Netflix wants to be a bigger player in reality competitions. Can it win?

By Wendy Lee Los Angeles Times LOS ANGELES Home wellness nurse Faith Dunn clad in a green tracksuit entered the cavernous room full of bunk beds where hundreds of contestants in the highly competitive second season of Squid Contest The Challenge that launched last week Dunn a huge fan of the popular Korean dystopian series was in it to win it as Contestant Dunn flew to England for the first time in January to take part in the reality competition series filmed at Shinfield Studios near Reading Squid Challenge is the best series I ve ever watched commented Dunn who lives in Springfield Oregon They re really going the extra mile letting us try this in person I was extremely excited to go Dunn along with other contestants competed to win million in prize money in games inspired by Squid Meeting The nine-episode series is just the latest example of Netflix s foray into the world of reality competition shows that cater to the rabid fan base of their bulk popular programs This year the streaming giant has informed several new reality competitions including The Golden Ticket inspired by the world of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and a reality contest based on the mystery battle Clue There are also plans to adapt the cutthroat real estate tournament Monopoly into a reality series Another encounter show in the works has the working title Win the Mall Billed as the next generation of Supermarket Sweep and The Price Is Right the new show will test the knowledge of consumers Netflix narrated The Times We look for unique worlds mentioned Jeff Gaspin Netflix s vice president of unscripted series How can we do something that we haven t seen multiple times before In all Netflix has commissioned reality competition seasons according to Ampere Analysis this year That represents of TV show seasons ordered the highest percentage that Ampere has seen since it started tracking Netflix shows commissioned globally in the firm explained They re expanding the universe of big-budget high-profile high-concept reality series because their research tells them that s what the audience wants commented Tom Nunan a former studio and framework executive It helps to have a hit Squid Challenge The Challenge was inspired by Netflix s the bulk popular show Squid Competition which garnered million views globally in its first season in its first days on Netflix in according to the streamer s figures That fandom carried over to the reality competition series that launched in More than of Netflix customers who watched Squid Battle The Challenge also watched Squid Battle according to Netflix It was so huge globally finding a show that resonates in just about every territory is rare Gaspin noted So translating it to a reality format seemed like a no-brainer Unlike big-budget fantasy or sci-fi series reality competition shows usually have lower budgets and multiple of them are filmed overseas in the U K and Canada to take advantage of lucrative financial incentives Gaspin declined to disclose the budget for Squid Event The Challenge but explained the first season s budget was substantially above million It is by far one of our biggest competition reality shows and the budget supports that revealed Gaspin a former executive at NBC Universal Television Entertainment The series was filmed on six soundstages in its second season A large rotating platform was built to depict mingle a match where players must gather a certain number of people in a room under a deadline in order to survive to the next round Ninety cameras were used to track their movements Players also went head to head in teams of five with their legs tied together as they raced on a track to complete challenges including building a house of cards fast enough to avoid elimination Netflix has been taking approaches to diversify its business into new areas such as video games and even mall locations where it can create immersive experiences with fans This week the Los Gatos company will launch Netflix House a physical location in the Philadelphia area where people can go to buy Netflix-themed merchandise or pay for experiences based on Netflix programs Unlike other setup reality show departments which have had budgets decimated by cuts Netflix has deep pockets to try new types of programs The fear factor is lower at Netflix than it is anywhere else Nunan mentioned In other words they seem much more confident in themselves and then taking a swing with things That s why Jimmy Fox head of unscripted advance and sales at Fremantle s U S operations took Win the Mall to Netflix Bulk networks you pitch a highly ambitious show to they will without delay try to bring you down to earth and strip your idea down to the the majority basic premise Fox announced At Netflix you pitch them an ambitious idea they will stare you in the eye and ask how together can we make this even bigger Netflix expanded its push into reality TV in with the launch of cooking competition shows like Nailed It and Sugar Rush Since then the company has developed popular franchises including reality dating shows such as Love Is Blind and created fandoms over reality contestants like Harry Jowsey from Too Hot to Handle who will launch his own show similar to ABC s The Bachelor next year Dunn the Squid Championship The Challenge contestant got the opportunity to apply for the second season of the reality show after she had won a Squid Encounter experience event in Los Angeles To prepare for the show she rewatched Squid Battle The Challenge Season and documentaries related to body language and communication I couldn t believe I had this opportunity of a lifetime and I became obsessed with Squid Battle Dunn explained I got a puppy afterwards and his name is Squid Los Angeles Times Visit latimes com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC