iWorld
Banijay celebrates 25 years of Survivor
MUMBAI: Banijay is celebrating 25 years since the adventure reality format, Survivor, debuted in Sweden in September 1997. The milestone achievement follows the format’s most successful year-to-date last year, with 25 productions in 2021.
Survivor tests the spirit of a group of ordinary, yet extraordinary people who are marooned, with little more than the clothes on their backs and their own animal cunning. As they catch their own food, build their own shelter and order their own society, castaways must compete in increasingly difficult tests of strategy and guile.
Ranked the Best Reality Show Of All Time (Variety), Survivor, the format which is created by Charlie Parsons, has been commissioned in 50 territories and is one of the most loved and watched formats around the world. The anniversary follows the recent announcement that Survivor will return to the UK in 2023, with Remarkable Entertainment (part of Banijay UK) producing the series for BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Other recent comebacks for the format include Brazil, Norway, Bulgaria and Romania, with all-new first-time adaptations in Mexico and Serbia, as well as an upcoming launch in Canada (French).
Banijay global head of content operations Lucas Green said, “Survivor has all the elements of a hit format combining jeopardy, reality, strategy and adventure. Whilst each version is unique to its territory, every Survivor season celebrates the core values of this much-loved show. It has been honed through hundreds of seasons of expertise and is head and shoulders above the countless copycats which never quite stand up to the test. We are proud to produce the original – and in our view the best – adventure reality format on television. Most of all, we give thanks to those hard-working production teams around the world, with whom we celebrate this distinguished anniversary.”
Amongst the hugely successful iterations around the world are the U.S., which is the longest-running version with season 44 confirmed and more than 7.5 million viewers tuning in to the most recent season on CBS; The Netherlands, which has aired every year since 2000; the hugely popular French series, which will air its 29th season next year; and the originating market Sweden, which recently aired its 21st run of Expedition Robinson. The format also enjoys successful companion shows, all-star spin-offs and celebrity versions.
Survivor has created iconic moments over the last 25 years. These include an Israeli contestant meeting his child for the first time via video link at the Tribal Council, a player voting off her mum so she could progress in series 29 in the US, a proposal between two All Star contestants in the US. There was even a visit to the beach from Ivanka Trump in the Italian production, in heels and a sequinned dress!
iWorld
Applause, Story TV team up to push microdrama content
Partnership to create premium short form shows for mobile first viewers
MUMBAI: Applause Entertainment and Story TV are betting on short attention spans with a long-term vision, joining forces to create a slate of premium microdramas for mobile-first audiences.
The partnership brings together Applause’s storytelling pedigree and Story TV’s fast-growing digital reach, with plans to co-produce and distribute bite-sized dramas across genres. As part of the deal, Story TV will also adapt the romantic thriller Hello Mini into a vertical microdrama format, signalling a shift in how stories are being reshaped for smaller screens.
Backed by the Aditya Birla Group, Applause Entertainment has built a reputation for high-quality content with titles like Scam 1992 and Criminal Justice. Story TV, launched in 2025, has quickly scaled up with a library of over 1,000 titles across languages and genres, riding the wave of mobile consumption.
Story TV founder and CEO Saurabh Pandey said, “Phones are now the primary screens for content consumption, and microdramas are evolving into a mainstream format. At Story TV, we are blending storytelling with technology to push this format further.”
He added that the collaboration with Applause Entertainment will help expand the reach of microdramas while introducing a layer of premium storytelling to the space.
Applause Entertainment chief business officer Prasoon Garg said, “At Applause, we have always focused on strong storytelling across formats. As microdramas gain momentum, this partnership allows us to explore the space with a platform that understands both the format and its audience.”
With mobile screens shrinking and content getting sharper, the collaboration hints at a future where storytelling is not just shorter, but smarter, designed to fit neatly into the scroll of everyday life.
