Channel Five's Don't Stop Believing already sold in Australia

Don't Stop Believing , the new Channel Five talent show launching on Sunday, has already been sold to Australia's Ten Network. Richard Foster, managing director of Group M Entertainment, confirmed the format sale in what he clearly hopes will be the first of a number of international deals. Group M Entertainment, part of the WPP-owned media-buying network, has largely financed the production for cash-strapped Five, in a three-way parternship with Elisabeth Murdoch's Shine TV. Shine is making the UK version and is expected to oversee the production in Australia. Foster said it represented a breakthrough in "how to make television programmes in a difficult market" and was completely different in scale to current examples of advertiser-funded programming and product placement deals. "This is finance in a different way," he added. Group M Entertainment has also assisted with recruiting the UK series sponsor, Argos, and a further link with MySpace, which has the rights to screen a variety of content, including clips and interviews with the Don't Stop Believing acts. Five, which is in the process of being sold by RTL , did not have the resources to fund the £6m series itself, although it is providing the marketing element of the budget, around £1m. The format is owned by the three companies, while Group M also have further commercial control, although the financial details are sketchy. Foster said that Group M wanted to fund the show well, with high production values, and not cut corners. The total cost includes a preparatory month of coaching for the groups. Production is at the Maidstone Studios in Kent. The six part series. which starts on Sunday at 7pm – with previews of each act stripped each day – is designed as an energetic feelgood competition to find Britain's best all-round singing, dancing and acting group. Richard Woolfe, Five's director of programmes, said he thought it up after watching a repeat of Glee at home on a Sunday afternoon four months ago. Foster said Woolfe's "passion for the project" was a big factor in Group M getting involved. "I suddenly thought, why not have a feel good show to find Britain's best group, after all, there are glee clubs springing up absolutely everywhere. But I knew we had to get in fast this summer, and we only had a small window of opportunity, between the World Cup ending and X Factor coming back," Woolfe said. The format, he added, is deliberately softer and less cruel than The X Factor, in that all of the 30 groups competing are assured of having a song released. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email [email protected] or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. • If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".