ITV pilots playalong quiz

The commercial broadcaster has ordered a non-TX pilot of the eponymous show after US network NBC ordered a series. 

It is among the noisiest formats on the Croisette this year and the deal marks one of the most significant TV formats to be based on a phone app. 

The studio entertainment show gives contestants the chance to earn cash prizes after answering a series of questions. Contestants also battle against viewers based around the UK playing in real-time at home. 

The show is a collaboration between NBC and game studio Plain Vanilla Corp, which designed and developed the app. 

QuizUp was ordered by ITV’s director of entertainment and comedy Elaine Bedell. It comes from David Mortimer’s London-based format production team. 

NBC Universal is promoting the format at Mipcom and is offering delegates the opportunity to win a Tesla sports car by playing the app. 

Mortimer, senior vice president of factual and entertainment, NBC Universal International Studios, said: “QuizUp is the result of an intense period of successful development by our colleagues at NBC. Television has been waiting for a quiz format that’s a big enough turn of the wheel to justify a place in the primetime schedule, and that’s exactly what this show is. 

“QuizUp is a great example of NBC Universal International Studios working hand in glove with our network colleagues to bring a bold new format to the international market and the deal we’re announcing with ITV is a huge part of our plan to roll the format out internationally at Mipcom.”

ITV has not had huge success with play-along entertainment formats in the past. It pulled the plug on Rising Star last year and ditched plans to launch a interactive app for Who Wants To Be A Millionaire in 2012.