CAN’T STOP media today announced that Warner Bros. International Television Production (WBITVP) has acquired the hit format The Secret Song for development in the US, UK, Australia, and New Zealand. The deal was brokered by Ilan Astrug, VP Formats Acquisition, WBITVP, who has previously acquired the Masked Singer and I Can See Your Voice formats for the WBITVP group.
In the US, the show will be developed by Warner Bros. Unscripted Television, the production entity behind Little Big Shots, Ellen’s Game of Games, The Bachelor franchise, and Mental Samurai and led by Mike Darnell, President, Unscripted and Alternative Television.
In the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, local adaptations will be developed by Warner Bros. International TV Production’s companies.
The show, created and produced by DMLS TV for leading French commercial broadcaster TF1, has already been successfully adapted for primetime in Italy on RAI1, Finland on MTV3, Sweden on TV4 and will soon air on Alpha TV in Greece.
In each show, the nation’s most popular celebrities (including singers, TV hosts, comedians, athletes) sit in the middle of a stage on a special chair to watch other artists, friends, or family surprise them with a new take of one of their (own) favorite songs. They have absolutely no clue about what is going to happen on the stage in front of them.
The deal builds on WBITVP’s success with the format to date, as its Swedish and Finnish entities have produced format versions in Sweden (Series 1 aired weekly for eight weeks from January to March) and Finland (Series 2 aired for six weeks from February to March).
CAN’T STOP media has also recently signed a multi-territory deal with Banijay Group for the rights in Portugal, the Netherlands, Flemish-speaking Belgium, Norway, and Poland.
Matthieu Porte, Partner International and Development at CAN’T STOP media, says: “The success of the format on leading channels in four important European territories, has allowed us to focus on the next phase of expansion. We are excited to now be bringing The Secret Song to the US, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand in partnership with Warner Bros. International TV Production in Europe and Warner Bros. Unscripted Television in the US”.
Arnaud Renard, Partner Creative Affairs at CAN’T STOP media, says: “The Secret Song’s mix of emotion and fantastic musical performances has proven its efficiency in every country where the show aired so far. Now we can’t wait to seeing Warner’s adaptations hit the air, in particular with American and English celebrities who are often beloved over the 5 continents”.
