Three broadcasters in Asia have acquired Keshet International’s Rising Star U.S.for local audiences. MediaCorp Singapore has acquired the 10 episode series for its free to air channel, Channel 5 (Britain’s Got Talent, The X Factor), Bangkok Entertainment Company has acquired the show for one of its suite of DTT Channels (to be confirmed) and Sohu Video (Ellen Degeneres Show, Saturday Night Live, House of Cards) in China, a subsidiary of Sohu.com, has acquired VoD rights.
The show’s highly anticipated premiere will air on June 22 on ABC and will be hosted by international singer/songwriter Josh Groban, alongside music sensation Kesha, multi-platinum selling hip-hop artist Ludacris and country music star Brad Paisley on the expert panel. The show will be executive produced by Ken Warwick (American Idol) and Nicolle Yaron (The Voice).
MediaCorp Channel 5 will air the show on Monday nights during primetime following the Sunday night U.S. broadcast and the show will be immediately available following the U.S. broadcast on tv.Sohu.com. BEC’s broadcast slot is to be confirmed.
The previously launched Brazilian and Portuguese versions of the format continue to storm ahead with consistently strong ratings and captivated audiences. The real-time voting app has been downloaded more than 2.9 million times in Brazil, an amount representing more than 8% of the country’s entire smart phone user base. In Portugal Rising Star has been the leading show in primetime for six out of seven episodes broadcast to date.
Keshet International has closed deals for Rising Star in more than 25 territories since its launch at MIPCOM 2013, making it the fastest-selling talent format on record. Sales include the U.S. (ABC), UK (ITV), Argentina (Telefe), Brazil (RedeGlobo), Spain (Atresmedia), Portugal (TVI), Italy (Toro), France (M6 Group) Russia (Rossiya1), Germany (RTL), the Nordics (Nordisk), Hungary (TV2), Ukraine (1+1), Greece (MEGA), Turkey (AcunMedya) and Indonesia (RCTI). Interest in the format continues to grow worldwide following unprecedented ratings for the show’s original series in Israel, the season finale of which peaked with a 58% share of the total domestic audience. Endemol Netherlands has also recently optioned the format.
Internationally acclaimed singer, songwriter Josh Groban will host, and country music superstar Brad Paisley, music sensation Kesha and hip hop artist and actor Ludacris comprise the expert panel on ABC’s Rising Star, the next evolution of live television. Rising Star completely reinvents the traditional singing competition as–for the first time ever–the audience has the final say in real time. The show follows a group of aspiring singers as they perform live. During the performances, viewers vote in real time via an app to determine if the singer will advance in the competition. If the voting reaches a certain threshold, the performer moves on. In addition, the performer can see how the voting is going throughout the performance, so the feedback is immediate and dramatic.
Rising Star U.S.
Rising Star opened the gate to a new era in reality competition, when the executive producers, Ken Warwick (American Idol) and Nicolle Yaron (The Voice) kicked off a nationwide search for talent earlier this year. The show accepted submissions online, via Instagram and production members travelled to Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, Nashville, Los Angeles, New York and Boston for in person auditions. Beginning June 22, and the contestants winnowed down by that search will have their moment onstage in Rising Star with viewers deciding who wins.
Rising Star is executive produced in the U.S. by Ken Warwick (American Idol) and Nicolle Yaron (The Voice). The series is from Keshet DCP, the joint venture between Keshet International (KI), the global distribution and production arm of Keshet Media Group, and DC Media, the parent company of dick clark productions (dcp).
