The Mnet reality TV competition show "My Boyfriend Is Better," which drew major interest at this year's MIPTV, is filmed at the studio. The show ran from March 25 to May 6. (CJ ENM)
By Jung Joo-ri and Yoon Sojung
MIPTV, the world's largest market for broadcast content, is held in April every year in Cannes, France. Conferences and markets are held at the event and over 10,000 participants from the TV sector gather to await the release of new content.
The show received praise as a new format created in Korea. Mentioning the show, "The Wit," famous for its analysis of global format consulting and latest trends in formats, announced "the birth of a new reality genre, D-Acting, which fuses dating shows with more developed contexts."
"My Boyfriend Is Better" has five couples per episode whose partners sing and invest money. Each guy must sing a song and his girlfriend invests KRW 5 million in whom she considers the most likely to survive. Each woman can invest all her money in her boyfriend or divide it among other men who sing better.
After the men sing one song and show off their charms, the seven female judges vote for the weakest male contestant. The guy with the most votes in this category is eliminated and the investment in him is lost.
The show's producer in charge of planning and directing, Won Jung-woo, said he initially thought of making a family-themed program. "Because dating is a theme that everyone is interested in, I wanted to create a program that everyone can enjoy," he added.
"In Korea, we featured young couples but we can create so many stories in other countries through the program by showing couples of varying ages or gender overseas."
Posters of Korean leading entertainment shows: (from left) tvN's "Grandpas Over Flowers," Mnet's "I Can See Your Voice" and MBC's "Game of Blood" (tvN, Mnet, MBC)
Broadcasters are taking a closer look at whether this hit show can be exported as an entertainment program format following the success of tvN's "Grandpas Over Flowers," MBC's "The Masked Singer" and Mnet's "I Can See Your Voice."
In 2014, "Grandpas Over Flowers" became the first Korean entertainment program whose format was exported to a U.S. terrestrial TV channel. "The Masked Singer" was sold to approximately 60 countries including Germany and France, emerging as the most exported format of its kind.
"I Can See Your Voice" was sold to 24 countries including the U.K., U.S. and China, proving popular despite the language barrier. And "Game of Blood," which features competitors in a survival game for money in an isolated location, was exported to nine countries including Germany, France and Italy.
The Korea Creative Content Agency said that from 2011-20, 102 Korean show formats saw 204 export cases to 65 countries.
The American edition of "The Masked Singer" was aired from Jan. 2, 2019, on Fox TV based on the Korean show of the same name. Due to its popularity, the U.S. version is now in its seventh season. (Facebook account of “The Masked Singer")
Once exported, the format keeps generating profit and can be sold to other countries, thus earning the moniker of a "goose laying golden eggs." When a program is created based on an exported format, 5%-10% of the overall production cost is paid in royalties. If the program is successful and sees another two to three seasons, the original broadcaster can continue raking in royalties.
In addition to being exported, such formats can also lead to joint productions. In this case, creators form a partnership for joint content development or Korean production crews get actively involved in a program's overall creation with producers in the host country.
Park Wonwoo, screenwriter of the original Korean edition of “The Masked Singer" and director of the broadcast content production company Diturn, said, "I work with counterparts from a number of countries including the U.S., France and Canada," adding, "Depending on production company, they might propose joint development or ask to make changes to adjust to the host country's environment."
The export of a show format can lead to content localized to regional characteristics and thus has the advantage of a lower cultural discount rate. The rate refers to a phenomenon in which cultural content is valued lower because of cultural differences resulting from being moved from the original culture to another.
Pop culture critic Kim Heonsik said, "The advantage of an entertainment program format is that it can be applied in any country because of the low cultural discount rate," adding, "Given efforts to find a universal format for Korean content, the world will search for more Korean formats."
etoilejr@korea.kr