Broadcasters Learn From DRG's 'That'll Teach 'Em'

Leading London-based content distributor Digital Rights Group (DRG) has reported great success for its hit reality/living format That'll Teach 'Em in Spain, leading to a huge increase in interest for the format in further territories.
Curso del 63, produced by Zeppelin (Endemol) Spain for Antena 3, is currently the most watched show on Tuesday evening primetime Spanish television and, as a result, DRG is now in talks with a number of leading broadcasters in Italy, Greece, Chile, Brazil and Argentina.
That'll Teach 'Em transports school age teens back in time, placing them in a school from an altogether different and tougher era. In Curso del 63, 20 bright, modern teenagers have been taken back to the strict discipline of a 1960's school.
More than four million viewers have tuned in to the first four episodes. Airing at 10pm, the cross-generational appeal of the show has garnered an average total audience share of 22%, more than 10 percentage points above normal viewing figures, which breaks down to an impressive 40% of 13-24-year-olds and 25% of 25-34-year-olds.
Distributed under DRG's Zeal Entertainment banner, the format That'll Teach 'Em has been produced locally for six international broadcasters to date, including M6 in France and SBS in Belgium. In the UK version, Twenty Twenty Television produced four series for Channel 4, the series took 30 teenagers back to the strict discipline of a 1950's British boarding school.
Strict teachers, tough lessons, lots of physical exercise and a diet of no-nonsense, healthy food were all par for the course, and at the end of four gruelling and rewarding weeks the kids sat genuine 1950's exams - with astonishing results!
Carolina den Bass, Senior Sales Executive at Zeal Entertainment for DRG commented: "Curso del 63 is proving to be a fantastic success in Spain, with the first four episodes attracting a substantial portion of the hard-to-reach youth market. In one show, Endemol has brilliantly combined some of the most successful TV genres in Spain: reality, fiction, nostalgia and even some coaching. This powerful formula is charming four generations simultaneously. The huge buzz around the show in Spain has led to a sharp peak in interest worldwide and we look forward to new local versions of That'll Teach 'Em in the near future."
Irene Dominguez, Head of New Products at Antena 3, said: "We have been courting That'll Teach 'Em for six years, ever since the huge successes in France and England, but we weren't convinced that Spain was ready for docu-reality at that time. Endemol's casting is outstanding and Curso del 63 shows how a good and strong format can resist the passage of time. Having seen so little that was new at both MIP and MIPCOM, it does seem increasingly important to reconsider past successful formats that have never launched locally. With 5.5 million viewers, Antena 3 has accomplished two major achievements - extraordinary ratings and a boost to its corporate image, Curso del 63 is a new brand for Antena 3 - a brand that shows that broadcaster's concern for the education of Spain's future generations. Curso del 63 is proving to be the standout hit of the year for Antena 3."
(KMcA/BMcC)