Page 28 - 19_Bafta ACADEMY_Silent Films_ok

behind tv
26
Photos l-r: Daniel Casey and John Nettles in Midsomer Murders; Bob The Builder; I’m A Celebrity: Get Me Out Of Here! winner Tony Blackburn
After years of stagnation, exports to the States jumped by 19 per cent in 2001 to $199m. And TV distributors are confident that 2002 will see another increase when figures are released later this year.
Mike Phillips, the managing director of international television at BBC Worldwide, says exports to the US have been driven by an increase in the sale of TV formats.
“If something becomes a big hit for them then that tends to pave the way for other projects from the same source,” he explains. “Who Wants to be a Millionaire? was a
real breakthrough and that undoubtedly helped us in selling The Weakest Link.”
In fact, the Anne Robinson- fronted US version of the show, along with the ubiquitous Bob the Builder, were responsible for a large part of the 19 per cent rise in exports.
Bob, of course, is not just a TV star, his videos have sold millions of copies and his live show tours the States this March.
Following in the footsteps of Bob are Tell-Tale Productions’ Tweenies. The pre-school show will air twice a day in 30 million
homes from April on Noggin, Nickelodeon’s ad-free educa- tional cable channel.
Other formats that have wowed Americana are Fox TV1s American Idol (based on Britain’s Pop Idol), which has just begun its second run, and Big Brother. ABC has picked up I’m a Celebrity: Get Me Out Of Here! which goes into production later this year.
British reality and game show formats are attractive because, with the advertising downturn continuing to depress the American networks’ income, they make cheap TV.
flying the flag
From New York, via Springfield, to LA, British viewers have been treated – and often subjected to – coast to coast Americana. Now we’re getting our own back as British TV programmes cross the Atlantic to acquaint US viewers with David Brent’s Slough, the killing fields of Midsomer Norton and Bob the Builder’s yard. Matthew Bell reports.