Set to air in India by early 2016, the hour-long format will take a prime time slot on the Hindi channel. KI will distribute the finished Indian series internationally.

“Colors TV has magnificently adapted many popular international formats for Indian viewers in the past. As we add another brand new property to our collection, we are delighted to be collaborating with Keshet International to bring Rising Star to India,” said Raj Nayak, CEO, Hindi Mass Entertainment, Viacom18

“Our Channel boasts one of the biggest consumer engagement platforms in the country and one can assert that a format like Rising Star couldn’t have found a better stage than ours. What we found beautiful about the show was not only its high entertainment quotient, but also its ability to connect and communicate with the viewers directly,” he added.

Gary Pudney, head of Asia, Keshet International, said: “We are beyond excited about bringing Rising Star to the Indian audiences. The nation is embracing technology more ferociously than ever before and, in partnership with our brilliant partners at Colors TV, we will be delivering prime time entertainment that satisfies viewers’ hunger to become more active and engaged viewers of high end content”.

Although the deal marks the introduction of Rising Star to India, it has already proved popular in Indonesia, where its second season will air on RCTI soon, and in China, where it aired on state channel CCTV-3. Recently the programme has also been licensed in Cambodia.

Created and produced by Tedy Productions and Keshet Broadcasting, Rising Star became the fastest-selling talent show on record when it launched in October 2013, according to KI.