User blog:Colorband/Scribbles from the Karsis Wiki: Havik

Havik Group B.V. (dba Havik) is an Alliancian multinational television production and distribution company based in Nilverhium. Havik's annual productions run the gamut of scripted and non-scripted content, from reality shows and cooking competitions to 22-minute sitcoms and hour-long prestige dramas. Havik's main competitors in international content production are Banijay and Fremantle, which are both also based in Eurdecia.

History
Hendrik de Vogel's long career in television started in 1980, when he joined the Alliancian public broadcasting organization TROS. He quietly rose through the ranks until he finally created his first show, the popular game show Domino, for the organization in 1989. The program, which he created under the pen name "Rick de Havik," turned out to be a surprise hit. His rise was cut short when he suddenly found himself fired by the organization in 1991 following his creation of The Million Gilder Challenge.

After a few months of independent producing, Rick and his friend Daniel van Willenburg decided to join forces and start their own production company. Havik Films & Television was founded on May 5th, 1992 and immediately went to work creating their own original formats. More specifically, Daniel would work with television channels to create formats while Rick would attempt to acquire the rights to both Domino and The Million Gilder Challenge for their company. After a few false starts, the company's first hit would come in 1993 with the launch of A+B, a video game game show in the vein of Starcade and Nick Arcade. The show's actually become rather famous in its home country for influencing how most viewers will choose the consoles they purchase - every console A+B's picked for the generation always ends up having a huge increase in sales directly following the announcement.

rick's first breakthrough on the regaining format rights front also came in 1993, when he and Saikyo Broadcasting System (the original creators of the Takeshi's Castle format) teamed up to strip the rights to The Million Gilder Challenge from TROS and then havik agreed to, like, produce it for them. (Blah blah blah, standard "reminding myself of what to do" reminder. Get to Havik purchasing Tien.)

Formats
Challenger (formerly The Million Guilder Challenge) - Likely their most popular format, this is actually a renamed and reworked version of the Takeshi's Castle format made popular in Hokusei. Produced in association with Saikyo Broadcasting System, this format (which demands both physical and mental sharpness from its contestants) has been exported to countries all over both Eurdecia and the world in general. Its Atlansian version, renamed "Crusaders" over there to distance the format from the otherwise unrelated Challenger shuttle disaster, is mostly known there for its first version (2002-2003, NBC) being an expensive flop and using a certain song by Rialmanian group Enigma as its theme song long before any Itainian gangstars thought of using it.

A+B - People play video games. Whoever gets the highest score wins. Simple as! The first real format created under Havik, it's mostly remembered in Alliancia for having real sway over who the winner of the console wars for the generation will be over there. Has also been exported to several countries across the globe, including a short-lived but often missed Hokuseian version where contestants often showed up in cosplay of their favourite video game characters.

'''POP! Goes The Music''' - A multi-part documentary format going into the history of popular music as told by both historians who've studied it and celebrities who lived through it. Most notable for the fact that every production of it thus far has been a multi-national endeavor - the original 2009 version was a co-production between Bluntforce Productions of Anglosaw, EyeSee of Atlansia, and Havik Shooting Star of Neurcasia, while Hokuseian/Yarean and Roterlainian/Rialmanian/Latinolian versions of the series have also been made.