Fremantle in love

Producer to import telenovela format to U.S.

By MICHAEL SCHNEIDER

"American Idol" producer FremantleMedia North America is hot to introduce the telenovela format to English-speaking U.S. audiences.

Meeting Tuesday with reporters, FremantleMedia execs said the melodramatic program form -- which dominates Spanish-lingo outlets in the U.S., Mexico, Latin America and other territories globally -- reps a low-cost way to produce original programming in the summertime.

"There is some indication that the time is right to push the telenovela initiative," said FremantleMedia North America CEO Cecile Frot-Coutaz. "If it's successful, we can start a whole new genre. ... I see Fremantle uniquely positioned for this."

FremantleMedia's international parent, an arm of the RTL Group, is no stranger to adapting global formats for local audiences. The company already produces localized versions of reality skeins around the globe, including 32 different versions of "Idol." The company also produces "The Apprentice" outside of the U.S. in 14 markets.

On the drama side, FremantleMedia has already found success producing new versions of telenovelas for non-Spanish-speaking viewers in countries such as Germany. There, "Bianca Wege Zum Gluck" ranks as ZDF's No. 1 daytime drama, and SAT1's "Verliebt in Berlin" -- an adaptation of the infamous Colombian series "Betty La Fea" -- wins its timeslot.

"It never occurred to us that this would work outside of its homeland," said London-based FremantleMedia CEO Tony Cohen. "But now in Germany we have four on the air. We hope this love story format will sweep around the world ... but you can't just take scripts and translate them."

The telenovela push reps part of FremantleMedia North America's attempts to enter the U.S. drama series arena. The company has already landed a script at one network and is about to aggressively pitch the telenovela idea.

Frot-Coutaz said the company plans to slowly introduce the telenovela concept, producing one or two episodes a week (compared with the five-day-a-week schedule of Spanish-language versions) for 13 weeks. The company hopes to get one on the air by summer 2007.

Meanwhile, FremantleMedia North America is also pitching the broadcast webs on resurrecting several classic gameshow formats (the company owns the old Goodson library) to create a celebrity elimination showdown in the vein of "Dancing With the Stars."

The showcase is being pitched as one potential solution to the nets' Friday and Saturday night woes. Concept was developed after the U.K.'s ITV1 hit it big with "Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon," which consisted of shows including "Family Feud," "The Price Is Right," "Card Sharks" and "Sale of the Century."

Frot-Coutaz is also focused on the upcoming fifth season of "American Idol." The exec said FremantleMedia would be interested this season in producing a version of its U.K. aftershow, "Pop Idol Extra." But she said producers remain very careful in terms of what is done with the franchise.

"The pressure's on that 'American Idol 5' does better than 'American Idol 4,' " she said.

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