Format

Sophie Ferron, President and Founder of award-winning format production and distribution company, Media Ranch, announced several deals for their Media Ranch and DR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation) Collections as well as 2 production renewals in Europe. The company also announced it acquired its first Catalonian format, Up in the Air from Boxcom.

Premium historical reenactment format, The Story of…, from Media Ranch’s DR Collection, had its first adaptation in early 2022 in The Netherlands on NPO1/NTR, reaching over 1 million viewers per episode; is currently in production in Belgium for VRT; and Critical Content optioned the format for the U.S. Other territories the format has been optioned are France, Poland, Spain, and Italy. This factual format asks: Where do we come from and what is our shared, common past that led us to who we are now? Through high end drama and so¬phisticated storytelling, The Story of… brings viewers on a fascinating journey through the past and into the present.

Also from the DR Collection, Media Ranch closed two Production renewals:
- a 2nd season is confirmed for classical musical game show, What’s the Score in Estonia (ETV). Two teams of music experts battle it out for the win using fun, unique and skill-testing challenges such as identifying a piece of music played backwards or based the conductor’s moves.
- a 3rd season for factual wildlife series Stung, Bitten, Burned in the NL on BNNVARA, and their adaptation is nominated for a prestigious Dutch TV Award (De Televizierring). See what happens when a host gets stung, bitten and burned by different animals: ants, spiders, rats, or leeches. How about licking a poisonous frog or going through 15 meters of burning nettles just for fun?

Media Ranch continues to represent more territories, proudly collecting its first Catalonian format, celebrity interview program Up in the Air from Boxcom, broadcasted on TV3. This announcement comes after their key partnerships in South Africa with Trace Studios, and in Korea with Something Special and FormatEast. Up in the Air features a host interviewing a celebrity in a hot air balloon, joined by a surprise friend of the celebrity, asking personal questions while the celebrity tries to guess who is along for the ride.

Optioned in the U.S. by D3 are Horsepower’s 3rd edition winner Love Van and proven format In the Car. Love Van tracks Singles as they seek love on a cross-country rally in their livable vans. Will they fall in love with the potential suitors who are along for the ride, or replace them with the hitchhikers they meet along the way? In the Car is new reality show where five people are challenged to live, eat, and sleep in a car for ten full days - 24 hours per day, all together! The prize for the winner will be the car itself. With every day a new challenge is thrown at the contestants. The car may be small, but anything can happen in it. Format created by Pandora Format in Italy. Deal brokered by Aroma TV.

Ferron said: “Media Ranch is thrilled to start our Fall season with such fantastic news. Our DR Collection continues to deliver success in multiple territories. After focusing on the US market in the last two years, we are excited that premium formats such as The Story of… are crossing the pond. High quality shows like these, which dive deep into history and explore our common stories are what makes formats great. We are also pleased that our Horsepower 3.0 winner, Love Van along with competition show In the Car were picked up by new prodco D3. Now with our first Catalonian format Up in the Air, we continue our global format expansion. Media Ranch has a variety of formats that offer something for everyone .”

Critical Content’s President, Jenny Daly, added: “We are thrilled to have Sophie and her team at Media Ranch bring us this unique format of historical storytelling. The Story of …” has a fresh and unexpected approach in addition to being such a success in other territories that we look forward to introducing the series to the U.S. market.”