Keshet International (KI) has completed its first sales of the comedy quiz show Question Team, hosted by Richard Ayoade, before officially launching both the finished tape and format to market. 

Ahead of its virtual 2022 Spring Slate launch in March, the international distributor and producer has already licensed the 8×60’ panel show – originally produced by Interstellar for UKTV’s Dave – to SBS in Australia and TVNZ in New Zealand, with both broadcast partners acquiring the free TV and AVOD rights in their respective territories.  

Each stand-alone episode of Question Team sees Richard Ayoade (The IT Crowd, Gadget Man) invite three different comedians to write and host their own round of questions for the others to play.  New and established guests delivering an infectious and unique blend of unusual interests, inventive games and random comedy gold throughout the eight-part series include Katherine Ryan (The Duchess), Bob Mortimer (Shooting Stars, Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing), Johnny Vegas (Ideal, Benidorm), Nish Kumar (The Mash Report) and Sarah Pascoe (Guessable, The Great British Sewing Bee).  

Kelly Wright, KI’s SVP of Distribution and New Business says, “We are thrilled that Interstellar’s hilarious new quiz show is going to be enjoyed by audiences in Australia and New Zealand. Both SBS and TVNZ are warm and welcoming homes for UK shows – they love British humour – and Question Team has that in spades, thanks to the wealth of British comedy talent that share their passions and interests in a myriad of infectiously funny rounds, balanced with the dry wit of host Richard Ayoade.” 

Created and exec produced by Interstellar’s Jamie Ormerod, Question Team premiered in the UK on Dave last October to rave reviews – the Daily Mail described it as “a doozy of a format” and “unexpectedly addictive”, while Chortle.com said it was both “infectious” and “genuine fun” – and solid ratings:  

• Including 28-day catch up, online viewing and same-week repeats, Question Team averaged an audience of 397k individuals per episode, peaking with 563k for ep 1 (12/10/21).
• In 7-day consolidation, the premiere series also averaged a strong 68% ABC1 profile.
• Across 32 plays to date, Question Team has reached over 2.3m individuals on Dave. 

Excerpts from Question Team are currently trending on Dave’s Youtube channel: James Acaster quizzing Kemah Bob, Olga Koch and host Richard Ayoade about the personal lives of three complete strangers is Dave’s most-watched clip ever, with 429,853 views since 1 November 2021. 

Other quiz shows distributed by KI include Boom!, one of the company’s most successful formats ever, which has now been produced in 17 countries, with over 2,500 episodes aired to date in Spain (Antena – 7 series so far), Argentina (Telefe), Cambodia (Bavon TV), Colombia (Caracol), France (TF1), Hungary (TV2), Vietnam (VTV3), Greece (Skai), and the US (Fox); Domination, the game that challenges a whole nation, which has been also produced in Vietnam (VTV3); and Contacts, which has been produced in Panama (TVN) and Brazil (Record TV).