Aussie reality TV giant making new shows direct to YouTube

In a major signal about how we watch reality TV, the biggest producer of Australian shows is making a surprising new move.

Australia’s biggest TV producer will create new shows specifically for YouTube.

The maker of Australia’s versions of MasterChef, Survivor, Big Brother, Married at First Sight and Gogglebox said it had taken inspiration from kids making content in their bedrooms.

The Australian TV giant, Endemol Shine, will create an interview show, a makeover show and of course a dating show direct for YouTube by way of its new distribution venture - called Resay.

“We’ve seen the impact YouTube has had on the industry and we believe there’s a huge future in creating fun and bold content for the platform,” Endemol Shine Australia director Amelia Fisk said.

Endemol Shine Australia is a subsidiary of French behemoth Banijay Group. Banijay produces and distributes TV shows via 130 production companies in 23 countries.

Australia’s largest television production company will create three new shows specifically for YouTube. Picture: Lionel Bonaventure / AFP

Endemol Australia runs MAFS and Lego Masters for Nine, Big Brother on Channel 7, Survivor and MasterChef for Network 10 and Old People’s Home for 4 Year Olds on the ABC.

The new YouTube shows will not detract from the television networks’ popular reality offerings, Endemol says.

“We’re not taking anything away from our existing formats that we’ve got with our clients here. What we are doing on YouTube always has to be fresh and new,” Ms Fisk told The Australian.

YouTube is the second-largest media company in the world, Ms Fisk explains.

“For us to ignore that and not try our hand at making content in that space would be a missed opportunity. It’s a new world we are moving into.”

“We make some of the biggest multi-award winning shows around the world. We thought, ‘let’s try our hand at something different and take content straight to the consumer’.”

Former Big Brother Australia contestants Marley Biyendolo and Tilly Whitfield will host the three new YouTube shows.

The new dating show is called Spicy Dates - two singles have a meal together, and each course of the meal is literally spicier than the last.

Biyendolo and Whitfield will also host an interview show, called Squirm Sessions. The interview subject can object to any overly invasive questions, but are punished thusly.

Glow Ups will be a makeover show, “tackling self-proclaimed geeks and the most ocker of Aussies”.

Originally published as Aussie reality TV giant making new shows direct to YouTube