NBCUniversal said it signed a series development deal with STV studio to bring the reality format The Underdog to the U.S.

The format, created by STV Studio’s label Primal Media and co-owned by GroupM Motion Entertainment, is a competition show in which the contestants are a group of popular influencers and one “ordinary guy.”

The twist is that next door, a group of iconic reality stars are controlling the game to ensure that the regular guy wins.

“This development partnership cements our ambitions at Universal Studio Group to partner with some of the best content creators on shows with global scale and appeal,” Toby Gorman, president, Universal Television Alternative Studio, said. “This is such a unique reality format that really lends itself to adaptation for the U.S. market, so we’re super excited to bring it to life for NBC.”

A UK version of the format is currently in the works for E4 produced by Primal Media and GroupM Motion Entertainment. The working title is Alan Must Win.

The U.S. rights were secured by Toby Gorman and Ed Havard, senior VP, unscripted programming, Universal International Studios (UIS), for development at NBC led by Corie Henson.  

The deal was brokered on the STV Studios side by creative director of international development Josephine Brassey and commercial director Camilla Cope.

“Primal Media have created another truly genius format which puts a unique new spin on the reality genre, so we’re delighted to be working with Toby, Ed and the talented team at NBCUniversal on developing it for the U.S. market,” Brassey said.

Outside of the U.S., All3Media International has been named the show’s global partner.

Zone TV said it is behind two subscription VOD channels that were recently added to Comcast’s VOD platform for set-top boxes and Xfinity Stream app and portal – TumbleBooksTV and FitFusion by Jillian Michaels.

Both services werehiding out in the open last week on this Comcast SVOD web pageand on therecently introduced “Manage Channels” featurefor the MSO’s X1 platform, but Zone TV announced its involvement in those offerings on Monday.

RELATED: Comcast Adds CuriosityStream to SVOD Lineup

Comcast is selling FitFusion (home workouts and life coaching) for $6.99 per month, $3 per month lessthan what FitFusion is selling via its own direct-to-consumer OTT product. TumbleBooksTV, an ad-free, read-watch-learn service, goes for $4.99 per month.

Comcast is not delivering those offerings into subscriber homes on set-tops using a public internet connection (like it does for YouTube and Netflix on X1 boxes) but instead uses its separately managed video network.

RELATED: Zone TV Uses A.I. to Program 14 Linear-Style OTT Channels

Zone TV, which specializes in bringing genre-based apps and content to set-tops boxes, has also worked with Comcast on bringing two thematic offerings – Halloween Countdown and Santa Tracker --– to X1 devices.

RELATED: X1 Enters the Halloween Zone