SciFi Channel Orders Ghost Hunters: College Edition

Sci Fi Channel has ordered a pilot for another spinoff of the popular reality franchise Ghost Hunters. Tentatively titled Ghost Hunters: College Edition, the show features a group of students going around the country to seek out paranormal activity. The students will be guided by an experienced ghost investigator. Producers have not determined if any cast members from the other shows will be involved in the new project. Ghost Hunters launched in 2004 starring two Rhode Island plumbers who investigate purportedly haunted houses in their spare time. The show has since grown every season and is now Sci Fi’s second highest-rated series (after new drama Sanctuary). The October 8 Ghost Hunters episode scored an all-time high of 2.7 million total viewers.

The first spinoff, Ghost Hunters International, took the format around the world. The show debuted in January to record ratings and enjoyed a successful seven-episode run, averaging 2.4 million viewers. Ghost Hunters International has been renewed for a second season. Sci Fi’s Ghost Hunters franchise has been an on-brand and relatively affordable success for the network. The new show is sure to prompt comparisons to A&E’s Paranormal State, where Pennsylvania college students investigate supernatural claims. A&E launched the show last year and, along with Travel Channel’s U.K. import Most Haunted, has given Sci Fi’s Ghost Hunters brand some paranormal-investigation-genre company on basic cable.