Booming business

Keshet game show ‘Boom!’ headed to US

TV program sees teams answering questions by defusing a fake bomb in a bid to earn cash

Keshet is banking on its new game show "Boom!" to make it in America. (photo credit: Courtesy of Keshet)
Keshet is banking on its new game show "Boom!" to make it in America. (photo credit: Courtesy of Keshet)

A new Israeli game show is slated to explode onto American screens, after being optioned by a US network.

“Boom!,” a brand new format from major media player Keshet, was bought by American network FOX for creation of a US version, Deadline.com reported Tuesday.

The sale came just days after “Boom!,” a cheeky giggle-fest of a game show in which players must defuse a fake bomb under time pressure or risk sending the entire set shaking, premiered in Israel to record-breaking ratings.

The game show sees teams of four answering trivia questions, with multiple-choice questions represented by different colored wires on a faux bomb. They must snip the right wire in order to earn prize money and move forward in the game, and if they make a mistake, they not only lose cash, but they cause the bomb to “explode” and a series of special effects to rattle the studio.

Keshet has been promoting the program heavily at this week’s MIPTV conference in Cannes, in which major movers and shakers in the television industry gather to shop new content and share ideas.

Keshet International made the first sale of “Boom!” to France’s TF1 earlier in the week.

The confab this year is marked by a special “Focus on Israel” program, which includes a keynote speech from Keshet CEO Avi Nir and workshops exploring how Israel, which is the home base for several international TV hits including “Homeland,” “In Treatment” and reality singing competition “Rising Star,” remains so innovative in terms of small-screen content.

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