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FremantleMedia eyes Mark Burnett formats

FremantleMedia Australia has signed a deal with US producer Mark Burnett to develop local versions of his programmes.

FremantleMedia Australia has signed a deal with US producer Mark Burnett to develop local versions of his programmes.

FMA has already produced one successful season of The Apprentice, but is now eyeing other formats including new reality adventure show, Expedition Impossible, which will make its US debut later this month.

“It’s an Indiana Jones-esque type of experience,” Ian Hogg, chief executive of FMA has told The Australian.

“It’s high-energy adventure. Three teams solve problems while racing across mountains and deserts while being set challenges. It’s in the style (of The Amazing Race). We’re very confident we’ll be able to place that here.

“We’re very confident The Apprentice will be making an appearance on Australian TV soon. It could be (on Nine). The last one was. Also, How’d You Get So Rich? — which is like Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous — is just fantastic.”

The Apprentice boss Mark Bouris previously told TV Tonight he was keen for a second season of the show.

Burnett’s other television franchises have included Survivor, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, Shark Tank, Oprah’s All-Stars, Martha Stewart, Sarah Palin’s Alaska, The Contender, On the Lot (a collaboration with Stephen Spielberg), The Restaurant, Rock Star, Combat Missions,My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad, Bully Beatdown, Starmaker, Expedition Africa, Toughest Cowboy, Wedding Day and The Voice.

16 Responses

  1. I’d love to see Australian Survivor given another shot, But with a bigger budget, a better host and No celebrities. Take a look at how Amazing Race Australia has been done. It’s a great blueprint – substantial budget, awesome host similar to the US host, and a good cast. Stay true to the concept and it can be done really well.

  2. How so @Brad? I was talking about the current season of Amazing Race, plus if you look at the 5 shows nominated for this year’s Best Reality Logie (not my fav indication of quality I grant you, but we don’t have much choice here ) 4 were produced by FremantleMedia and the 5th show isn’t really a reality show anyway.

    If The Renovators fires for Shine and Big Brother comes back for Southern Star Fremantle will have some competition, but at this stage it’s all talk – much like the deal with Burnett… but that isn’t a reason to write it off so ignorantly.

  3. @Dicko, that is so backward looking, much like the broader Fremantle group these days….. The glory days seem a somewhat distant memory.

  4. @Andry, hasn’t who learned? And what the hell are you on about? I would say TAR Australia has proven that if you do these shows right, they can succeed. The original Channel Nine Australian Survivor was made on the cheap, in house at Channel Nine by people who didn’t have clue what they were doing. The second attempt by Channel Seven was a poorly conceived celebrity hybrid version. If Fremantle (who know a thing or two about making big budget reality) can secure a realistic budget for survivor, there is no reason why it couldn’t stand up to the US version. Budgets for reality shows are way more in line with what they should be, compared with 5-8 years ago when Australia last tried survivor.

  5. great…we Really need more formatted Tv….I guess all the actual creative people can join the dole que now…..thanks freemantle…

  6. Expedition Impossible looks pretty good, like extreme sports Amazing Race. Guess networks will wait to see what kind of reception it gets in the states before a bidding war erupts for it here. And The Apprentice did well despite Ch9 burying it at 9:30pm. Programming and production really need to talk.

  7. What a bizarre decision – Burnett has had enormous success in the past and still has great shows on the air but this is hardly the sign of Fremantle being innovative….

  8. Haven’t they learnt from Survivor? A huge layout for a show that can’t possibly live up to the US version – Which is still screened here! Sorry for shouting – but it’s just so dumb.

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