Creator gameshow channels TV producers should know
Plus a little more on fads and online trends such as the latest for Kpop Demon Hunters.
Just a little reminder: there are two weeks of school holidays to go, so writing is being squeezed in first thing or late at night until the first week of September. Apologies if I’m slow to respond as a result.
Last week I wrote about the volume of similar content on social and video platforms, and how it is increasing thanks to the rise of gen AI tools. It isn’t a surprise this is the case; mimicry is baked into human behaviour thanks to the evolutionary mechanism where we have a better chance of survival by predicting and then copying the behaviour of others.
Does creator-land need an injection of originality and less copycat content?
There have been some indicators that the creator economy is moving into a new phase - one marked by growing professionalism, a greater emphasis on building businesses than just content channels, an increased focus on quality, more money flooding the market, while a wider range of players are launching their own strategies to lure and fund creators.
Humans are social creatures, which makes us prone to fads. As an example, baby names are a great way to spot people’s ages based on what was the name fad at the time. For example, here is the US graph of my name below.
Obviously TV is part of this type of faddish mimicry; any commissioner will be familiar with the experience of getting multiple pitches that are similar to whatever is the hit show of the moment. It is also reflected in how TV channels can get stuck in a groove of a particular type of show or genre - competition formats, makeover shows with reveal moments, combative structured reality or romanticised period dramas. And then, like clockwork, the pendulum swings, and something new comes in.
The internet has put our desire for similar trends on rocket boosters - from planking to Crazy Frog, there is a never-ending cycle of fads and memes doing the rounds, and many never break out into the mainstream.
To give a great current example of how internet fads spread: Kpop Demon Hunters was launched on Netflix on June 20th, and over the next weeks there started popping up on social feeds a whole tonne of videos that were in essence the same; where an adult watches the show with confusion the first time, and by the third or fourth viewing they are fully converted fans lip-syncing to the banging tunes. Sometimes broadcasters, streamers or brands have a hand in encouraging this type of activity, however these types of internet trends are at their best when they happen organically.
My favourite example is below by Chris Mann, and here is just a small selection of the same - indeed, often identical - videos being made and published by people all over the world - here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
For some observers, they might look at this as copying, however it is an intrinsic part of internet culture and is evidence of a global shared moment.
Chris Mann is a professional singer, and rather impressively he can hit all the high notes in Golden before his head explodes, while others are sharing their own drumming or metal covers. And if you want to hear what a global shared phenomenon sounds like, there are tonnes of clips of what happens when DJs play Golden in clubs.
Returning to the tension between originality versus mimicry: the reason for mentioning this issue two weeks in a row is because there is a growing level of noise online about the volume of similar content, with many of the big platforms announcing rule changes to remove copied material and block content farming.
Here the platforms are targeting those that are deliberating copying content from others. However, what is more interesting is that while being influenced by others is a natural human behaviour (and one that is baked into the internet as explained), it is leading to a higher level of similar content types within niches and across the creator sector as a whole. Here is an article covering Jimmy Donaldson/MrBeast’s views on this issue from last year:
He is quoted in this piece delineating between copying versus inspired by:
If you watch someone's video and you can't tell the difference between their video and my video besides the budget then it's like yeah you're copy and paste.
The internet is driven by fads, and therefore new trends or behaviours are a feature not a bug. There does appear to be a growing level of uniformity across the creator sector, which is unsurprising as there is such a low barrier to entry that anyone can replicate the successful content of others. While audiences might currently have a level of appreciation for this content, perhaps at some point this market will become saturated and then audiences might start looking for the next big thing. This could present an opportunity for those who are experienced at coming up with new concepts, especially ideas that are distinctive and with greater editorial complexity than is typical in the creator market. The added bonus here is that advertisers are also seeking higher quality content, and perhaps opportunities that work across multiple platforms from social, YouTube to TV. However, the fly in the ointment is that the algorithms of social platforms can reward similarity over distinctiveness, which makes launching something different much more tricky.
This brings us round to games shows, which is one of the biggest formats in the direct to consumer space. In the post on formats I covered quite a few successful creator game shows (I’ve not duplicated the ones below such as Pop the Balloon, Hot Ones or Beast Games).
YouTube is a TV formats playground
There has been a recent spate of creator formats being commissioned by TV or streamers, many of which will be familiar, for example Netflix with Hot Ones and the Sidemen’s Inside, plus of course Beast Games with Amazon.
There has long been an element of mimicry in gameshows on TV, and the same goes for the creator and direct to consumer market too. At times this has crossed over into copying of successful TV formats. Last year Banijay expressed its frustration at what it called ‘copycats’, with the chief content officer quoted in Deadline saying:
Outside of the creative economy and outside of the regulated industry, you are getting content creatives saying, ‘We don’t care about the rules or licenses, let’s just do it.’ As a big content powerhouse, it’s up to us to try and provide some leadership in this realm.
As often is the case, as markets mature then deals can be done to benefit all parties. For example it was reported that Sidemen have deals with BBC and ITV around The Wheel and The Chase, and then another deal with Fremantle for Supermarket Sweep.
And so, we can see here a whole host of game show formats - some hugely original and innovative, others less so - that are as popular with online audiences as they are with TV viewers. Some are creator takes of well-known and loved game shows, others are more panel in nature, taking their influence from formats like 8 Out of 10 Cats or Have I Got News for You.
Plus read on for how the gameshow Taskmaster has found success in the US thanks to YouTube.
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