UK’s ITV buying The Voice’s Dutch creator Talpa Media

The United Kingdom’s ITV is in advance negotiations to buy Holland’s Talpa Media, which created The Voice franchise. “These discussions may or may not result in agreement of a transaction," ITV said.

Talpa Media’s founder John de Mol made his US$1.8 billion fortune by developing popular reality TV series’ that had a global impact. de Mol, who turns 60 next month, developed Big Brother in 1997 through his first company John de Mol Produkties. He produced Fear Factor, Love Letters, 1 vs. 100 and Deal Or No Deal.

In 2010 Talpa Media came up with The Voice of Holland, a massive success in the Netherlands. In the original series, the winner Ben Saunders was chosen by three of the four judges, seven words into his song. Talpa soon sold The Voice franchise to 23 countries. As a result the company is valued at $750 million. Two years ago, de Mol turned down a $500 million offer from Elizabeth Murdoch’s Shine Group.

The Voice began in America in April 2011, with ratings through the years ranging between 10 million to 15 million. Local versions premiered in other territories in 2011 – in Canada in April, Asia in August, New Zealand in July, Australia in August and South Africa in October,

There are also localized versions in China, Brazil, Indonesia, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Colombia, Ireland, Turkey, Albania, Romania, Mexico, Germany, the Ukraine, Portugal, Belgium and Argentina.

In Australia, The Voice began on Go! and then onto the Nine Network in April 2012. Like many other music reality TV series, it’s lost viewer interest in recent years. Last year, only 1.66 million in the five major capital cities tuned in for the grand final. The figure was 2 million in 2013, and 2.6 million the year before. Nine Network is revamping the show this year, with changes to the judging panel and taking a closer look at the sort of acts and songs it features.

ITV is home to X Factor and Downton Abbey. In recent years it acquired US companies as Gurney Productions (Duck Dynasty), Leftfield (Real Housewives of New Jersey), High Noon Entertainment (Cake Boss), Thinkfactory Media (Hatfields & McCoys) and DiGa Vision (Teen Wolf).

The Talpa Media buy would position ITV as a major global player. It said in a statement: "ITV is continually assessing opportunities to grow and develop its business in line with its strategy, including the assessment of potential acquisitions."