Jonathan Glazier is a format creator, executive producer and multicamera director. A former BBC Head of Format Entertainment, he writes Format Forward on the development of unscripted TV formats.
Most of what landed in the format trade press this week wasn't new. It was old shows getting a fresh coat of paint. Channel 4 sent Taskmaster home for a spin-off. A German guessing game show picked up an international distributor for its second season. Reboots and
Market Wall
The BBC's Deepwatch and Showground YouTube briefs, explained. What they require and what they reveal about developing formats platform-first
Format Lab
A practical guide to turning a television idea into a repeatable format: define the promise, build the engine, test the jeopardy and prove the returnability.
Market Wall
No new TV format concepts broke this week, just revivals. Deal or No Deal, The Traitors and The Grand Tour all came back with a twist. Here's what it means for development.
Market Wall
What does a good BBC commissioning system actually look like? Not hit rate, but how cheaply it finds failure and what it's still creating five years on.
Market Wall
The Top 20 returning TV formats of the last decade, ranked on renewals rather than ratings. The Rise of the Super Format The Top 20 returning TV formats of the last decade, ranked on renewals rather than ratings. TL;DR Ratings are not published everywhere. Revenue is almost never disclosed.
Market Wall
Seven territory reports on the 2026 format market. What "downturn" really means in each, before Edinburgh and MIP.
Format Lab
Every TV format that fails looked fine when it was greenlit. The Premortem finds the crack before you spend a penny developing it.
Format Lab
Why The Neighbourhood failed before it aired, and how the Shared Script Test exposes whether a reality format rests on lived experience or nostalgia.
Format Lab
Why do TV formats fail? Three failure models, from The Neighbourhood to Limitless Win to Cash Cab, and a diagnostic checklist for format developers.
Format Lab
The Traitors stripped to its six core mechanics. A format developer's teardown showing which parts of the engine you can reuse, and how to avoid a clone.
Market Wall
Sky's ITV takeover leaves ITV Studios standalone right as Banijay and All3Media merge. What it means for format creators pitching new shows.