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Welcome to Global Breakouts, Deadline’s fortnightly strand in which we shine a spotlight on the TV shows and films killing it in their local territories. The industry is as globalized as it’s ever been, but breakout hits are appearing in pockets of the world all the time and it can be hard to keep track. So we’re going to do the hard work for you.
This week we’re tracking a Belgian format that has simultaneously taken the worlds of TV and politics by storm – no easy feat. Having been a huge hit locally, The Political Assembly is now being shopped internationally and could be hitting pre-election airwaves near you soon.
Name: The Political Assembly
Country: Belgium
Producers: Bargoens
Distributor: Be-Entertainment
Network: VTM
For fans of: The Traitors, TV election debates
It’s election year in many countries around the world but faith in politicians feels at an all time low. Eyes roll and viewers reach for the remote as their leaders – and would-be leaders – trot out rehearsed soundbites and well-worn lines. The Political Assembly tries to shake that up by bringing a reality TV twist to proceedings.
The show has taken Belgian TV by storm and is the biggest launch of the year on commercial net VTM. It saw senior representatives from the seven major parties live together in a castle for a weekend and recorded the discussions, debate and even the bonhomie that ensued.
Audiences rarely fail to cringe when hearing politicians tell interviewers about their favorite sports team or rock band. But if they are captured being authentically themselves, a new dimension is introduced, according to Eric Goens, the producer and journalist who presents the show and is founder of its production company. “The Political Assembly brings politics to a more human level, it goes much further than the traditional slogan or the usual one-liner,” Goens says.
The show is about peeling away the layers and giving viewers an honest take on political matters, he adds. “Message to the politicians: this is about the truth for the people. You can’t run, you can’t hide.”
“Could never happen in our country”
DPG Media owns VTM and Be-Entertainment, the distributor that is bringing The Political Assembly to market. “This is so different from other things out there, it’s quite a brave idea,” says Be-Entertainment Managing Director Gepke Nederlof. “In some of our [international] talks, we get back: ‘That’s something that could never happen in our country’. And funnily enough, that’s exactly what everyone in Belgium said. When the politicians were first called, nobody said yes right away, but what we’ve seen is that it’s had such an effect on the whole narrative around the elections, that there was a great value for the politicians to join the show.”
Bringing together wily contestants in a picturesque castle for a battle of wits might bring to mind another reality show of the moment – and like The Traitors, The Political Assembly is a format out of the Benelux region.
Arguably, the real-world double-dealing and subterfuge of the political world puts the Traitors v. Faithfuls showdowns to shame, but The Political Assembly is also pitched differently to other reality shows. Once it has gathered its participants inside the castle walls they might go on a bike ride or play chess, but there’s no Traitors-style routine of tasks and games. As such, it is more about capturing the discussions and debates that unfold when you put decision-makers together.
“The house is not rigged, they are very aware every time that there is a camera on them, it’s not a reality show as we sometimes know it,” Nederlof says.
The Belgian series consisted of four one-hour shows with longer unedited footage on VTM Go, the broadcaster’s VoD service. It caused a stir locally, generating headlines and becoming the broadcaster’s biggest launch of the year. Episodes garnered a whopping near-50% audience share. It was even referenced in the traditional televised pre-election debates.
The politicians have private time in their rooms and the cameras do not capture them 24-7, but the audience does see them eating and spending time together, while having conversations not only fixed on politics and policy.
The show also reached viewers beyond the current affairs and news junkies. “People that are not necessarily that interested in politics started to watch the show,” Nederlof explains. “All of a sudden, they had a human conversation on the topics that are important and relevant for the country.
“In a debate of an hour, you can prep yourself, but if you are there for a full weekend, you need to really talk about the content. That’s exactly what happened in Belgium, and that really gave the viewer a better idea of, first of all, who they’re voting for, and what their real opinions are, not just the lines that they tend to share.”
Gaining trust
As Be-Entertainment looks to get local versions of the show away, its CEO noted it requires a producer that will gain the confidence of its political subjects: “The politicians need to trust the people making a show and not misuse that.
“It needs to find the right hands, not everyone can make this, it’s not an entertainment show,” he adds. ‘I mean, it is an entertainment show in a way, but it’s too important to be just that.”
Be-Entertainment has shopped the format to RTL in the Netherlands (separately, DPG is also trying to acquire that channel) and there is international interest. “Everyone is very intrigued, especially in the countries where they are getting closer to elections,” Nederlof adds. “We’re seeing how we can find the right combination of the right channel and the right producer to make it happen. In some countries, this might not be as possible, but where it is, it’s on everyone’s radar.”
The format structure includes group discussions, moments where participants reveal more about themselves, and unstructured one-on-one debates.
“We had them entering the castle at different times, it was not seven people all at once, so we were able to introduce them to ease everyone into the process,” Nederlof adds. “Then we have group debates. The host is there and helps to have the debate in one of the rooms with everyone sitting together and talking about things that have happened, how they see the future, and topics that are big in the elections.
Furthermore, the show sees two ‘duelists’ go head-to-head in an unstructured debate. That lack of structure and pre-set topics is another way to try and reinvigorate the common-or-garden political debate and prompt a conversation that strays into more interesting territory.
“Usually, you have a moderator who says: ‘Okay, we’re going to talk about this.’ Here [with the duels], it’s very weird for them, and it’s like: “Okay, where do we start? Do you start? Do I start? What do we do?” It’s an interesting set up,” adds Nederlof.
In the context of recent events, having politicians duel might sound overly combative, but Nederlof suggested humanizing them breaks down barriers. “I think it makes sense for the politicians to show the viewer also that there is another side to this political debate, you know, the human side.”
The series is pre-recorded and designed to go out in the run-up to an election. The format does not crown a winner as such, although currying favor with the public in a massive-rating reality show could bring its own rewards after the votes have been counted.
