BBC & NBCUniversal Head To ‘Destination X’ For New Reality Show
Following the huge success of the global phenomenon that is ‘The Traitors’, BBC and NBCUniversal have teamed up again on an adventure reality competition show, ‘Destination X‘.
‘Destination X’ crosses fantasy with reality in this larger-than-life adventure competition. Ten contestants embark on the road trip of a lifetime, but have no idea of their location. Once they’re on the innovative Destination X bus, reality is tweaked to mislead them and the viewers. Information comes with a number of clues designed to help the contestants decide if they can trust what they see. They need to be on top of their game at all times to figure out where they are. At the end of each episode, the contestant who places their X on a map furthest away from the bus’s actual location has to leave the game and loses their shot at winning a cash prize. The surviving participants search for the location of the host, who interacts with them from the secret command post. Mind-blowing and spectacular gameplay will keep viewers engaged and playing along on all screens.
“Following the must-see success of The Traitors, I’m delighted that once again we’re partnering with NBCUniversal on another very smart, very addictive and very innovative competition show,” said Kate Phillips, BBC Director of Unscripted. “With countless red herrings and brain-teasing clues, we were gripped from the start. It promises to be a hugely challenging adventure for our ten brave contestants, with plenty of play-along for all BBC viewers, as everyone hopes they’ve got the ‘X’ that marks the spot!”
‘Destination X’ was created and produced by Geronimo, the award-winning team behind ‘The Big Job Switch’ and ‘Doctor Davy’, and launched in Belgium on February 20th on commercial broadcaster VTM. It is consistently winning the slot on Monday evening, with an impressive 42% market share over the first 8 episodes (18-44, Consolidated). Whilst the show is clearly a hit in linear viewing, ‘Destination X’ is also drawing eyeballs to VTM’s AVOD platform VTM Go. Immediately after the regular episodes on VTM, viewers can see in the online plot twist episodes what clever clues they missed and how contestants were misled by the production crew.
“‘Destination X’ is a big unique format that pairs spectacular adventure travel with the ultimate guessing game. ‘The Traitors’ instilled confidence that big formats are back, and ‘Destination X’ is incredibly ambitious,” adds Corie Henson, Executive Vice President, Unscripted Programming, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. “We’re thrilled to have the perfect travelling partners in Universal Television Alternative Studios, BBC and, of course, BE-Entertainment, for this one-of-a-kind immersive gameplay set among stunning locations.”
The series is the second co-commission between BBC and NBCUniversal following ‘The Traitors’, and is based on a format that originated in Belgium and is distributed globally by Be-Entertainment. The North American rights were secured by Toby Gorman and Ed Havard for Universal Television Alternative Studio, a division of Universal Studio Group, for development at NBC, led by Corie Henson. Whilst for the BBC, Director of Unscripted Kate Phillips and Editor of Unscripted, Syeda Irtizaali, secured UK rights for BBC One and iPlayer.
‘Destination X‘ does not yet have a premiere date, but will air on BBC One/iPlayer in the UK and on NBC/Peacock in the USA. If you want to keep track of this or any other show, add them via our Never Miss system, and you’ll be notified when they get a UK premiere date.
