Berlin, 12 September 2011 – Today the most contemporary and innovative programme formats** across all genres in public service broadcasting (PSB) were screened at the 6th Eurovision Creative Forum in Berlin. The 7 Best Formats were awarded.

The Eurovision Creative Forum offers Members from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU)* the opportunity to exchange successful formats, share ideas, and ultimately save costs. Formats in all genres were screened in Berlin, including educational game shows, factual entertainment, lifestyle programmes, language programmes, edutainment (entertaining educational formats), reality TV, religious programmes, and more.

Ingrid Deltenre, Director General of the EBU comments, “This year the Eurovision Creative Forum has highlighted the growing trend for public service broadcasters to combine entertainment and documentary programmes into edutainment formats – a perfect combination of entertaining story-telling and authenticity. From formats on health and food to child-rearing, socially relevant issues are taking centre stage”.

The winners of the 7 Best Formats are:

Winner: Never Do This at Home - NRK, Norway
A prime-time family edutainment format with 45% audience share.  Never Do This at Home tests everything we have been told not to do at home.  The programme is set in a house where one daring and one scared host test out eight warnings that people have been told never to be tried at home.  Each experiment starts with the warning, has a build up phase, and then a dramatic highlight and a review of the warning at the end.  The house they perform the experiments in gets more and more damaged during the series and finally burns down in the end.

The producer from NRK, Chris Veloey says “People are intrigued and amazed at the show as rules are broken and crazy experiments go on in a house, a place you normally care about.  This hits the message even stronger to viewers in an entertaining and wacky way – just how dangerous breaking the rules can be.”

2nd: Comedy on the Edge - DR1, DenmarkA lifestyle/factual entertainment programme about the outskirts of Denmark, which is often portrayed in a negative way.  A comedian visits six towns in the outskirts to investigate the sense of humour and self-irony of the locals. He is in the search of common laughter.  The format aims to facilitate integration and cross-geographical understanding in Denmark in an entertaining way.

3rd: Basta! - één (VRT), Belgium
This reality programme with a mix of investigative journalism humour and entertainment was an instant success in Belgium.  This Basta boys expose scams and show that the man in the street has been duped for too long.

Runners up:

Destination Unknown – Channel 3, The Netherlands
A human interest, youth programme that takes two young people in each show to an unknown destination where they face difficult situations and experience how other people live around the world.

Also Test on Humans – één (VRT), BelgiumAn infortainment format with the aim to make science popular. It is set in a live studio and finds answers to questions about health in a light-hearted way.

Metropolis – Ned3, The Netherlands
A factual reality show and online project, which has a unique approach towards foreign affairs reporting aimed at capturing remarkable stories from daily life around the world. 

Kamikaze - UR, SwedenA language reality show which shows a novel way to learn a language.  A teenager with no prior knowledge of Spanish is given a mission in Malaga, to find his way home, buy food etc.

The Eurovision Creative Forum was attended by over 120 participants from EBU Members around the world, including directors of programming, heads of acquisition, commissioning editors, producers and heads of entertainment.

The event was hosted by public broadcaster ZDF and organized by the EBU in close cooperation with the Eurovision Formats Core Group (SVT, ZDF, VRT, RTÉ, NPO, RTVSLO and BBC).

The Eurovision Creative Forum is also the starting point of several success stories. After the forum, several formats have been adapted in other markets – and won prizes such as the Golden Rose at the Rose d’Or in Lucerne and a Swedish Academy Award.

Note to editors: 

* About the European Broadcasting Union (EBU)
The EBU serves 85 national media organizations in 56 countries in and around Europe. It represents its Members and promotes the values and distinctiveness of public service media in Europe and around the world. The Eurovision and Euroradio networks deliver news, sports, events and music to EBU Members and other media organizations. Services to Members range from legal advice, technical standardization and development to coproduction and exchange of quality European content.  For more information about the EBU: www.ebu.ch and www.eurovision.net/

** What is a programme format?
A format describes all elements and characteristics of a programme that create its unique look and feel. It is a license to produce and to broadcast a national version of a copyrighted foreign television programme and to use its name. Large cost savings can be made by broadcasters adopting formats.