Smash hit reality format “The Traitors” is heading to major European markets following its success in the Netherlands, U.K. and U.S.
Finland and Denmark are the two latest territories set to adapt the IDTV-produced format, sold globally by All3Media International. In Finland, Fremantle will produce the Finnish version, while in Denmark, Blu will produce for TV2. The show is also being produced by Berlin-based Tower Productions for RTL in Germany.
Following its original launch in the Netherlands, commissions of the hit format have been secured in 14 territories, including France, New Zealand, Spain, Norway, Australia and Belgium. In the U.K., the show has been streamed 28 million times on BBC streaming service iPlayer and in the U.S., streamer Peacock has already commissioned a second season.
In “The Traitors,” the contestants move to a Scottish castle with the goal of working together as a team to complete a series of challenging missions to earn a cash prize. The catch, however, is that some of the contestants are “traitors” who will attempt to deceive and manipulate their way to the prize instead of sharing it among the group.
As the gripping psychological game plays out, the contestants — known as the “faithfuls” — must do everything they can to identify the traitors in their midst before it’s too late.
The show’s international success has unsurprisingly led to merchandising and licensing deals. All3Media International has partnered with game distributor Ginger Fox on “The Traitors Card Game,” which is now available in the U.K., and with Vivid/Goliath and Identity Games on the official “The Traitors Board Game,” which launched at the London Toy Fair last month. The game will be available in September.
Nick Smith, executive VP of formats at All3Media International, said: “‘The Traitors’ is intelligent reality TV, providing a highly adaptable format of psychological game play that creates incredibly tense, must-watch moments for global audiences, making it as compelling as our most addictive dramas. 2023 is set to be an even bigger year for ‘The Traitors’ with further commissions and re-commissions to be announced over the coming weeks. The only thing that can stop ‘The Traitors’ from taking over the world are the faithful themselves.”
Georgette Schlick, CEO of Northern Europe at Fremantle, said: “’The Traitors’ is an excellent entertainment format about truth, lies and about understanding human behavior. It takes the very best from crime mysteries like ‘Agatha Christie’ and games like ‘Among Us’ and wrap it up in a very engaging and entertaining way. We have been the proud producers of ‘The Traitors’ in Norway where it became an instant hit last year. I am confident that Katrine Herforth at our Danish label Blu and Jarkko Luoma at Fremantle Finland will do a great job with the format which is a perfect match with the DNA of our local labels in the Nordics.”
Kirstin Benthaus-Gebauer, managing director of Tower Productions GmbH, added: “We are very excited to be working with Tower Productions to produce one of the hottest-selling TV shows in recent years for RTL and the German market. It will be one of the most spectacular TV highlights of this year, when we will unite celebrities from the world of acting, music and sports as well as journalism in an old castle in France for a psychological reality show.”
“The Traitors” was created by All3Media label IDTV. The format was further developed with the RTL Creative Unit and originally produced by IDTV.
