EXCLUSIVE: Could ITV‘s next big gameshow be coming in from Canada?
The UK commercial broadcaster is understood to be in early-stage development on a version of Zenith, an X Factor-style French-Canadian format in which singers from different generations perform songs to a live audience. Masked Singer UK producer Bandicoot is forging the ITV version.
In Zenith, the audience in the arena-style building is made up of 100 judges all grouped by generation, split between Boomer, Gen X, Millennial and Gen Z. Over 13 weeks, 24 singers (six per generation) sing old and new hits via splashy performances and are judged by the audience. The end goal is “to crown a winner at the end of the season: an artist who has been able to captivate all generations, a singer whose timeless voice suits all styles, genres, and eras,” according to the show’s synopsis.
Zenith launched on ICI Radio-Canada in 2023 and has performed well in its home country, with producer KOTV saying it was top in its slot for Seasons 1 and 2. After Season 1 launch, KO Distribution sold production rights to the likes of Mediawan for French-speaking territories, Masked Singer producer Bandicoot in the UK and Eureka Productions in Australia, while broadcaster 3Cat has taken to series in Catalonia.
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Argonon-backed Bandicoot’s version is in early-stage development and may not make it to screen, we are told. ITV and Bandicoot have struck gold with their version of The Masked Singer, which is into its sixth season and is watched by millions each week.
Zenith has more than a shade of Simon Cowell’s The X Factor, which aired for 14 years on ITV and is perennially rumored to be making a comeback. That series, one of ITV’s most popular of all time, sees singers compete each week to win a record contract with Cowell’s label. As with Zenith, it groups its contestants into different age ranges.
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