Keshet International (KI) has signed its first licensing deal for Showdown, the new singing talent format it launched at MIPCOM 2018. The agreement with Rustavi 2 will also see Georgia's most successful private broadcasting company license a second primetime talent format from KI – Master Class, the feel-good musical talent show where children sing all-time classics with only positive reviews and no eliminations.

Both singing formats are based on original series developed and produced by Tedy Productions for Keshet 12 in Israel, and both will be adapted locally by Rustavi's in-house production team for Rustavi 2, Georgia's most watched free-to-air channel.

Keren Shahar, KI's COO and President of Distribution, says "We are thrilled to have completed this deal with Rustavi for Showdown and Master Class. The double order demonstrates the ongoing love affair audiences around the globe have with talent shows. These two formats are compelling viewing for very different reasons - Showdown is all about the gladiatorial clash between two mega-stars and their competing musical styles, while Master Class has that fantastic feel-good factor that makes for great family viewing."

Rustavi 2 has licensed a full cycle of Showdown (12 x 120'), the international format based upon Keshet 12's Showdown Aviv or Eyal, which premiered strongly in Israel last summer, outperforming its lead-in show and slot averages while building audiences week-on-week. Showdown Aviv or Eyal saw two of Israel's most popular and controversial performers, Aviv Geffen and Eyal Golan, take their well-known rivalry to primetime in a battle to discover the nation's next great singing talent. Currently in pre-production and casting for its two stars, Showdown is slated to premiere later this summer.

KI has also licensed to Georgia's leading broadcaster Master Class (12 x 60'), the musical talent show where 16 children are taught by four teachers – leading artists in the music industry – who train them to make the most of their potential. Celebrated by critics and audiences alike for its warmth and "feel-good" factor, Master Class became a breakthrough hit on Israeli television, attracting a 48% audience share and becoming the highest-rated talent show in the country in the years it aired.

To date, this highly successful format has sold in five territories, including Uruguay (Teledoce), Hungary (TV2), and China (BTV), running to three series in all three territories. In Hungary, Master Class regularly ranked as TV2's most-watched show of the week, peaking with a 30% average share (+88% on the channel average), while in China, on-air it ranks as one of the country's most-watched TV shows, while off-air it's one of the most engaging on social media platform Weibo.

In Georgia, Rustavi is currently casting children and teachers for its local adaptation of Master Class, which will begin filming shortly ahead of its weekly premiere Sunday nights at 8pm on Rustavi 2 from mid-April.