Following its release on the Discovery+ VOD platform two weeks ago, Rabbit’s new original series ‘Ultimate Escape’ aired its first episode last night (Wed 27 October) at 9pm on Discovery Finland’s flagship linear channel TV5. The results have just come in, and not only was it Discovery’s most-watched programme of the evening, the show over tripled the share in the time slot from the previous week!

Last night’s episode scored an impressive 9.9% Share in the Adults 10-54 demo, giving the Discovery group its best result on all of its channels on the day. Furthermore, last week in the same time slot, TV5 had a 3.2% share, meaning that Ultimate Escape was able to bring in over +200% viewers! The programme scored especially well with the young male audiences.

Ultimate Escape is a Rabbit Films original format that was successfully launched at the MIPCOM 2021 TV Festival. It has already been optioned in several international territories prior to its original version’s premiere. The first season consists of 8 x 60 min episodes, each featuring a different celebrity locked in the container, including chef Jyrki Sukula, TV-host Veronica Verho and actor Minka Kuustonen.

Watch the subtitled version of last night’s Ultimate Escape episode here.
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The New Zealand version of hit factual entertainment format is set to premiere on TVNZ in 2022

Finnish production and distribution company Rabbit Films announces today that TVNZ in New Zealand has commissioned a local version of its original factual entertainment format The Most Endangered Species with WWF. The 6 x 60’ series entitled New Zealand’s Most Endangered Species will be produced by Warner Bros. International TV Production New Zealand with the support of NZ On Air. It is set to premiere on TVNZ 2 and TVNZ OnDemand in 2022. The format has additionally been optioned in in Canada.

The Most Endangered Species with WWF is an epic nature series, which sees a well-known comedian travel together with a scientist to the outermost corners of the world to get acquainted with the protection of endangered animals. The format offers once in a lifetime experiences, such as racing a snow leopard in the Himalayas, looking for the Svalbard polar bears and visiting Borneo to explore the shrinking areas of the orangutan.

The New Zealand version will differ from the original in that it will focus on endangered species in New Zealand only. A leading conservationist will travel together with a well-loved New Zealand comedian to incredible, remote locations across the island nation in search of some of the country’s rarest species.

The format has also been optioned in Canada by BGM Inc, a Sphere Media Company, who are currently working on local adaptations for both English and French speaking Canada.

Samantha Ferguson, Senior Sales Manager at Rabbit Films, who brokered the deals said: “We are eagerly awaiting the international roll-out of The Most Endangered Species. Warner Bros New Zealand have been incredible partners and have done an amazing job together with TVNZ, WWF and NZ On Air to create this compelling yet entertaining ‘call-to-action’ series. The series provides easy co-viewing opportunity with the comedic tones which allows audiences to engage in and learn more about environmental issues.”

Greg Heathcote, Managing Director of Warner Bros. International TV Production New Zealand, said “we are excited about bringing this important and timely new show to a New Zealand audience. The chance to showcase Aotearoa’s diverse eco system and the unique and wonderful creatures within it is a once in a generation opportunity. We look forward to working with iwi, WWF, the Department of Conservation and The Endangered Species Foundation to bring these exciting stories to life and share with the audience how we can all contribute to help protect our precious native species.”

Check out the trailer and full subititled episodes here.