TVFORMATS Formats Trending This Spring Last month saw the launch of several new high-profile format treatments, including the rebooted Wipeout on TBS in the U.S. The show garnered some 59,000 Instagram followers, with hosts John Cena and Nicole Byer each having their own dedicated social media following: 15 million and 680,000 followers, respectively. The revival of the physical game show that aired on ABC from 2008 to 2014 features contestants competing in wildly creative and hilariously out-of-the-box obstacle courses. “TBS wanted it to be a little more athletic than it was in the past,” Matt Kunitz, co-creator and showrunner of Wipeout, told TV Formats Weekly of the reboot. “So we worked on a balance between athleticism and humor. They wanted decision points, so on many of the obstacles, the contestants have to make choices: this route or that route. You don’t get to sit and watch previous people run the course. You have to look at the course and think, if I go to the left, I’m going to get hit by three sweeper bars; if I go to the right, there are only two sweeper bars, but I have to leap over those podiums. What’s going to be easier? Those choices make it more of a competitive show. We also wanted a bigger focus on the contestants.”