Ultima Studios, producer of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire Nigeria and Project Fame West Africa, has announced that it’s bringing the world’s number one business reality television show, Lions’ Den, back to Nigeria! LD’s journey back on Nigerian TV screens started recently in London, when Ultima’s Chairman/CEO, Femi Ayeni, signed an agreement with UK-based Sony Pictures Television (SPT) to produce the Nigerian version.
At present, most people know the show as Dragons’ Den (UK) and Shark Tank (US). However, the format, created by Japan’s Nippon TV, originally aired in Japan in 2001 as Money Tigers. It emerged in the UK two years later, and the UK version has been the longest running adaptation, currently in its 15th season. In 2009, the Dragons became Sharks, and the US version, Shark Tank started. Shark Tank has now been made in the US, Australia, Portugal, Italy, Mexico, South Africa, Brazil, Mongolia and Vietnam.
The basic format of the show is that entrepreneurs pitch bold new ideas and inventions to five millionaires, the investors, in search of investments to fund the growth of their business ideas. The entrepreneurs must convince one or more of the investors to invest a specific amount of their money – or they fail. They will need to prove themselves with hard facts and figures, and answer the investors’ probing questions. If the investors are impressed by a pitch, they negotiate aggressively to own the biggest possible share in the venture in exchange for cash. The show makes compelling viewing, especially when the investors start competing with each other to be the sole investor in a truly promising venture.
Speaking on why Ultima is bringing it to Nigeria, Ayeni said, “Ultima’s choice of Lions’ Den as its next venture is a celebration of the entrepreneurial spirit for which Nigerians are famous. Ultima is excited to produce a programme that will not only provide exciting viewing for viewers at home; but will also provide an opportunity for serious entrepreneurs to attract much-needed investments. Furthermore, as has been the case in all other countries where the show is running, it is not just the entrepreneurs but also the viewers at home that will benefit from the comments made by the Lions.”
