This new format aims to attract young video game fans in Saudi Arabia to linear television.
Saudi Broadcasting Authority (SBA) has launched a brand-new game show titled Eish El Tahdi (Live the Challenge) on SBC last night at 9 PM KSA time. The show, commissioned by SBA to ART Format Lab, is the first of several original productions intended to woo young Saudi audiences to linear TV.
The hour-long episodes will see 16 teams of six players in each team vie for the Cup and the winning team will take home SAR 200,000 ($53,314) while the rest will receive consolation prizes or gift cards. The show will be simulcast on SBA’s SBC channel and featured 15 minutes later on Twitch to adjust ad timings.
“This is a new format we have developed and executed for SBA’s SBC Channel,” commented Khulud Abu Homos, founder and CEO of Art Format Lab.
“Usually, video gaming championships centre around one game while this championship is based on seven of the most popular games in Saudi Arabia and will include different genres from car racing and soccer to street fighting.”
Each episode will include a qualifying round with commentary from a major influencer from the gaming community. It will also include a weekly news bulletin from a game journalist, who will cover the latest news, updates and releases in the gaming industry.
“Our goal was to develop and execute a format that caters to a younger audience from the booming entertainment gaming industry while encouraging them to watch it on traditional TV. I believe we will be successful in achieving that goal through this video gaming competition,” Homos added.
Art Format Lab was responsible for setting up the gaming, streaming and broadcast infrastructure at the studio that was rented out for this production.
