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MasterChef Franchise Continues Its Global Expansion
International hit format picked up in eight markets and counting -- in advance of US premiere on FOX
LOS ANGELES, January 25, 2010 Shine International today announced it has sold MASTERCHEF, the culinary competition series and smash international format, in seven additional markets, closing sales with New Zealands TV One, Romanias PRO TV, Greeces MEGA, and Fremantle Asia in territories including Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Singapore. In addition, Shine Groups Rubicon has been commissioned by Norways TV3 to produce a Norwegian version of the show.
MASTERCHEF is the number one cooking format in the UK where it has been produced by Shine TV since 2005. Last year MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA became the highest rated non-sports broadcast ever on Australian television. Shine France has just been commissioned by TF1 to produce a primetime version of the series in France. And building on its overseas success, a US version of MASTERCHEF, featuring famed chef Gordon Ramsay and produced by Reveille and Ramsays One Potato Two Potato, was picked up by FOX and will premiere later this year.
At Shine International were always proud to set the stage for a hugely successful US launch by building a series into a major hit around the globe, said Chris Grant, President of Shine International. When we first obtained rights for MASTERCHEF, it had no international footprint, but we saw its potential as an extremely dynamic and adaptable format in one of the hottest categories on the market. It is now the worlds biggest cooking competition format and there are no signs of it slowing down as it heads into France and the US.
The series has already broken audience records. In Australia, MASTERCHEF was Australian TVs break-out hit in 2009 and commanded a 77% audience share for its final episode in July, making it bigger than AUSTRALIAN IDOL, AUSTRALIA'S GOT TALENT or BIG BROTHER. The second season debuts next spring.
In the UK, where MASTERCHEF is produced by Shine TV, the main series moves this month from BBC TWO to BBC ONE. Recently, the second series finale of spin-off show MASTERCHEF: THE PROFESSIONALS moved to a peak time slot on BBC TWO attracting 4.7 million viewers. CELEBRITY MASTERCHEF returns for a fifth series on BBC ONE in 2010 while JUNIOR MASTERCHEF is currently in production.
A recent three-year deal named BBC Worldwide as MASTERCHEF brand and licensing partner in the UK and, amongst other online and print activity, saw the re-launch of the BBC GOOD FOOD show as MASTERCHEF LIVE in both London and Birmingham, with the former attracting nearly 30,000 attendees across three days in November in the capital. One of the first culinary competition series on television, the format is represented internationally by Shine International, the sales and distribution arm of the Shine Group, and is based on a format created by Franc Roddam.
In Hungary, VIASAT just wrapped its successful first season of MASTERCHEF. In New Zealand, the series is set to become the countrys largest production of the year, premiering on TV One in February 2010.
Added On Tuesday, February 9, 2010