Renewals round-up: “Big Brother,” “Love Games,” “Drugs Inc.”

September 21, 2012 by Kevin Ritchie

Several familiar competition formats are among the series getting renewals news this week.

CBS will bring Big Brother (pictured) back for a 15th run next summer. Since the reality competition format debuted in 2000, it has proved a ratings hit for the U.S. broadcaster, with season 14 averaging 6.79 million viewers. The series is produced for CBS by Fly on the Wall Entertainment and Endemol USA.

U.S. cable network Oxygen has renewed Bunim/Murray Productions’ dating competition series Love Games: Bad Girls Need Love Too for a fourth season. This season, Amy, Camilla and Dani from Oxygen reality show Bad Girls Club will look for love among a pool of 14 suitors. The season premiere is November 5.

Crime series Drugs Inc. will return for a third season on National Geographic Channel on October 21. The Wall to Wall Media-produced show examines the US$350 billion-a-year drug trade through first-hand testimonies from characters on all sides of the issue.

UKTV-owned cable network Dave has ordered a fifth season of Red Bull X-Fighters. Produced by UMTV, the six x 60-minutes series captures the action at the freestyle motor-cross tour. The fourth season attracted 4.7 million viewers, indexing 132% with the net’s target audience of 16- to 34-year-old men.

Several FremantleMedia titles for the Latin American market have received renewal notices. In Brazil, Idols (Idolos) will return for a seventh season on Rede Record. The talent show format is a coproduction between FremantleMedia and 19 Entertainment.  The network has also picked up Brazilian version of The Apprentice (O Aprendiz) for a ninth season to air in 2013.

The Fremantle and Syco-owned Got Talent format will air on Columbian channel RCN next year under the title Colombia Tiene Talento. The network has also ordered a fifth season of Syco’s X Factor format.

Back in the U.S., meanwhile, A&E’s series Parking Wars and Billy the Exterminator are each returning for their sixth seasons on October 6, with back-to-back episodes at 9 and 9:30 p.m. respectively.

In Mexico, the game show Poker Face (Doble Cara) will return for a fourth season on TV Azteca, and Televisa has picked up Family Feud for a fifth run.

Finally, reality fashion competition Project Runway Latin America will return for a third season mid next year.

Tags: 19 Entertainment, Big Brother, Brazil, Bunim-Murray Productions, Bunim/Murray Productions, CBS, Columbia, Dave, Drugs Inc., Endemol, Endemol USA, Fly on the Wall Entertainment, FremantleMedia, Love Games: Bad Girls Need Love Too, Mexico, National Geographic Channel, Oxygen, Project Runway Latin America, Red Bull X-Fighters, The Apprentice, UKTV Dave, UMTV, Wall to Wall, Wall To Wall Productions