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Keshet partners Shemaroo’s inflight content distribution subsidiary
MUMBAI: Leading global content producer and distributor Keshet International Studio (Keshet) has partnered Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd’s (Shemaroo) subsidiary Contentino Media for content distribution. Keshet, globally known for producing drama, comedy and entertainment content, will now give exclusive distribution rights to Contentino to sell shows to airlines across Middle-East and Asia.
Contentino Media, which already provides movies in more than nine Indian languages, will be now providing airlines with global content thanks to the tie-up with Keshet. The library of Keshet includes top-rated shows from all across the world such as Prisoners of War, upon which the award-winning American spy thriller Homeland has been developed. The other notable shows include British show called The A Word and The Brave, an American show. With passengers looking forward to more variety in content during their travel, airlines can opt to provide best to their customers with this tie up.
Contentino connects with more than 55 airlines all around the world and provides an eclectic mix of content. Some of the major airlines that the company provides content to are Jet Airways, Emirates, Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways. At present, Contentino’s content library consists of more than 4000 movie titles across languages.
Shemaroo chief operating officer Kranti Gada said, “With this partnership with Keshet, we are excited to broaden our content offering and premium international content. In 2015, we acquired Contentino Media, which helped us enter the inflight entertainment distribution space and, in just a short span of time, we have become one of the leaders. Now, with our partnership with Keshet International, we aim to further strengthen our content library in this space. We are in an era where inflight entertainment is becoming transformative with personal devices becoming gateways to a whole range of surface transport services.”
Keshet’s head of Asia, Gary Pudney, said, “This deal with Contentino Media demonstrates our strategic approach to audience building. The Asia Pacific market is predicted to be the fastest-growing region for global in-flight entertainment and we hope this deal leads to other opportunities elsewhere.”
“What is exciting is that we will now offer customers hundreds of hours of international programming to enjoy during their travels which includes critically acclaimed shows like The Brave and top rated European show Holloway Prison – Women Behind Bars. Our foundation in content will help us cross sell our propositions to all airlines,” Gada added.
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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.
