The technical crew on set in Malta© 2009 - Niclas Sköld

Popular Scandinavian Reality Show - Champions' Champion filmed in Malta

Following the efforts of the Malta Tourism Authority’s office in Sweden, Malta served as the backdrop for the filming of two, 4 week long filming sessions for a popular Scandinavian reality TV show, with participants hailing from Sweden and Norway.

The MTA Stockholm office was involved in this production as early as April 2009. The producers were looking for a new destination in the Mediterranean and following their site visit in May, which was organised by the MTA, Malta was chosen. The producers were impressed by the diversity of the Maltese islands and with the number of historical and natural sites available as locations for their sports challenges. In addition, the close proximity between the various locations, coupled with the fact that Malta is English speaking was also a major advantage.

The public broadcasters of Sweden SVT and Norway NRK shot the two series simultaneously in Malta; with different celebrity casts but with a common crew, using a combination of both Scandinavian and Maltese crewmembers.

Champions’ Champion is a popular reality TV show. The concept is to gather a group of former top athletes such as, Olympic gold medallists, world champions and top sportsmen and women in a villa, where they live together and compete against each other in a wide variety of “sports” and challenges over a four-week period. The winner receives the title “Champion of Champions”. The cast for the Swedish programme contained eleven of Sweden's top sports celebrities including for example, Tomas Brolin, former Swedish national team football player and nine from Norway, including the legendary Oddvar Brå .

As a result of the filming in Malta, both countries will produce ten, one-hour-long episodes to be broadcast during prime time on the two mentioned broadcasters’ main TV-channels. In other words the outcome of this project will result in 20 hours of prime time television exposure for the Maltese Islands during the spring of 2010. Each programme is expected to attract over 1.5 million viewers hailing from a very broad audience, in fact in Norway Champions’ Champion, was the top-three most seen show in all age categories.