A terrible downer for John de Mol: the American TV network NBC cancels the purchase of his television child Million Dollar Island. “The ratings on SBS 6 didn’t really help.”
John de Mol is still trying with all his might to sell TV formats to the most lucrative television market: the United States. His tactic is to test new formulas in the Netherlands and then roll them out to the rest of the world. With his TV baby Million Dollar Island, which can be seen with us on SBS 6, that is not yet very successful.
Low ratings
For a moment it seemed that Million Dollar Island would be sold to the American TV giant NBC, but it has now put a line through it. The high production costs are mentioned in the American media as the reason, but according to the former SBS 6 boss, there are a number of other factors at play.
Tina points to the coverage of the American Deadline. “According to the site, the show was in the casting phase there. One of the reasons for the cancellation would be that the program is too expensive. Although the viewing figures in the Netherlands will not have helped, I think.”
Squid Game
There’s something else going on, Tina knows. “So there will be a reality series based on the Netflix series Squid Game. 456 players, prize money: $4.56 million. The arrival of this format also seems to have been a major reason for NBC to cancel Million Dollar Island, according to rumors in the media world in the United States.”
For incomprehensible reasons, there will be a second season of Million Dollar Island in the Netherlands, which will be presented by former judoka Dennis van der Geest. It will be a lot more difficult for SBS 6 to find candidates, because the last winner did not receive the promised one million euros, but three tens and a book voucher.