In recent years, quite a few Israeli television formats have been sold to international production companies. The global television industry has been asking for years to work with quite a few Israeli creators, but next to the successes of “Fauda”, “Batifol”, “Yellow Peppers” and more, the hot thing in the world of television today is the formats. If you thought streaming killed commercial TV, it might be more accurate to say that the formats pushed the drama out a bit.
In Israel, it is enough to turn on prime time TV to understand that the formats are winning the series, but you can relax, this time it is not “only with us”, and this phenomenon absolutely does not happen only in Israel. So what is a format? In one sentence, everything that is not scripted. Once it was called by the derogatory name “reality”, today it is already a different world. A world of formats.
“Every original format that goes on air is a bit like a start-up” says Tzipi Rosenblum, one of the leading producers of formats in Israel, and the one responsible for many of the beloved programs we see on the screen. “Survival”, “The Mission”, “Couch surfers”, “Stepfamily”, and also those that were sold overseas and are a huge success such as “Marry me now”, and were not broadcast in Israel.
Rosenblum, who previously worked as a content manager for Bechasht International, and created successful formats (the latest of which is “Hungry for Love” which is broadcast these days on Han 11 – TL), is currently the content manager of the SIPUR company founded by the entrepreneur Gideon Tadmor, and last summer raised huge budgets for development Formats led by Poalim Equity Among the new investors who joined: Clal Insurance, the IBI investment house, and this alongside the existing partnership with MGM and Amazon.
Tzipi Rosenblum (Photo: Yael Kimchi Oral)“In the case of the success of a format, just like in a successful start-up, it can bring in a lot of money” says Rosenblum. “In Israel we are still a very small market, we have excellent content, but few customers (Keshet, Mesh, Kan, Hot, Yes – Tel), there are many things here that have no chance of finding a place on the screen in advance, many things that are too expensive for the screen Israeli, but we also have a wonderful creation that even if it doesn’t find a home here, it can find a home overseas through us. We actually work in two ways, with the customers in Israel – we will take a bet. If we believe in a format that has the possibility of monetization, we can help franchisees in the production budget as well, and then it makes it easier for the factors in Israel to take a risk. And secondly, we want to serve as some sort of bridge between creators who don’t find a home here.”
Stepfamily (Photo: Network)What is happening on Israeli television today?
“I will clarify the question, because in my opinion it is not only what is happening on Israeli television but what is happening in the world in the field of television. The trend is global, everyone is having rating difficulties. The streamers offer very user-friendly packages, the competition is increasing and the market is in a mess, for better or for worse.”
I threw out a possible headline at the beginning of the conversation that streaming killed the TV market and you immediately told me clearly, ‘No’.
“Because it’s not really accurate. I recently met someone who immediately said to me: ‘I’m sorry, but I don’t have a TV.’ You have a computer, you consume television content, so you have a television. People still watch TV only the name of it has changed. Young people? Watching on the phone. But basically we all consume content that was once called “television”, today it is called “content consumption”, and in this sense we are in a period of being a consumer of content. And during a time of celebration, there is abundance.”
Because there is a lot of content, it’s a bit ‘you caught a lot you didn’t catch’, isn’t it?
“We are bombarded with content that is great, for everyone. Great content from all genres. If you like quality docu, it is found in quantities. Guilty pleasure is found in quantities. Almost every subject in the world has a reality show. On the one hand, an incredible flood of content, and on the other hand, a market that in this sense is Very much in change.”
Fewer series
Rosenblum explains that the Israeli market faces just like the international market, but also needs to redefine its role, and find differentiation. “Can you tell me today what the difference is between a broadcaster and a streamer? Or between Netflix, Disney and Hulu? Most likely not. If a series comes out today, you have to do research on where it is broadcast. Therefore, there is no differentiation in this sense. The Israeli industry is smaller, and it In our favor, but the streamers also understand that they need to find differentiation.”
Tzipi Rosenblum (Photo: Yael Kimchi Oral)We’re slowly starting to see how streaming platforms don’t release all the episodes at once.
“You will see it more and more. Disney, for example, took Dancing with the Stars from next year. To remind you, it is a streaming service, but a program that works on votes. Everyone understood that there is no escape from creating a commitment in the viewer. As long as you continue to provide them with content that they can watch in the evening One, you will not benefit from differentiation in the future. You need to make him commit, to check how you produce content that again, like a broadcaster, will force the viewer to sit in front of the screen, specifically yours, for a period of time. And there is no doubt that reality TV and talent shows know how to do it well.”
We live in an era where almost every country has an original Israeli format on some screen.
“It shows that we did something in the right way. We have a Jewish brain that comes up with inventions for us, and what is important here is not how many subscriptions joined to see a certain series or what its ratings are, but what the series succeeds in doing overseas after its broadcast in Israel. Whether it is collaborations And whether selling a format, it encourages creation, raises the level of production.
What will our content consumption look like in the foreseeable future?
“The market is currently on the rise, but you know that the prophecy was given to fools. The market is facing 2023, looking for the right model. I suppose that in the end what will happen at the global level is that there will be several models and as a customer you can choose the model that suits you best. You can stay On Netflix, but with commercials, you can also pay and give up the commercials. Everyone is looking for the right model.”
And statements like there were in the past that Netflix will never have ads, suddenly turn out to be promises that over time cannot be kept.
“I think everyone understands that it is impossible to continue with the celebration that was. We as viewers don’t really notice it yet because we are in a period of creative wealth and rich in content, but the data says that in the first half of 2022 there was a 25% decrease in ordering new series (that are not formats – 9 “l), the talk is that at the end of 2022 the data will indicate a 40% drop, which is a lot. The format market is in a completely different situation. I assume that there will be a more critical hand on approving new series, alongside a more massive search, which I’m already seeing now, for unscripted content from different genres.”
Between a bow and a net
“In Israel, they are still only dealing with the struggle between Keshet and the network,” Rosenblum says, “Today the real struggle is between streaming and Tiktok, so the content must change first. Everything must be as real as possible and without manipulating the viewer. A good format is one without celebrities, it is also profitable For the audience, both for the production and for the participants, it is one that gives added value to the viewer. A true work does not come from a muse, but from a Sisyphean research work. In order to know what the audience wants, it is necessary to listen to it, see what makes it tick, and work from there. It has nothing to do with trends , but to understand what moves people and what activates their senses.”
By the way of the competition between Keshet and Reshet, I assume that it will continue regardless of the fact that prime time no longer has meaning in the familiar and known term.
“Prime time today is your free time when you sit and watch content. The streamers also compete for your free time. And the competition between Keshet and Reshet is very clear and healthy for the market, but beyond that the thought should be on efforts to bring original formats that will bring viewers, and these are things that depend on each other If an original format fails, it will be more difficult for it to be sold abroad. Although there are exceptional cases. You see efforts both on the net and in the application to produce original formats. There is a very great motivation here, don’t forget that when you buy a format you pay a format fee, and that Makes each episode more expensive for you. When you create a format, you don’t have to pay format fees, and you make a profit when it is sold to additional territories.”
We mentioned Tiktok, it is already a broadcasting body, at least for a certain audience, which has also become legitimate in Israel for everything.
“Today, it’s easier for content creators to break through, they are the creators and they are the content. You can take a camera and film yourself, and if you’re talented within two days you become a sensation. On the other hand, if you want to write from DAB or take people to a desert island, you still need huge budgets , and can’t make it small and nasty. You know Tiktok is the most successful streamer in the world, they also refer to themselves as content and not as a social network.”
It stays there, it doesn’t bounce to something.
“No. Not at all, they have nowhere to go. They are bigger than anything else that exists and they are not only influencers. They are looking for content, formats, content that can run, they also want to grow with their customers, Tiktok users who are 8-12 years old, and the length of the content is increasing and size over time.”
You said it’s easier to break into someone with talent. And who doesn’t? And only sees himself as a screenwriter or format developer?
“It’s even more difficult. Speaking of the changes that are happening in the industry, what happened is that as a format developer and content creator you work today mainly with huge companies. At one time, Yes Entertainment was defeated by the Israeli Weiss, small Israeli channels that produced content. But as a young creator who came and said just let me do it, So the first thing I did was an Israeli bite, and then the bet from the point of view of the franchisee was not such a big bet because even if I had failed, it would have been for one hundred shekels and not eighty million shekels. There used to be many more small places to enter through.”