One of Fremantle’s newest game show formats, the high-stakes “Stacks of Cash”, has kicked off its international rollout as Australia’s Seven Network joins CBS in the US in its latest series commissions.
Dealing with global distribution, Fremantle will launch its “Stacks of Cash” at Mipcom starting next Monday, unveiling the rather large, oddly shaped blocks (a circle, a teddy bear, a top hat) that grace the Mipcom stand.
CBS announced that the new 10-episode, one-hour series will be hosted by Emmy Award-nominated actor Mike O’Malley. For Seven has yet to announce the host of the ordered six-episode series.
Created and produced by Eureka Studios – “Wonka: The Golden Ticket”, “Holey Moley”, “The Floor”, “Farmer Wants A Wife” – the back of “Stacks of Cash” sees six contestants answer trivia questions to win giant shapes, the cash value written on them. They carefully take them down to build multi-shaped towers using a giant claw. If the tower falls in the do or die elimination, they are eliminated. They have no idea which of the 30+ shapes they will get. Its sheer variety, including difficult-to-balance triangles, makes stacking increasingly dangerous.
“Stacks of Cash” made its European debut on TVI, one of Portugal’s largest commercial networks. The launch episode had the #1 primetime timeslot rating in Portugal, while many episodes ranked as TVI’s #1 program of the day.
According to Variety, advertisers in the US cut their “prepaid” spending on TV broadcasts by approximately 5.3%. German broadcast network RTL’s international advertising revenues fell 4% in the first half.
In such a context, Fremantle chose to shoot all three formats at the same dedicated production center in Portugal; buyers achieved cost efficiencies by bringing their own local hosts, contestants, and their own personalities to the versions and using the same pre-built set, increasing economies of scale while still providing scale to the game show and creative exchange.
The same shared production center model was also used in Fremantle formats “Holey Moley” and “The Tunnel”.
Stacks of Cash It is based on a format developed by Eureka Studios Group Pty Ltd and Seven Network (Operations) Limited.
Chris Culvenor, Paul Franklin, Rikkie Proost, Sonya Wilkes, David Tibballs, Ves D’Elia and Ed Egan serve as executive producers.
“Everyone played a stacking game on their phone. We brought it to life with giant swinging towers and combined it with a quick test,” said Eureka Studios Co-CEO Chris Culvenor. “It’s a massive prime time format unlike anything else on TV that the whole family will enjoy together. We’re thrilled that CBS and Seven are backing it and can’t wait to see the format continue to stack up around the world.”
Ben Crompton, Head of Global Entertainment at Fremantle, added: “‘Stacks of Cash’ is a true couch-ready game show, with massive set pieces and a unique visual identity: truly massive, instantly playable entertainment that can bring audiences together by shouting at the TV.” added Fremantle Global Head of Entertainment Ben Crompton.
He added: “By combining the brilliant creative minds at Eureka with Fremantle’s global network, we have created a production model that delivers both the scale and value we know buyers are looking for. These orders from CBS and Seven, alongside the fantastic response at TVI, demonstrate real confidence in the international potential of the format.”
Fremantle’s Entertainment Format
The format joins Spanish public broadcaster RTVE’s Mipcom 2026 entertainment lineup, which features the best new game show launch of 2026 and party game adaptation “Hipster,” featuring the highly visual trivia game “The Tunnel,” also created by Eureka; currently in production on RTL in Germany, RTVE in Canada, Quebecor Content, the Netherlands and RTL4 in Poland.
Mini-golf extravaganza “Holey Moley”, which also uses Fremantle’s Portugal-based production centre, is now expanding with upcoming series for ITV in the UK, Prime Video in Germany and TF1 in France, following seasons on ABC in the US and Seven in Australia.