BBC and NBCUniversal have announced their co-commission of the adventure reality competition series Destination X following their pact on the hit series The Traitors.
With The Traitors giving both the BBC and NBCUniversal huge hits with their audiences, the two entertainment giants have joined forces once again for another reality competition series: Destination X.
Created by Geronimo, the “Destination X” format hails from Belgium and is distributed globally by Be-Entertainment. The North American rights were secured by Toby Gorman and Ed Havard for Universal Television Alternative Studio, a division of Universal Studio Group, for development at NBC, led by Corie Henson. For the BBC, Director of Unscripted Kate Phillips and Editor of Unscripted Syeda Irtizaali secured UK rights for BBC One and iPlayer.
In Destination X, a larger-than-life adventure competition series that crosses fantasy with reality, ten contestants embark on the road trip of a lifetime, but have no idea of their location. Once they’re on the innovative Destination X bus, reality is tweaked to mislead them and the viewers. Information comes with a number of clues designed to help the contestants decide if they can trust what they see. They need to be on top of their game at all times to figure out where they are.
At the end of each episode, the contestant who places their X on a map location that is furthest away from the bus’s actual location has to leave the game and loses their shot at winning a cash prize. The surviving participants search for the location of the host, who interacts with them from the secret command post. Mind-blowing and spectacular gameplay will keep viewers engaged and playing along on all screens.
Kate Phillips, BBC Director of Unscripted, said:
“Following the must-see success of ‘The Traitors,’ I’m delighted that once again we’re partnering with NBCUniversal on another very smart, very addictive and very innovative competition show. With countless red herrings and brain-teasing clues, we were gripped from the start. It promises to be a hugely challenging adventure for our 10 brave contestants, with plenty of play along for all BBC viewers, as everyone hopes they’ve got the ‘X’ that marks the spot!”
Corie Henson, Executive Vice President, Unscripted Programming, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, stated:
“‘Destination X’ is a big unique format that pairs spectacular adventure travel with the ultimate guessing game. ‘The Traitors’ instilled confidence that big formats are back, and ‘Destination X’ is incredibly ambitious. We’re thrilled to have the perfect traveling partners in Universal Television Alternative Studios, BBC and, of course, BE-Entertainment, for this one-of-a-kind immersive gameplay set among stunning locations.”
And Gepke Nederlof, MD of Be-Entertainment, commented:
“It’s amazing to see how ‘Destination X’ has literally taken off since its launch! It’s a true adventure both in and outside of the Destination X bus, and we could not be more proud than to partner with two of the leading content companies in the world in such an early stage of our international journey.”
Since its launch on February 20 on Belgium commercial broadcaster VTM, Destination X has been consistently winning its Monday evening time slot — garnering an impressive 42% share of viewers tuning into television at that hour over the first eight episodes (18-44, consolidated). It’s also been drawing in audiences via streaming on VTM Go, VTM’s AVOD platform. Here, immediately after the regular episodes air on VTM, viewers can see in the online plot twist episodes what clever clues they missed and how contestants were misled by the production crew.
Stay tuned for updates.
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