Viacom, Endemol Shine Adapt ‘Lip Sync Battle’ for Portugal’s SIC

By John Hopewell

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Viacom International Studios is teaming with Endemol Shine Group to create a Portuguese version of hit format “Lip Sync Battle” for commercial broadcaster SIC.

“Lip Sync Portugal Playback Total” represents VIS’ first-ever format production in the country.

Produced by Iberia, the show will air in a primetime slot on SIC’s eponymous flagship channel, with the first episode to be a live broadcast on Sunday Jan. 13.

The locally adapted episodes of “” tap into the recent success of the U.S. and U.K. versions, previously acquired by SIC and aired on pay TV channel SIC Caras.

“We are confident that Portuguese audiences are going to love this local version of the smash hit even more than the original U.S. series,” Laura Burrell, head of formats, VIS said in a statement.

“It is not a coincidence that it has been successfully adapted in more than 20 territories,” added Helder Marques, the show’s executive producer.

The show, whose original U.S. version launched on Viacom’s cable network Spike TV, has already been commissioned in 23 territories.

In Thailand, Motion Content Group and GMM TV are producing for the GMM 25 channel a second season set to debut in April. The first season, aired on One HD in 2017, substantially beat the channel’s slot average in the 15-35 demo.