Format

Banijay Rights, the leading distribution arm of Banijay Group, has concluded a host of new format deals around the world for hit entertainment brand, Wife Swap. Announced today, the new versions include a local adaptation in Brazil.
Currently in production by Teleimage, the Brazilian addition will make its debut on TV Record in February 2019. The 11 x 80’ series – known locally as Troca de Esposas – will air weekly in a primetime slot. Wife Swap is the award-winning reality series that gets straight to the heart of how we live and love by inviting two households to swap wives for two weeks.
Further local adaptations are already underway with Banijay Group’s Screentime Australia, Banijay Studios North America and Banijay Finland respectively. An 8 x 90’ series will air on Australia’s Seven in 2019, a 10 x 60’ series in the U.S., and in Finland, the new series will air on AVA (MTV3) in late 2019.
Elliott Chalkley, VP Sales at Banijay Rights, commented, “The deal with TV Record in Latin America acts as a major format commission for Wife Swap, one of the most iconic entertainment formats in the market. The show’s continuing success on the global stage – and growing portfolio of international versions, including Brazil – is driven by its simple yet highly adaptable premise and real-life setting. The series always guarantees drama-packed primetime entertainment, but also offers a unique opportunity to explore how we live – discovering whether these families, from different walks of life, can embrace and learn from their differences and find common ground.”
Marcelo Silva, Programming VP of Record TV, said, “Record TV is always looking for fresh reality show formats to surprise our viewers. We truly believe that Wife Swap meets what we are looking for as it creates an unusual situation of changing the wives between two completely different families. The challenge of living together in the confinement of a reality show draws the attention of the Brazilian audience, especially the young people and those who are very connected to social networks. We believe that there is a real identification and a constant interest in this type of TV program, because it spawns daily conversations across all media extending the scope of the program”.
These latest deals follow the recent announcement that Wife Swap has been recommissioned for a third season by BTV in Bulgaria, and a fourth season for TFX (formerly NT1) in France. A second series – a double season (20 x 60’) – recently aired on Russia’s U Channel.
Banijay Rights will manage global sales of the finished series from English speaking territories Australia, and the U.S.
Originally produced by RDF Television for the UK’s Channel 4, Wife Swap has been on air continuously for 15 years and has now been adapted in 27 countries. The series is a primetime staple in many territories, such as Romania (25 seasons for Prima) and Ukraine (14 seasons for 1+1), and has aired for eight seasons in Slovakia, and ten seasons in the Czech Republic for TV Nova.
Every episode of Wife Swap begins with the wives arriving at their new homes and initially meeting their temporary families. Aided only by an instruction manual left by her predecessor, the wife must spend the first week living according to the rules of the house, often prompting the question: ‘How do people live like this?’ Cameras follow the two women from different backgrounds, as they have to adapt to parenting, socialising and running the household according to the other wife’s rule-book. In week two, expect big changes as the swapped wife runs the household as she sees fit. Plus, the wives and their spouses have a summit meeting; no punches are pulled as they judge each other’s life choices and the effect those decisions have had on the families. Stand back!