Although initially planned as a one-year production, broadcaster SBS6 has just extended Utopia for an open-ended run. Talpa's groundbreaking reality show, a massive multi-platform operation that launched almost nine months ago in The Netherlands, has nearly quadrupled the channel average.
Says John de Mol, the creator of the format: Utopia in The Netherlands has become a solid block of successful programming in the early evening hours of SBS. It's now proven itself as a format that ensures continuity. I'm very happy about that, as the social experiment is far from being finished. There's still so much to be developed, and the fact we're no longer under any time pressure will give a great new impulse to the 15 inhabitants and thereby to the program.
The social experiment, which was intended to finish the end of this year, will now proceed as an open-ended show to feature many, if not all, of the same Utopians. It'll be up to the current Utopians themselves to decide whether or not to continue; they'll be given the opportunity to discuss the option with family members. One inhabitant will become the Utopian of the Year and receive the cash remaining in Utopia's budget at the end of 2014; he or she will be able to decide what to do with the money.
This month Utopia debuted on Fox in the US, where the second episode shot up 56% in the key 18-49 demo, reflecting a huge delayed viewing ratings growth for a reality series. The show airs every Tuesday and Friday.
Utopia will soon air in Germany, Romania and Turkey. All the commissions have been straight-to-series, to go on air within a year of the original launch.
The ultimate social experiment sees a group of 15 passionate individuals, the pioneers of today, bid farewell to their current lives to build an entirely new society. They must build it from scratch, in a place where no rules, laws or power struggles exist. The program offers a 360 experience for the viewer, who can even become part of the community with a Utopia passport.
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