High Diving Plunges Into Canada

V has licensed Banijay International’s original diving format, Stars In Danger: High Diving.
A Canadian French language television network have signed for the much talked about format, created by Banijay Group’s Brainpool, will be produced locally by La Presse Télé to air in Winter/Spring 2013.
Pre-production of the 60 minute episodes will start immediately with shooting due to begin in early 2013.
The French-Canadian version of the long-running format - which will see celebrities from different backgrounds given a crash course in diving before facing their fears and taking to the high diving board, taped in front of a live audience on location in an Olympic-size swimming pool - will feature stars from the worlds of music, TV, film and pop culture plunging into a whole new discipline. The series will air with the local title Le Grand Saut, literally "The Big Jump".
Sebastian Burkhardt, Head of Sales, Banijay International, said: "We are thrilled to announce yet another international license deal for Stars in Danger: High Diving. The combination of such a strong judging panel with the wealth of production skill brought by La Presse Télé, the company behind some of Canada’s most successful non-scripted productions, means the French-Canadian production is sure to fly."
Natalie Larivière, Executive Vice President and COO at V said: "As a general entertainment channel with a strong history of flagship sports programming, we were delighted to discover Stars In Danger: High Diving – its blend of elite sport and high octane entertainment is perfect for our audience."
In Stars In Danger: High Diving celebrity contestants are trained and coached by some of the world’s greatest divers, before competing in a series of Olympic-style dives, such as solo high diving and synchronized diving, from a variety of heights ranging from 3, 5, 7.5 and 10 meters. An expert judging panel will award points and eventually narrow down the men, women and teams until the finalists battle it out, dive for dive, to determine the ultimate champion. Viewers will get a poolside look at the courage and perseverance, as well as the twists, turns and flips that go into turning a celebrity into a diver who is ready to step to the edge to take a flying leap or momentous belly flop into diving history.
Stars In Danger: High Diving ("TV total Turmspringen") is a Friday/Saturday night primetime show which has aired annually on free-to-air German broadcaster, ProSieben, since 2004. 2012 marks the beginning of the eighth season of High Diving in Germany. Its broadcasts regularly attract an audience between three and four million viewers with episodes winning their time slot against tough competition such as Idols and Britain’s Got Talent on RTL.
Stars In Danger: High Diving has sold to Fox US, Jiangsu Satellite Television China, TV2 Norway and TV3 in Sweden in the last two months.
www.banijay.com
(GK)