Fiction
GoQuest Media licenses crime drama series ‘Ezel’ to Ugandan channel
MUMBAI: The month of April will see a popular Ugandan channel being thronged by its viewers as GoQuest Media, an India based television content sales agency, has licensed Ezel – a Turkish crime drama series to a popular channel in Uganda.
GoQuest Media Ventures, licenses TV series and Bollywood films to territories across the world. With the Ezel deal, the company claims to have broken the shackles of regional boundaries and are determined to expand the variety of their content offerings to clients all over the world.
Turkish dramas have proven popularity across the world. We have sold more than 1000 hours of Indian content in Africa. We now hope to do the same with content from other countries,” said GoQuest Media managing director Vivek Lath.
The show is based on Alexander Dumas’ masterpiece Count of Monte Cristo. After betrayal by his best friends and the love of his life, Omer returns with a new face, new identity and with a flawless revenge plan. GoQuest Media has licensed Ezel from the global drama and formats distributor, Eccho rights.
Eccho Rights managing director Fredrik Af Malmborg added, “Ezel is an amazing TV series that has been a success in every territory it has launched so far, most recently in South America where the daily ratings is above 25 per cent. We are excited about the development in Africa and are confident it will work also in Uganda.”
Fiction
Banijay merges with All3Media in $6.65 billion deal
Marco Bassetti will lead the combined company as CEO
PARIS: Six years after acquiring Endemol Shine at the height of the pandemic, Banijay has struck again. The European production heavyweight is merging with All3Media in a deal that will create a television titan with $6.65 billion in revenue and redraw the contours of a fast-consolidating market.
The combined company will trade under the Banijay name and be owned 50 per cent each by Banijay Group and RedBird IMI, which acquired All3Media in 2024. The transaction is expected to close by autumn, subject to regulatory approvals.
Banijay Entertainment CEO Marco Bassetti, will take the top job at the enlarged group. All3Media CEO Jane Turton becomes deputy CEO. RedBird IMI CEO Jeff Zucker will serve as chairman.
The logic is scale. Broadcasters are commissioning less, streamers are tightening budgets and global buyers are fewer but bigger. Against that backdrop, heft matters. The merged entity will generate roughly $6.65 billion in revenues based on 2024 figures, giving it sharper elbows in rights negotiations and deeper pockets for franchise-building.
“Entrepreneurialism, ambition and creativity” remain core to Banijay’s DNA, Bassetti said, flagging plans to invest more heavily in new intellectual property, live events and emerging platforms. Turton struck a similarly bullish note, pointing to All3Media’s journey from a 2003 start-up to a global supplier of hit formats and high-end drama.
Between them, the two groups control a formidable slate. Banijay’s catalogue spans MasterChef, Big Brother, Survivor, Black Mirror, Peaky Blinders and Deal or No Deal. All3Media’s labels include Studio Lambert, producer of The Traitors and Squid Game: The Challenge; Two Brothers, behind The Tourist; and Neal Street, currently producing the forthcoming Beatles biopics directed by Sam Mendes for Sony.
The back catalogue is equally muscular. Banijay Rights holds some 220,000 hours, while All3Media International adds around 35,000 hours, forming one of the industry’s largest libraries.
Banijay, controlled by French entrepreneur Stéphane Courbit and listed in Amsterdam, counts more than 130 production companies across 25 territories. All3Media operates over 40 labels, with strong positions in the UK, US and Germany. The enlarged group will also lean into live entertainment, building on Banijay’s Balich Wonder Studio, which produced the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, and the Independents.
The deal marks a shift in tone. As recently as October, Bassetti suggested that mergers and acquisitions were not a priority. But the drumbeat of consolidation has grown louder. Mediawan has moved for Peter Chernin’s North Road. David Ellison’s Paramount has agreed to a $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros, with plans to combine HBO Max and Paramount plus. ITV has explored selling its media and entertainment arm to Comcast-owned Sky, though talks have reportedly slowed.
