Europe’s Answer to Netflix? Reality TV

As Netflix, Amazon, and Apple steal viewers from traditional TV, one German broadcaster is fighting back—with a green-suited grasshopper, a rainbow-hued cockatoo, and a fuzzy pink monster with shimmering wings. The creatures appear in The Masked Singer, a mashup of game show and talent competition that ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE aired live on Thursday nights this summer.

B-list and C-list celebrities don the outlandish disguises and belt out pop songs, while fans vote on who progresses to the next round—and try to guess who’s hiding under the sequins, fur, and feathers. The Masked Singer averaged 7 million-plus viewers an episode, and for the finale the audience hit 9.5 million—helping the network reach its highest daily market share in 22 years.