The WIT, led by Virginia Mouseler, opened its «Fresh TV Formats» conference at MIPCOM 2025 by confirming the market’s shift toward formats originating from or inspired by YouTube. The data presented showcased a transformation in both global format trends and the structure of international sales.
The YouTube effect and strategy games
Reflecting the presence of YouTube at MIPCOM 2025, The WIT highlighted two high-budget formats from the video platform: Stop The Train (Unfold Productions), which is the most expensive French YouTube program to date with a €700,000 budget, and Terminal (Digitalnak/Masscorp), which invested €1 million to produce four episodes. Traditional television is also adapting concepts from the platform, such as Catch us if you can (Talpa Studios), which is based on a YouTube format that garners over a million views.
Strategy game shows remain a dominant unscripted trend, with new examples including Pandora’s Box (Fremantle), The Sword of Damocles (Talpa Studios), and the forthcoming The Heirs of Monte Cristo (Mediawan Rights). The industry is watching to see if any of these new titles can match the success of current top-selling formats, such as The Floor, The Assembly, Traitors, and Shark Tank.
Shifts in global trade and top distributors
The traditional export hierarchy remains largely intact, with the UK, U.S., and Netherlands leading format exports. This is followed by Belgium, ‘multiple territories’ (reflecting multi-country buys by streaming platforms), France, Japan, Norway, Germany, and Denmark.
However, the import market shows significant change: Spain has risen to the world’s number one importer of entertainment formats. The country’s demand is driven by strong format acquisition from broadcasters Atresmedia, Mediaset España, and and Televisión Española. The market is also focused on the future strategy of Movistar Plus+ in the entertainment genre. The list of top importers continues with ‘multiple territories’ at number two, followed by the Netherlands, Germany, France, Poland, Finland, Denmark, the UK, and Italy.
The top global distributors based on sales volume are Banijay Rights, ITV Studios, and Fremantle. They are followed by All3media International, Talpa Studios, Sony Pictures Television, BBC Studios, Paramount Global Content, Primitives, and NBCUniversal Formats.
Fresh TV Formats Selection – MIPCOM 2025
The WIT’s selection of noteworthy new formats for the market includes titles across several emerging genres:
- General Entertainment and Lifestyle: Watch your Back (Talpa Studios) and Tandem (Occam Productions) from Swiss public television.
- Dating Shows: Advent Calendar (Sphere Media), Love Bombing (Crazy Maple Studios) offered in a ReelShort short-form format, and the vertical format Don’t Get Catfish (Baker Dozen Studios/ After Party Studios).
- Quiz Shows: Wisdom of the Crowd (BBC Studios), Intuition (Can’t Stop Media), Nobody’s Fool (ITV Studios), 12 Smart People (Show & Game), Cuánto, cuánto, cuánto (Encofrados Encofrasa, El Terrat, The Mediapro Studio), The Easiest Quizshow in the World (NBCUniversal Formats), and Am I The A***hole? (Paramount Global).
- Popular Games/Competition: Sea Battle (Dreamspark), Long Live The King (Free Kings), That’s my Chair (Dreamspark/Mediawan Rights), and Let’s Play Ball (Banijay Rights).
- Hope and Novelty Formats: Dropout Resort (Allright Media), AI Love You (Banijay Rights), which uses AI to revive a deceased loved one, Roast in Peace (Fremantle), a competitive funeral speech format, and The Game of Wool (Banijay Rights), which seeks the best national weaver.
