Dutch, Slovakian broadcasters board Babes on the Bus

Broadcasters in the Netherlands and Slovakia are to remake Norwegian dating format Babes on the Bus. This follows the pick up of the format in the United States by Fox.

Youth skewing Dutch network BNN and Slovakian commercial broadcaster TV Joj are to produce local versions of the format, which is distributed by Endemol and Nordic World.

BNN, which is part of the country’s public broadcaster, has commissioned eight episodes, while TV Joj has ordered 13.

Babes on a Bus, which was originally produced by Scandinavian producer Monster, follows 25 single people who swap their city lives for rural life and a rural soul mate. Over ten weeks, the ‘babes’ travel the country looking for a suitable partner.

The show was initially produced for Norway’s TV Norge before being licensed in Denmark by Kanal 4, in Germany via Vox and in France by TF1.

Morten Aass, chief executive of Monster owner Nice Group, said: “There’s a growing realisation that dating has been neglected in recent years and that the time is ripe for a breakthrough format in this genre. The success of the Fox pilot and these latest licence deals in the Netherlands and Slovakia point to what we, Endemol and Nordic World have known since the Babes set off on their global road-trip a year ago: that Monster’s clever, compelling format, with its solid ‘bankers’ of dating and reality, has what it takes to entertain the world.”