Network Ten Eyes New Talent Show For Songwriters

Looking for a new 'shiny floor show' success, Network Ten's Programming Boss Beverly McGarvey is rumoured to be looking at picking up a new talent show format during this week's annual Cannes TV showcase MIPCOM (it's the SXSW of TV).

The Daily Telegraph reports that McGarvey has "her eye on" Irish talent show The Hit. The show features songwriters pitching compositions to established artists, with the winning songs being recorded, released and then fighting it out in the charts.

Screened on the RTE One network, each week sees six writers pitch to two artists. The format involves the artist choosing two songs, the show then follows negotiations between the artists and composers (discussing possible changes to the song to make it more suitable, etc). Each artist then produces one track and the selection is revealed in the following live episode. The week's winner is the one to sell the most downloads - it then goes into a grand final which allows viewers to choose their favourite cut.

Former Australia's Got Talent judge, Irish singer Brian McFadden appeared in The Hit's pilot episode screened in 2012. McFadden's stint on Australian TV was a ratings succes but his time here also attracted controversy - it's not known if the network is considering attaching him to a local version of The Hit. The RTE show is currently co-hosted by McFadden's former Westlife bandmate Nicky Byrne. Artists featured on The Hit included multiple-Eurovision winner Johnny Logan, noughties one-hit-wonder Samantha Mumba and The Fureys' Finbar Furey (the eventual winner).

Whispers of the show coming to Australia originally surfaced on TV Tonight back in May when it was also first rumoured that Ten would be reviving the local format of So You Think You Can Dance. The return of SYTYCD has since been confirmed for 2014.