Shine Australia will produce The Great Australian Spelling Bee, a family entertainment series, for Network Ten.
An original format created by Shine and Ten, the show will see kids aged 8-13 displaying their skills with words, definitions and grammar.
There is a call for applications via CastaSugar, which close on April 17. The show is expected to be stripped five nights a week. The host will be announced soon.
The format is completely different from Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?, which ran on Ten from 2007-2009, according to the network.
“The Great Australian Spelling Bee is an exciting, engaging new series and a perfect fit with our strategy of bringing event television to Australians,” said Ten’s chief programming officer Beverley McGarvey.
“Surrounded by their friends and loved ones, we will see Australia’s brightest young people put through their paces as they inspire and surprise us. And we will cheer them on.”
Ten head of drama Rick Maier, who worked with Shine Australia to develop the concept, said, “Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest. And the simplest ideas are the most exciting.”
Shine CEO Mark Fennessy, said: “We are delighted to be bringing this original and exciting format to Ten. By super-sizing spelling to a hyper-stylised, entertainment family event, we’ll present the universal art of problem solving on the grandest of scales."