Japan's 800-episode gameshow Action Arena goes on sale worldwide for first time
After more than 30 years as a Japan-only hit, the gameshow Action Arena is being sold to the rest of the world for the first time.
NBCUniversal Formats has acquired the distribution rights, meaning the right to sell the show abroad, to the Tokyo Broadcasting System series, according to Deadline. The deal covers the format, meaning the blueprint another broadcaster can use to make its own local version.
The show comes with a long track record. Action Arena premiered in 1994. It then ran for 17 years, producing more than 800 episodes and specials. During that run it was consistently one of the most-watched programmes in its time slot.
The idea is built for family viewing. Contestants and celebrities take on a run of physical and mental challenges. The games test wits, teamwork and reflexes.
A format deal of this kind does not usually move the original episodes. It moves the rules. A buyer gets the game designs, the structure of an episode and the production know-how. It then casts its own hosts and players and films a new version in its own language.
That is why the sales market matters. NBCUniversal Formats will include Action Arena in its catalogue at MIPCOM, the annual international television sales market in Cannes. Producers bring catalogues of shows to that market. Broadcasters, streamers and producers browse them and buy the ideas they want to remake at home.
NBCUniversal Formats is bringing a second Asian title to the same shop window. The company has also picked up the format rights, meaning permission to sell remake rights, to Korea's Unboxing the Flavours. That show is owned by DI Turn Co. Ltd and Phileas Productions S.L.
The formats business is run on the sales side by Linfield Ng, NBCUniversal Formats' vice-president for format sales and production. His team handles deals with outside creators and sells finished formats on to buyers.
What makes this stand out is the wait. Thirty years is a long time to keep a hit at home. More than 800 episodes leaves a new buyer with a very large box of games to work through.
