EXCLUSIVE Fox Entertainment, 'Masked Singer' creator clinch deal for global music game show
A scene from the sixth season of Fox's singing competition show, “The Masked Singer” / Courtesy of Fox
Fox's Alternative Entertainment Head Rob Wade discusses Korea's creative renaissance
By Kwak Yeon-soo
Fox's version of “The Masked Singer,” a singing competition based on a format that first aired here on MBC, has enjoyed high viewership ratings and is now in its sixth season in the U.S.
One year after buying the unscripted rights to the popular show's format, Fox bought the format rights of another Korean “mystery music” game show, “I Can See Your Voice,” in 2020, which has been renewed for a second season.
Rob Wade, president of Alternative Entertainment and Specials at Fox Entertainment, attributed the success of both shows to taking risks and looking outside the U.S. for content
“One of the great things about working at Fox is that we take risks. We will always be the people that buy shows that we're afraid of. Ever since we did that, many buyers are buying shows because they're from Korea, now considered a fertile, creative area,” he said, in a recent interview with The Korea Times via Zoom.
Rob Wade, the president of Alternative Entertainment and Specials at Fox Entertainment / Courtesy of Fox
In 2019, when Fox bought the rights to the unscripted format of “The Masked Singer,” Wade was pretty confident that the show would be a hit in the U.S. market.
“When we finished filming and saw the finished product, I remember saying, 'If this doesn't work, I don't know what will.' But I didn't think it was going to be this big,” he said.
Asked if there was any opposition at the time, Wade said, “It was great timing, because it was right at the time I made the show that the deal of Fox going to Disney came through. So everyone was very much worried about all the other things and had forgotten about the show.”
Having discovered new opportunities in the Korean entertainment market, Fox has recently entered into an exclusive first-look development deal with Park Won-woo, the creator of “The Masked Singer,” to develop a global format for another hit Korean music game show, “Lotto Singer.”
In “Lotto Singer,” viewers can win cash prizes by correctly betting on contestants' performances. Created by Park, and from Seoul Broadcasting System's content hub, FormatEast, “Lotto Singer” aired on MBN last year, when it recorded the network's highest viewer rating of 5.2 percent.
The development of the show's global format comes in step with Fox's launch of an international unscripted format fund in October, which is aimed at developing international-origin unscripted program concepts, ranging from reality competitions and variety series, to dating among other genres.
“Obviously, Park is a fantastic creative. We are giving him areas within which he can develop formats that will work in the U.S. market. We are very excited about the possibility of him coming up with a new show we make in the U.S.,” he said.
Wade added, “We have worked with CJ and MBC, both who have been incredibly talented and creative. But I want to work with phenomenal creators that I've never met or heard of. ”
A scene from Fox's mystery music game show, “I Can See Your Voice” / Courtesy of Fox
Pointing out the advantage of Korean TV shows as being more effectively formatted, compared with that of other Asian countries, Wade expressed excitement about the opportunity that Korea has with formats and shows.
“There seems to be an incredibly strong, creative renaissance, or maybe it always existed. I wasn't familiar with the Korean market before, six or seven years ago, when I started to look it over,” he said.
“Korean creators are good with format ― finding stuff, formatting and selling in that way. In Japan, on the other hand, there's a lot of shows which are fake and there's no real structure. Shows have been there for quite a long time but there's no format.”
He also mentioned fragmentation in the U.S. market place, which makes it increasingly difficult to launch new shows.
“We want to take advantage of the creative international community and give direct access to producers to come directly to us and networks to make new shows. We realized that we could make series much more cost-effectively because the risk is lower. You could do an entire series for the same price as one pilot in the U.S.,” he said.
According to him, Korean TV shows have a certain scale, broadness and appeal to families that make them attractive to U.S. buyers.
“The essential premise is, it should be very loud and unique. I'm guilty, as everyone else, in playing it safe. It's very hard to find a super original idea that you believe in. Then, it should be of a big scale and appeal to all different members of the household,” he said.
Wade also shared his thoughts on global streaming platforms that have enabled watching Korean content for non-Koreans easier and are competing to secure Korean-made content.
“I don't think it affects us too much. I think it's still a better place to sell it to networks because you can get international rights and make more money in that way. Streamers tend to buy in more volume whereas we tend to be specific about just a few shows. When we buy a show, it's always going to be curated and looked after,” he said.