Keshet International has sold its trailblazing interactive talent format Rising Star to Enlight Media China. The Chinese version will be broadcast on the China state television channel CCTV (China Central Television). A two season deal has been closed and 30 episodes will be produced by Enlight Media for the TV network’s CCTV-3 channel. The agreement will see Rising Star airing to a potentially gigantic audience of up to 1.2 billion live viewers. Beijing Century Media assisted with the deal process.
Rising Star
Wen Ha, Program Director at CCTV-3, said, “We are excited about this format because of its cross-platform and interactive features, which are things that have never been seen before on Chinese television.”
Hang Zhang, President of Television Division of Enlight Media, said, “This collaboration will become a milestone in Chinese Television history. Enlight Media is confident that it will make Rising Star China a phenomenal show.”
Keshet International CEO, Alon Shtruzman, said, “We’re very happy to be partnering with one of China’s most respected and experienced production companies, Enlight Media, to bring Rising Star to the CCTV-3 audience. This is the latest of several recent deals we have made in Asia. The region is a key priority for us as we continue to grow internationally. ”
To date, Rising Star has aired in Brazil (RedeGlobo), Portugal (TVI) and the USA (ABC) stacking up some impressive achievements. The Brazilian version of the show attracted an average share of 31% across the series, peaking at 35% and the Rising Star app was downloaded more than 3.2 million times. Broadcaster RedeGlobo has commissioned a second season for 2015. In Portugal Rising Star averaged a 25% series share, peaking at 33% – some 22% higher than its nearest competitor (The Voice). It was the country’s most watched entertainment show and triumphed over its competition in 11 weeks out of a possible 13 – losing out only to the Portugal/USA World Cup game and the World Cup final. More than 630,000 users registered through the app. In the U.S., Rising Star was the nation’s second most watched Sunday night show, consistently outperforming ABC’s regular averages for the slot year on year. The show’s premiere was Sunday’s No. 1 Most-Social Broadcast Series, delivering 290% more tweets than NBC’s America’s Got Talent. The Rising Star app was the most popular IOS and entertainment app on Google Play for the first few weeks of launch. Rising Star Germany and Indonesian are currently on air, and Rising Star Russia will launch this weekend.
Keshet International has closed deals for Rising Star in more than 30 territories since its launch at MIPCOM 2013, making it the fastest-selling talent format on record (source: The WIT). Sales include the UK (ITV), US (ABC), 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.
Rising Star, produced by Tedy Productions for Keshet Broadcasting, marked a record-breaking debut on Keshet’s Channel 2 from September to December 2013, maintaining its audience throughout the full first season as the highest-rated show in 10 of its 15 weeks on air. The app, developed by Keshet and digital partner Screenz, during season one which was downloaded more than 1.5 million times. Rising Star has far outperformed all second screen data ever recorded in Israel, with an activity rate 10 times higher than its nearest competitor. It maintained high ratings and conversion rates (i.e. viewers to second screen participation), in excess of 30%, throughout the series.
