Britain has cemented its status as the unexpected new capital of American game show production, with US networks flying hundreds of contestants across the Atlantic to film their biggest programmes. The dramatic shift, driven by costs far lower than in Hollywood, has seen cities like Manchester become major hubs for US television.
The Manchester Production Boom
In a striking reversal of tradition, the only Americans now frequently found on set for these shows are the contestants themselves, along with executive producers and writers. The entire studio crew, audience, and support staff are British, highlighting a complete localisation of production logistics. Industry insiders reveal the staggering financial logic behind the move: while a US game show episode can cost up to £1.6 million, generous UK tax breaks can reduce that figure to under £750,000 per episode.
This colossal saving is a lifeline for networks battling a perfect storm of collapsing traditional TV ratings and plummeting advertising revenue. Recent figures indicate nearly half of all Americans now prefer streaming services over broadcast or cable TV.
The scale of the change was evident earlier this year at dock10 in Salford’s MediaCityUK. A local audience gathered to watch the pilot for "Wordle," the TV adaptation of The New York Times’s hit puzzle. The warm-up act faced the unique task of introducing host Savannah Guthrie—a superstar in the US as co-anchor of NBC’s "Today" show—to a UK crowd unfamiliar with her. The audience was also warned they would see "unfamiliar spellings." The Manchester crew managed the entire filming, and if 'Wordle' is commissioned, its future development will likely be anchored in Manchester or Ireland.
A Strategic Exodus from Hollywood
For British observers, the surprise isn't that US broadcasters film abroad, but the sheer volume of production now migrating here. Game shows, once firmly rooted in Los Angeles and New York studios, are being shipped overseas to capitalise on financial incentives. US networks are contending with falling profits and the added pressure of tariffs, making cost-cutting an urgent priority.
Fox now produces four prime-time shows overseas. Examples include Ken Jeong’s 99 To Beat, filmed in London, while Celebrity Name That Tune, The Floor, and Beat Shazam are made in Ireland. The trend extends beyond the UK; Fremantle North America moved "Match Game" to Montreal for ABC, employing Canadian crews and even coaching Canadian contestants to conceal their accents.
Actor Rob Lowe, host of Fox’s The Floor, was blunt about the economics on his podcast. "It’s cheaper to bring 100 Americans to Ireland than to walk across the lot at Fox," he stated. With some formats using a hundred contestants, the savings are simply too large to ignore.
Consequences and Industry Reshaping
The financial squeeze has made game shows particularly appealing—they are cheaper than scripted dramas, require only a studio and an audience, and retain a "live" event feel. However, the pressure to reduce budgets is relentless. Kim Kleid, an executive at Fremantle, summarised the industry mantra: "The word on the street is do more with less."
This migration comes at a direct cost to Los Angeles production crews. As production lines close, many skilled workers are losing their jobs. While scripted shows moved abroad years ago, even large-scale reality contests like Netflix’s "Squid Game: The Challenge" now send hundreds of contestants to London.
The COVID-19 pandemic acted as a final catalyst. Game shows restarted production sooner than many other formats, and countries like the UK reopened faster. British studios adeptly adapted to remote working and smaller crews, proving high-quality shows could be made abroad efficiently. "It created a certain realisation… that we could do more with less," Kleid confirmed.
British studio facilities have aggressively pursued this new business. Toby Gorman of Universal Television Alternative Studio spent two years scouting for the 'Wordle' project and praised dock10's persuasive pitch. "They gave us a great pilot deal so we could see everything their studio and team had to offer," he told the LA Times.
The competition for this lucrative work is fierce. Ireland, for instance, offers tax breaks of up to 40%, compared to 30% in England. Some industry voices warn the US risks hollowing out its own entertainment industry. Kim Kleid expressed hope that California would add game shows to its tax credit programme to stem the flow, noting, "California is where Hollywood is, and that’s what a lot of us came here for." However, in the latest round of tax credits, no game shows were selected.
