Spanish television is holding its breath in anticipation. Keshet International is preparing to unveil a completely revamped version of the quiz show ¡Boom! at the upcoming MIPCOM 2025. For eight years, it was the crown jewel of Antena 3’s programming lineup. Last year, Cuatro attempted to relaunch the show, but the effort fell short. Now, the format is making a comeback with significant changes to its mechanics, aiming to capture the interest of producers and broadcasters worldwide.
The new concept is called “¡Boom! Modo atraco,” which translates as “Heist Mode.” The classic round bombs that became the show’s hallmark are being replaced by massive safes. At the center of the studio, a tense duel will play out between two teams of “robbers,” racing to break open vaults loaded with cash and valuable prizes. Tension, intelligence, and nerves of steel will take center stage. Quick thinking is richly rewarded, while the slightest hesitation could cost a team everything. Each round is a new opportunity to outsmart the competition.
Teams must choose their most knowledgeable member to storm the “vault.” This player will have to answer questions and unlock safes against the clock, acting like a real safecracker during a heist. A single mistake can turn fortune to dust, knocking the player out of the competition until the next chance for a comeback. Over its eight seasons in Spain, ¡Boom! set several Guinness World Records on Antena 3. With its ‘Heist Mode,’ Keshet International aims to preserve the essence of the original quiz—knowledge and suspense—while making it far more dynamic and visually engaging. At stake: cash, prizes, and fame. The key question remains—will contestants have the wits to crack the code and come out on top?
Let’s look back at the show’s history in Spain. Antena 3, which broadcast the first adaptation of this Israeli format for over eight years, decided to end it in May 2023. This happened after network management lured popular presenter Sonsoles Ónega to the daytime slot. Daily ¡Boom! episodes ended on October 21, 2022, though a few months later the show briefly returned on weekends to air previously recorded, unaired programs. Under the leadership of Juanra Bonet and originally produced by Gestmusic, the quiz show was, at one point, the only program capable of competing with the juggernaut “Pasapalabra,” largely thanks to the legendary team “Los Lobos.”
In the autumn of last year, Mediaset España decided to give the format a second chance in Cuatro’s daytime slot. The production was handled by Mediacrest, and Christian Gálvez took over as host. The media group chose the popular presenter after Telecinco cancelled his previous show, “25 palabras,” to make room for Ana Rosa Quintana’s new program. It’s worth noting that the Spanish version of ¡Boom! introduced significant innovations to the original concept back in 2014. That year, Gestmusic changed the mechanics to make the game faster and more exciting, reducing the element of chance and focusing more on the participants’ knowledge.
In its classic version, ¡Boom! consisted of three rounds with two teams of four players each competing. The climax was the final round with the “Golden Bomb,” where the accumulated jackpot was at stake. It was connected to 15 small bombs, each linked to a question. Participants had two minutes to answer all 15 questions correctly. With each correct answer, a bomb would light up green. If they answered incorrectly or didn’t know the answer, the bomb would keep blinking until the second round. But on the second attempt, the first mistake caused the main bomb to “explode.” The team would then leave but return the next day, and the jackpot would increase by €5,000. If the team succeeded, they took home the entire accumulated jackpot.
