Attempting to generate a global hit through the medium of dance, NBC series “World of Dance” comes out of Universal Television Alternative Studio, which falls under Paul Telegdy and is run by Meredith Ahr. The hope for the show, which has tentpole status in the States, is for it to become an international hit, as well.
“‘World of Dance’ is bigger than a number of shows on our air, and it’s certainly bigger than anything any of our competition has put out in a decade in terms of new shows. For us it’s the biggest in nine years,” he says.
The U.S. format has dancers from a variety of disciplines competing against one another in front of a judging team that includes Jennifer Lopez, who is also an executive producer. It was the top new series of the summer for NBC in the U.S., which greenlit an expanded second season.
Ratings are a powerful sales tool, and NBC wants to play it straight with the numbers, according to Telegdy. “We’ve been conscious as we formed new international relationships that we wanted a shared language in ratings, which is hard to do across territories,” he says.
Ana Langenberg is the NBCU exec charged with turning U.S. viewing numbers into international sales. The studio recently held a show-and-tell in L.A. for several big international broadcasters, some of whom, she says, are close to signing on for “World of Dance.” “We know when we have those people in the room the international roll out is going to be phenomenal,” she says.
But NBC isn’t placing all their bets on “Dance.” The Wall,” which is distributed by Endemol Shine and the best-selling new show of the last year, is breaking into more than 10 territories. And from Alternative Studios, there is Amy Poehler and Nick Hoffman’s crafts series, designed to deliver a homespun, feel-good format with real skills at its core.
