Canada’s CTV buys US Rising Star

Canadian free-to-air broadcaster CTV has bought the upcoming finished US version of Israeli talent show Rising Star.

The series, which started out on Keshet in Israel and is distributed by Keshet International, involves viewers via an interactive app that they must download.

The US version will go out on ABC and will be exec produced by Ken Warwick (American Idol) and Nicolle Yaron (The Voice). In Canada, it will go out as part of CTV’s summer schedule.

Keshet DCP, the joint venture North American unscripted programming business, will make the US series.

Meanwhile, the Portuguese version of Rising Star has just debuted on TVI. Going out in a 9.30pm slot on Sunday it generated a 32.7 share and a 14.1% rating. Keshet said the accompanying app was downloaded 170,000 times, and there were 1.2 million votes cast.