TV craze set to run and run
By : Anna Kocinska
Polsat, the nation's largest private TV broadcaster, is to launch a 24-hour fly-on-the-wall reality show next month.
The program, "Dwa swiaty" (Two Worlds), has taken broadcasters by surprise and comes in the wake of TVN's own launch of reality show "Big Brother," first broadcast in the Netherlands and scheduled to air in Poland on March 5.
The shows are based on the idea of putting a group of strangers together in a house for an extended period of time while under the watchful eye of dozens of cameras. At the end of the program, the audience awards a prize to the member they like best.
TVN spokesman Andrzej Soltysik said he wasn't completely caught off guard by Polsat's plans. "We heard something was going on," he said, adding that he didn't know any further details about Polsat's program, which will be aired on digital platform Polsat 2 Cyfrowy. "First we need to see if any kind of (copyright) crime has been committed," he said. "If so, we will take the necessary steps, including legal ones."
But Polsat's programming director, Boguslaw Chrabota, said "Dwa swiaty" is not based on the "Big Brother" concept. "Reality shows are everywhere and there will be more of them on the market," Chrabota said. "Obviously, we are taking into account the possibility that TVN will accuse us of stealing their idea. But in reality they ("Big Brother" and "Dwa swiaty") are two completely different shows."
TVN bought the rights to "Big Brother" from Endemol of the Netherlands, the production company that created the first "Big Brother." The Polish version is produced by Endemol-Neovision, a joint-venture between TVN's parent company, ITI Holding and Endemol.
"Dwa swiaty" has a Polish concept that differs from "Big Brother," Chrabota said. More than 10 contestants will live together for three months and be monitored by 60 cameras. But unlike "Big Brother," "Dwa swiaty" will be run in two houses situated close to each other, Chrabota said. "Participants will be living in a house with expensive furniture and served excellent food and they will be looking at the second house, which will play an important role in the program, revealed in due time," he said. While "Big Brother" participants will live in a house without contact to the outside world, contestants in "Dwa swiaty" will be allowed to have visitors. The program will also have a host who will organize the contestants' lives and act as their link to the outside world.
Chrabota said Polsat intends to launch a huge advertising campaign for "Dwa swiaty," which is likely to start this week. "Ninety percent of a reality show's success depends on marketing, not on content," he said. "We need to create a legend around the show." TVN's advertising campaign for "Big Brother" started last week.
For technical reasons Polsat's show may count on a larger audience. Selected segments of "Dwa swiaty" will also be broadcast on Polsat's and TV4's terrestrial channels.
