Endemol

Endemol is a television production company based in the Netherlands, with subsidiaries and joint ventures in 23 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Netherlands, India, South Africa, Lebanon, Morocco, Philippines, Turkey and Australia among others. It's controlled by the biggest Italian media company, Mediaset.

History

Endemol was founded in 1994 by a merger of television production companies owned by Joop van den Ende and John de Mol, the name deriving from the combination of their surnames. One notable success has been the Big Brother "reality television" show, with versions in many countries after the initial Dutch version. However the most profitable programme for Endemol is Deal or No Deal which has now been sold to over 100 countries. They specialise in inexpensive programming that is appealing to television executives in the modern multi-channel world, and other Endemol programmes in this vein include Changing Rooms, Ready Steady Cook, Ground Force, International King of Sports, Space Cadets and Fear Factor.

In 2000, the company was sold to the Spanish telecom and media corporation Telefónica for € 5.5 billion. In November 2005, 25% of Endemol was taken public, and is since then listed on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange under the stock symbol EML. On May 14 2007 the remaining 75% of Endemol shares has been bought by a consortium, Edam Acquisition, led by Mediaset, the company owned by Silvio Berlusconi's family, and including the investment company Cyrte, whose vast majority of shares is owned by the original co-founder John de Mol. The consortium announced on August 6, 2007, that it now owned 99.54% of Endemol shares, after an offer to buy the remaining shares went through on August 3, 2007; it asked the Euronext bourse for a delisting of Endemol.

In 2008, the company acquired 51 Minds from Cris Abrego and Mark Cronin, producers of several successful reality shows from VH1's "Celebreality" Block.

National branches

Endemol UK

Originally known as Broadcast Communications - Endemol UK is one of the UK’s longest established production groups and won its first television commissions in the mid-eighties.

Endemol Southern Star

Endemol Southern Star is an Australian production company which is a joint venture of Endemol and Southern Star Group. It produces Endemol's popular worldwide formats for Australia, including Big Brother, Deal or No Deal, and Ready Steady Cook. It is based in Australia.

Endemol USA

Endemol USA is the United States production branch of Endemol based in Los Angeles, California. It has been in operation since 2000. The branch produces Endemol's popular worldwide formats for the major American TV networks, such as Fear Factor, Deal or No Deal and 1 Vs. 100 for NBC; Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Show Me the Money, The One: Making a Music Star, and Set for Life for ABC; Exposed for MTV; Big Brother and Kid Nation for CBS and Wipeout for ABC; and Midnight Money Madness for TBS (under the moniker Lock and Key Productions). Their worst faring franchise by far is The One which was canceled after 4 episodes. The most recently canceled franchise from Endemol USA is Fear Factor, which aired for 6 seasons; its first season is out now on DVD. Another one of their shows, Big Brother has two seasons already out on DVD. While Big Brother had the most international success to date, their most successful USA program could end up being either Deal or No Deal or Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Both programs are wildly popular and highly rated. Endemol USA just launched Midnight Money Madness for cable's TBS network, in which viewers can call in to play games and win money prizes. It is based on Endemol's successful Participation TV format. On October 13, 2006, Endemol USA launched another game show for NBC, 1 vs. 100 with Bob Saget, and debuted as another ratings winner. And on November 14, 2006, ABC premiered Endemol USA's latest creation, Show Me the Money, with William Shatner as its host. Midnight Money Madness was canceled in October 2006 after 32 episodes, in which its successor, Take the Cake, premiered July 9, 2007, and Show Me the Money was canceled in December 2006 after only five episodes aired.

Endemol USA just launched their newest division, Endemol USA Latino, which produces Endemol USA's successful shows in Spanish language as shown on the major Hispanic TV networks. Their first production is Vas o No Vas based on the popular Deal or No Deal, currently airing on Telemundo. Unlike Endemol USA's headquarters in Los Angeles, Endemol USA Latino has headquarters located in Miami, Florida.

Endemol India

In January 2006, Endemol started producing programs from Mumbai, India. The company's most successful program to date, The Great Indian Laughter Challenge on STAR One, launched in its fourth season on June 6, 2008. On August 18, 2008, the company launched Bigg Boss 2, the second season of the India's version of the popular worldwide format Big Brother, for Colors. Endemol India's first venture into fiction is a drama titled Miley Jab Hum Tum, based on the hopes and aspirations of six college students, which is scheduled to air on STAR One beginning September 22, 2008. Recently, Endemol produced Fear Factor - Khatron Ke Khiladi for Colors, a unique singing competition named Jo Jeeta Wohi Super Star for STAR Plus, an entertainment comedy show named Funjabbi Chak De for STAR One, a prank show named Champion Chaalbaaz No.1 for Sony Entertainment Television, and a music-based show in conjunction with the UN named Mission Ustaad for 9X. In 2006, Endemol produced Bigg Boss for Sony Entertainment Television. Other Endemol formats that have aired on Indian television include Deal Ya No Deal, the Indian adaptation of Deal or No Deal, and Fear Factor India, both of which were produced for Sony Entertainment Television.

Endemol Globo

In 2001, Endemol entered Brazil by forming a joint venture with Rede Globo, Endemol Globo. The company produces Big Brother Brasil, in its 9th series, and other formats, mostly as Caldeirão do Huck and Domingão do Faustão segments. Even with Globo as a partner, Endemol Globo also produces for other networks, like Band, with Na Pressão (originally Choose or Lose) and É O Amor (Brazilian version of international format All You Need is Love), and SBT, with Topa ou Não Topa (local version of Deal or No Deal).

Endemol Panama

For 2005, Endemol entered Panama with an alliance with Corporacion MEDCOM, the largest television network company in central America. By using Endemol assistance was created El Familion, a game show based on Deal or no Deal that is themed with Nestle products. In the first season it was the most popular game show ever aired in central America. Now it is aired for its second season.

Endemol Mexico

In 2002, Endemol Mexico was created in an alliance with Televisa.

They have produced 7 editions of Big Brother in a span of 3 years. The first edition of Big Brother under the slogan "La casa mas famosa de Mexico" ("The most famous house in Mexico") had a theme song by former pop band Kabah and was hosted by news personality Adela Micha, who was dubbed the "Big Sister". Following that edition, a VIP version was produced. The host of this show was Victor Trujillo, better know for his character Brozo, the theme song was done by the house guest's which was part of a challenge.

The 3rd edition was dubbed "El Complot" with the slogan "Las reglas cambian" ("The rules change") with Adela Micha returning to hosting duties. The theme song was once again interpreted by Kabah under the name "El Complot." This edition was later followed by another VIP version with host Veronica Castro and her big return to Mexican television. The media dubbed her the "Big Vero". The theme song ran by electro-pop group Moenia with the song "Tus Ojos Sobre Mi."

A year later the format returned with Big Brother.3R "La Adición" ("The Addiction"), with Veronica Castro returning to host and RBD singing the theme song Adiccion. For the 3R version the house guests were known as "Rebeldes" ("Rebels"). For the 3R version, there were 2 more editions for the VIP version, labeled as Parte I and Parte II, two editions followed each other, the same day that the winner of Part I was declared the next edition of Big Brother VIP followed. The slogan that was used was "Conoce lo desconocido de los conocidos" ("Get to know the unknown of the known"). The theme song for this was done by Kabah once again with "La Adicción" and Veronica Castro continued to host.

The Big Brother format has faded dramatically. After the very first edition of Big Brother and Big Brother VIP, Endemol Mexico started the production of Operacion Triunfo but received lackluster results because TV Azteca, Televisa's main rival, had on air a similar show called La Academia (The Academy). Even though Operacion Triunfo had been in pre-production for much longer than La Academia ever was, La Academia made it to air much sooner than Operacion Triunfo, so when the latter came on, it was seen as a "copy". In the format, the school where the contestants study is called "La Academia", in Mexico this was changed to "El Instituto" (The Institute), so it wouldn't cause a confusion with the audience and the other musical reality show.

Endemol Mexico also produced 2 seasons of ick reality show Fear Factor, also having VIP versions. The first season was hosted by Julio Bracho, but because he had a contract with Telemundo by the second season, Gabriel Pontones, who was one of the houseguests of Big Brother Mexico took over as host for Second Season.

Before hitting it big in the U.S. as Deal or no Deal, Mexico had produced its own version called Vas o No Vas hosted by Hector Sandarti. It was a weekly show airing on Saturdays, but due to the ratings the format was later retooled to air weekday's (Monday-Friday) was Vas o No Vas de Boletazo. The show ended its run, a little after that, but in late 2006 it began production again, but this time for Telemundo. Using a set and logo similar to the NBC version, which Telemundo is part of, Vas o No Vas was created for Endemol Latino. For 2007 it is expected that Endemol Mexico would begin production again of Vas o No Vas for the Mexican market.

Also in mid-2006 a new format was created called El Bar: Provoca, which was similar in format to Big Brother, but in addition to the contestants living together in a house, they had to run a bar by night. Each week there was an elimination and a special guest star to come and sing at the bar. The show was not successful, the host Roberto Palazuelos, left the show mid-way due to him having a previous contract to act in a telenovela in Miami. The show is expected to be retooled and come back in 2007.

For 2007, Pedro Torres, Endemol Mexico's showrunner, is looking at bringing Extreme Makeover: Home Edition to Mexico. The show will be titled "Cambio Extremo: Tu Hogar". Also they are developing, game shows like Show me the money which in Mexico will be titled Ensename la Lana and Rest of Life named in Mexico De por vida Bancomer. Another one of the formats to be made in 2007 is called Staying alive which will be redubbed Sobreviviendo.