Patxi Alonso, presenter of the program ‘Catch me if you can’ on ETB. /
The program, born in ETB, is broadcast in eleven communities with different presenters although with the same mechanics
It is difficult to find in the history of regional television a format that adapts so well to the idiosyncrasy of each territory and that, moreover, has the support of the public. It could almost be an exception, because similar success stories could be counted on the fingers of one hand. This is the contest ‘Catch me if you can’, a program that was born at ETB in 2014 presented by Patxi Alonso and that, eight years later, has spread to the rest of the country with eleven different versions in each autonomy. Spectators from North and South like it; and east and west.
Meanwhile, we could say that ‘Catch me if you can’ unites Spaniards regardless of their geographical origin. This format, produced by The Mediapro Studio, is a classic quiz with questions and answers, one that the whole family likes, whose tension and interest increase as the tests pass. Specifically, there are five elimination rounds with a final ladder that pits a pair of contestants against each other. With each success, one of them climbs a step. If he reaches the top, he wins the coveted jackpot whose amount of euros varies according to the regional chain. All the versions of this successful space have the same structure and a similar decoration, although the presenters and participants come from the region in which it is broadcast.
“The way of making the program is different and a tailored suit for each autonomous community,” says the director of ‘unscripted’ programs for Globomedia at The Mediapro Studio, Manuel Rodríguez, who explains that on other occasions they have tried to export formats between the regions or La Forta has made a program for all its channels, but they have not fit in with the audience because “they do not see themselves identified”. «It is a clear and perfect formula for success, because it combines a series of conditioning factors that each territory and viewer feel as their own. It is the fundamental part and what differentiates it », he argues.
The idea of ’Catch me if you can’ arose from the thinking minds that a decade before had created the unforgettable ‘Date el bot’ on Basque public television. ETB 2, together with Hostoil (another production company from The Mediapro Studio), was looking for a competition prior to the broadcast of ‘Teleberri’ and Iñaki Ruiz created a format that has extended its success outside the Basque Country. Despite discreet beginnings in terms of audience, it soon established itself as one of the essential programs on the network, reaching 2,000 installments in April and recording averages of over 12% share each season. Now, the space also seeks to expand its borders outside of Spain.
The case of Aragon
Two years after its debut on Euskal Telebista, ‘Catch me if you can’ jumped to Aragón TV, which entrusted the adaptation to a very popular face among Aragonese: the comedian and actor Iñaki Urrutia. The contest has become a phenomenon among the population with audience shares reminiscent of another era. It is the most viewed of all editions. Without going any further, on October 13 it reached its historical record by registering a spectacular 36.7% audience share and an average of 50,000 viewers. That same month the monthly average of the regional chain was 12.8% of ‘share’.
The program has also been able to seat viewers of all ages in front of the small screen. In the case of Aragón TV, it is broadcast before the news “and it is the time when the children come home to eat with their grandparents,” Manuel Rodríguez emphasizes. “We have known how to balance. It is a formula that is repeated in all the autonomic ones. Young people come to see the contest and that is a success, because rejuvenating the ‘target’ of the regional channels was one of the pending subjects, “says the manager.
‘Catch me if you can’ has been consolidated in other autonomies, where it also has significant support from the public. On Catalan TV3, ‘Atrapa’m si pots’ reached its most watched installment on October 30 with an 18.7% share and on Canal Sur, presented by Manolo Sarría, it is usually among the most watched programs. Canal Extremadura, with an edition presented by the journalist Paco Vadillo, and Castilla-La Mancha Media, with Frank Blanco as master of ceremonies, have been the last two regionals that have added the format. Dani Calero on Televisión Canaria, Antònia Jaume on IB3, Oscar Tramoyeres on À Punt, Paco Lodeiro on TVG and Jaime Cantizano on the ‘celebrity’ edition of Telemadrid are leading the other regional versions of the television contest.