FRAPA: International production volume generated by traded TV formats has grown to US$ 13.7billion

Cannes - The international trade association FRAPA (The Format Recognition and Protection Association) presented at MIPCOM the new ‘FRAPA Report 2009 - TV Formats to the World', compiled in association with the global TV research agency The WIT and TV Sisters, a journalistic office that provides international programme research. A total of 14 countries (Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Spain, UK, USA and three Nordic countries, Denmark, Norway and Sweden) comprise the focus of the report.

Formats like Deal or No Deal, Hole in the Wall and Lalola travel around the world inspiring millions of people. 445 original formats found their way to foreign countries from 2006 to 2008. The number nearly doubled from the first report made on behalf of FRAPA, which analysed the formats traded from 2002 to 2004.

The production volume generated by traded formats has grown to €9.3 billion (US$ 13.7 billion) for the years 2006 to 2008. This is a huge increase of 45 % in comparison to the first report. The UK still leads in the number of exported formats, followed by the USA, The Netherlands and Argentina. Countries such as Germany, Spain and Italy started to improve their format business with promising results already in evidence. Even Japan, a self-sufficient giant, is showing a growing interest in the format trade.