since November 2020.

“In a time when broadcasters are looking for big brands and proven successes, Beat the Channel performs exceptionally well for both linear and digital,” says Gerhartz. “It has proven invaluable in driving audiences—especially young audiences—back to linear television while remaining a top performer for ProSieben across its digital offering Joyn, regularly appearing in its top formats. The format also attracts a deeply engaged audience, with the majority of viewers watching full episodes across both linear and digital.

Not only does Beat the Channel include wild challenges, the format also provides an opportunity for cross-promotion, Gerhartz points out, both for other channel talent and brands within the show itself, and utilizing the forfeits, “creating a halo effect for the schedule and other talent who appear on the show. Previous forfeits—which have seen the stars Joko and Klaas appear on other ProSieben programming, such as carrying out experiments on the channel’s popular science series Galileo or hosting magazine show Taff—have boosted show ratings across the ProSieben schedule.”

Central to Beat the Channel’s success is its “loud, bold and, crucially, winnable challenges” with clearly defined rules, Gerhartz says. “Most are played out on an LED floor in the studio. [For example], the stars compete against two channel celebrities, and the two teams are challenged to make a series of objects (high heels, a ukulele, a globe) unrecognizable by destroying them. The opposing team must guess what the objects once [were], and whoever has the most correct answers wins. Others play out on location, such as the bobsleigh challenge, which dared the stars to run up a bobsleigh slope wearing bowling shoes tied together, with a one-hour time limit.”

The most fundamental format beat, though, is the prize of 15 minutes of live television for the stars to do with as they please, or the forfeits in the case of a loss, where they are at the full disposal of the channel. “A money-can’t-buy prize that everyone tunes in for—and the show’s calling card,” notes Gerhartz.

He points out that in other aspects, the format is flexible and easily tailored to appeal to different markets and audiences: “Beat the Channel is a scalable format that can be adapted for various scheduling needs and time slots and can be produced to fit different budget restrictions.”

Spanish broadcaster Atresmedia has commissioned its own local version, López y Leal contra el canal, which is set to launch later this year in a prime-time slot on Antena 3. The new treatment “showcases the incredible flexibility of the format as well as its universality,” Gerhartz says. While the stars of the original version, Joko and Klaas, have a long history of working together, the new Spanish version brings together two of the country’s most charismatic presenters, Roberto Leal and Iñaki López, to work together for the very first time, with Eva González as host.

“Producer Boxfish has selected some of the loudest and most striking challenges from the original series—ones that would most resonate with Spanish audiences—and adapted them to fit their audience and production,” Gerhartz says.

Beyond the new Spanish adaptation, the format has already been licensed to multiple other territories, including to ITV Studios in France and Yellow Film & TV in Finland. “We plan to build on its phenomenal success in Germany, and soon Spain, with further commissions across European and global territories,” says Gerhartz. Furthermore, Boxfish has optioned the show and is currently pitching it in Portugal and LatAm territories, including Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Brazil.

SHOWCASE: Red Arrow Studios International Stays On-Trend

Over the last year, and particularly the last six months, Red Arrow Studios International has seen the international TV business really bounce back from the unprecedented challenges posed by Covid-19. “After that initial shock, when new commissions were put on the backburner and program acquisitions were put on hold, our production partners have worked hard—and creatively—to get back into production as safely as possible across both scripted and unscripted,” says Tim Gerhartz, president and managing director. “Producers, in turn, have also used the enforced downtime to put their energies into new developments and ideas, meaning we can already look forward to an increased creative output within the Red Arrow Group, as well as from our network of independent producers.”

Many platforms have used the past few months to adjust their programming strategies, with pay and VOD platforms, in particular, having invested more, Gerhartz says. “We are doing a lot more business with VOD platforms, particularly those regional players that are continuing to step up as significant investors in drama. In addition, windowing strategies are being discussed more actively and openly than ever before. Finally, we are seeing many reorganizational efforts among traditional clients. The focus here is on the continuously growing importance of nonlinear offers.” He adds that Red Arrow Studios International is deriving more business from AVOD, “which has developed rapidly and is no longer a niche play.”

With its strong multi-genre offering, the company has long been a destination for buyers looking for strong commercial entertainment with broad appeal, particularly in the genres of dramas and formats. These continue to be top priorities for Red Arrow Studios International, along with a selection of premium factual content.

For MIPCOM and fall 2021, the company’s scripted lineup is led by Blackout: Tomorrow Is Too Late, a six-part, high-concept, German-language thriller that sees the past catch up with a former hacker when a sudden blackout plunges Europe into darkness. It is based on Marc Elsberg’s best-selling novel of the same name.

Australian Gangster is based on a true story about the gangster Pasquale Barbaro. Gerhartz describes the drama as a “fast-paced, slick and darkly humorous event miniseries. Full of action, it’s a close-up, contemporary view of the criminal world; think Goodfellas meets The Kardashians!”

Meanwhile, there’s a second season of the Icelandic crime drama Stella Blómkvist, featuring Poldark star Heida Reed as a witty, intelligent, fierce lawyer.

On the formats front, the company is touting a new family entertainment series: Who Is the Phantom?, originally produced for ProSieben in Germany. It promises a new take on the popular “masked celebrity” genre. Also available is Couple Wars, originally produced for SAT.1 in Germany, in which competing couples undertake very personal challenges to test how much they know about each other. Additional highlights include #OfflineintheWild, a fish-out-of-water format originally produced for Joyn, as well as the quiz shows Quizness and The Opposite Show.

In the factual arena, Red Arrow Studios International presents Deadly Standoffs, a history series exploring the stories behind six infamous sieges that shook the U.S.

“There’s a lot of interest in premium, serialized productions from pay, VOD and public channels, and returning English-language series remain in demand, so our dramas Vienna Blood and Departure, both now into their second seasons, continue to profit from this,” Gerhartz says of trends in the scripted space. “Over the last six months, we have also seen a big resurgent interest in our scripted formats business, particularly from linear broadcasters interested in making local adaptations of classic crime procedurals and dramedies.” M6 in France commissioned a short-form local version of the hit comedy format Lice Mother, and new adaptations of the comedy format Match are set for the Netherlands, Belgium and Turkey. Format deals have also been signed for the legal drama Danni Lowinski and the crime procedural Einstein.

“In the factual arena, we are finding that, despite the budget cuts, it is mainly the premium series that are most in-demand,” says Gerhartz. He highlights climate change, world politics, crime, environmentalism and celebrity stories looked at through a different lens as being particularly on-trend. Framing Britney Spears, part of the Emmy Award-nominated The Weekly: Special Edition was one of the most in-demand titles the company has had in the past five years. The Weekly: Special Edition has been commissioned for a second season, so there will be more documentaries from this premium collection for Red Arrow Studios International to share with clients soon.

“Big, successful prime-time entertainment shows that offer family-friendly, co-viewing opportunities are attracting the interest of major entertainment channels, as they offer a counter-model to nonlinear bingeing,” Gerhartz notes. Beat the Channel and Stealing the Show! both fit the bill.

“The trend for many commercial broadcasters to invest not only in shows but also in brands, which can then be monetized across more platforms, is further intensifying,” he adds. “Our hit format Married at First Sight has benefited from this and is now running in many markets as a supersized version in prime time, with spin-offs and overseas series airing on secondary channels and VOD platforms.”

Red Arrow Studios International has also developed a reputation for its innovative social-experiment formats, including highlights such as Old People’s Home for 4 Year Olds and The Restaurant That Makes Mistakes, both of which, Gerhartz says, are seeing an increase in interest as broadcasters start to seek out content celebrating sections of society that have been vulnerable and marginalized over the last 18 months.