Fiction
No more TV & film shoots in Goa, govt enforces 15-day lockdown
New Delhi: With one of the highest rate of Covid2019 infections in the country, Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant on Friday announced a state-wide curfew in the state from 9 May to 23 May.
According to government data, Goa has recorded a positivity rate of 41 per cent, which has surpassed the infection rates in Delhi as well as Mumbai. “The positivity rate and death rate are increasing in the state. There is no shortage of oxygen and medicines in the state. A detailed order regarding the state-level curfew will be released by 4 pm on Saturday,” said Sawant.
The announcement comes hours after the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) cancelled all permissions granted for film and television serial shootings in the state in the wake of the raging pandemic. The ESG is Goa government’s nodal agency empowered to give permission for commercial shootings in the state.
Several film and TV serial makers from Mumbai and Chennai had recently shifted their sets to Goa after strict restrictions were imposed in Maharashtra and other states.
“We will not allow any shooting of films or television serials in public or private properties till the Covid2019 situation in the state comes under control,” ESG vice president Subhash Faldesai told PTI.
All those currently shooting films and serials in Goa have also been asked to wind up their schedules. The ESG said it will review its decision only after the situation is under control.
On Thursday, Goa reported its highest daily tally so far with 3,869 Covid2019 cases that took the count of infections to 1,08,267.
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.
