BBC America General Manager Perry Simon has given the green light for a new 13x30 minute comedy gameshow hosted by Irish presenter Graham Norton to be broadcast on BBC America.
The show called ‘Would You Rather with Graham Norton?’ will be a gameshow that will test the wits of the best U.S. comics. It will be produced by So Television, a production company owned by Norton and Graham Stuart. Executive Producers on the show will be Graham Norton, Graham Stuart and Jim Biederman.
Simon commented on the growing popularity of BBC America’s unscripted British exports saying “Top Gear, Gordon Ramsay and Graham Norton continue to deliver ratings and strong ad revenue. It makes sense to offer our viewers even more of what they love about the channel by developing compatible original programs featuring some of our biggest stars. But this is just the start. Our development team, Richard De Croce, Rachel Smith and Erin Jontow, is already working on the next raft of titles including BBC America’s first original scripted series.”
The announcement follows a BBC America’s highest yet ratings for the second quarter of 2011. Graham Norton recently won a BAFTA for Entertainment Performance for his work on ‘The Graham Norton Show’ at the BAFTA Television Awards in 2011, which he also presented. ‘Would You Rather With Graham Norton?’ will shoot in New York and will premiere on BBC America in late 2011.