In a press release today:

SYFY TO BRING SMASH HIT REALITY SERIES OPPOSITE WORLDS TO AMERICA WITH ACQUISITION OF EXCLUSIVE U.S. FORMAT RIGHTS FROM CANAL 13 AND BANIJAY INTERNATIONAL

NEW YORK – October 8, 2012 – Following its success with international hit Total Blackout, Syfy today announced it will bring the mega-sensation reality series Opposite Worlds – which transfixes half of Chile’s television audience each week with its battle of the Past versus the Future – to the United States. Syfy acquired the exclusive U.S. format rights from Canal 13 and distributor Banijay International.

Opposite Worlds will consist of 12 episodes over six weeks, marking the first time Syfy has ever aired an original series twice a week.

Craig Plestis from Smart Dog Media will serve as executive producer on the series. Plestis has been executive producer on the award-winning series Minute to Win It, Who’s Still Standing, as well as NBC’s upcoming singing game show, The Winner Is.

Said Mark Stern, President, Original Content, Syfy, and Co-Head, Original Content, Universal Cable Productions: “Opposite Worlds has become an absolute phenomenon. This groundbreaking, edgy program is a remarkable television experiment transporting the audience and the contestants into starkly opposite worlds, simultaneously. This will be a terrific addition to our prime time schedule which will fascinate Syfy viewers and invite them to play a part in the action and outcome.”

In Opposite Worlds, twenty people from all walks of life are mixed together in two opposing teams that live in two distinctly different worlds – the Past and the Future. The Future is a Utopia where every wish can be granted with a push of a button; the Past is a constant struggle for survival. Each week, players compete in a series of challenges to determine who lives in the Past and who lives in the Future.

Paradigm brokered the deal with Syfy on behalf of Banijay International and Canal 13. The acquisition comes just ahead of MIPCOM 2012, where Banijay International will officially launch the Opposite Worlds format to the global market.

Syfy is a media destination for imagination-based entertainment. With year round acclaimed original series, events, blockbuster movies, classic science fiction and fantasy programming, a dynamic Web site (www.Syfy.com), and a portfolio of adjacent business (Syfy Ventures), Syfy is a passport to limitless possibilities. Originally launched in 1992 as SCI FI Channel, and currently in more than 98 million homes, Syfy is a network of NBCUniversal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies. (Syfy. Imagine greater.)

Source: ©2012 Syfy, a division of NBC Universal. All Rights Reserved.