US buys spoof betting show

America is to import spoof Japanese betting show Banzai.

USA Networks has brought 29 instalments of the Channel 4 show, each of which will require 20 minutes of new sketches.

The over-the-top show will be screened as short sketches during ad breaks in the channel's weekly movie, rather than in complete half-hour chunks as it is in the UK

Stephen Lambert, director of programmes for Banzai makers RDF Media, told broadcasting industry webside produxion.com the deal wouldensure Banzai was not "lost within the sea of US television."

Published: 22 Jun 2001