Tinopolis, the producer of the TV show in Britain “Robot Wars,” is seeking partners in China to bring the program to the country. The show has teams made up of university students, engineers, hobbyists and school teachers creating combat robots which must avoid spikes, fires and pits to win the championship and be crowned “House Robot.”
Potential in China Market
“Robot Wars” is airing already in more than 90 countries in Asia, Europe and Africa. Ron Jones, executive chairman of Tinopolis, said he sees great potential in the China market which is why the company wants to work with Chinese partners to gain a clearer understanding of the market and advise Tinopolis on cultural and regulatory matters, Xinhua News reported.
According to GBTimes, Tinopolis already has some of its shows airing in China. One is “Extreme Sailing” aired by LeTV, and the other is “Worst Driver” broadcast by SMG New Media, also an online video platform.
“Robot Wars’” first broadcast in the UK was in 1998 but it was discontinued in 2004. By the early 2000s, Much TV, a satellite cable channel in Taiwan, dubbed the original “Robot Wars” in Chinese language and aired the episodes.
Back on Air
It was revived in July 2016 after 12 years of being off the air. The show’s initial episode got 2 million viewers. “Robot Wars” – aired at 8 p.m. on July 24, Sunday - beat the competition, the final episode of “Top Gear’s” 23rd series. Because of the successful relaunch, Tinopolis would air eight more episodes of “Robot Wars” in 2017.
With some of the robots from the original series back – such as Razer, Storm II and Behemoth – plus four of the original House Robots upgraded to become faster, heavier, with new looks and better armed, the premiere episode became trending on social media with more than 20,000 tweets.