Entertaining Norway! Now I wasn’t expecting THAT before Lockdown.
Lockdown has seen strange things happen to our normal, everyday schedule of old, but this is one event I really couldn’t have forecast.
Way back in January, if you’d have told me that I’d be gathering my family around the laptop to watch a Norwegian gameshow each weekend, I’d have probably suggested that we ‘socially distance’ — long before that became a ‘thing’.
It must be said that lockdown has proven to be the birthplace of many innovations, not least of all in broadcast, where it turns out there was a show that was perfect for the ‘Isolation Age’ and boy has it just stolen the limelight!
‘All Against One’ (AA1) sees a contestant pitching their wits against their fellow countrymen (audience) at home, to guess the answer to varied and frequently eccentric questions such as ‘how many decibels can the local folk band make’. Whoever gets the closest answer wins.
The key ingredient to this is the ‘mobile app’ which my 12-year-old avidly plays along with and where our company comes in. The fusion of low and high tech created an absolutely gripping entertainment masterpiece for those locked in at home and created in its wake momentum for something truly special.
Norway were heading towards ‘Constitution Day’ (bigger than Christmas) but in lockdown mode, the question was how could the country come together as one?
Enter AA1 … and come together they did!
With the Norwegian Prime Minister keen to reach the masses, a new extra special episode of ‘All Against One’ was commissioned. Imagine Boris against the Populus?
A political gamble or a masterpiece — would it work?
We now have the answer…I have just received this email:
Andy Hoskings (Managing Director, Banijay Nordic)
“Hi Everyone. We’ve just got viewing figures back from Norway. 862,000 people tuned in for Sunday’s episode. The show had a 71.3% share of all TV viewers in Norway!
Incredible stuff. Without the app, there is no show so this is a huge achievement.
Thanks for making it happen again”.
Well Andy, a big thanks to you and the team too. It has been a pleasure — Tusen Takk!
