Fiction
20th TV & Touchstone merged under Disney TV restructure
MUMBAI: The shake-up in Walt Disney’s upper echelons continues, after the company announced large-scale streamlining of its content creation and distribution into separate and distinct global units earlier this year. Falling in line with CEO Bob Chapek’s vision of ‘strategic reorganisation’ in the wake of the tumult caused by Covid2019, other heads of businesses – namely general entertainment content chairman Peter Rice, and media and entertainment distribution overseen by Kareem Daniels – divvied up responsibilities, shuffled top-rung personnel, consolidated assets, and generally spruced up operations to make the multi-billion dollar enterprise more profitable in these troubled times.
Last month, Disney-owned ESPN unveiled its own reshuffle of senior leaders, with content executive vice president Connor Schell leaving the company. Reports stated that the sports outlet is expected to reduce its workforce by 500 staffers.
Now, ahead of Investor Day (scheduled for 10 December), Disney has undertaken another big round of restructuring to further consolidate its content creation across streaming and linear. Walt Disney Television chairman of entertainment Dana Walden has initiated a major reorganisation of the television production and original content businesses under her leadership. This includes Hulu’s longtime SVP content Craig Erwich adding oversight of ABC original content to his purview. He has been named president of Hulu Originals and ABC Entertainment.
He will take over responsibilities held by ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke who, after a successful stint at the network, is taking on a role as president of 20th Television, the combined operation of 20th Television and Touchstone Television. As the cable/streaming-focused studio is being folded into 20th TV, Disney TV Studios has now gone down to two divisions with ABC Studios and ABC Signature merger earlier this year. 20th TV will be run by Burke, and ABC Signature will be headed by president Jonnie Davis. Both Davis and Burke will report to Walden.
Craig Hunegs will move from his role as president of Disney Television Studios to become Walt Disney Television entertainment president, working alongside Walden across all business units. He will oversee centralised business affairs, production, casting and creative talent development & inclusion teams.
Touchstone TV (formerly Fox 21) president Bert Salke will bring transition to a multi-year overall producing deal with Disney Television Studios. During his time at the company, Salke looked after development and production at the studio, which included such shows as Homeland, Genius, Queen of the South and The Hot Zone. Together with FX Prods, the studio produced The Americans, Sons of Anarchy, Mayans M.C and more.
Former 20th TV president Carolyn Cassidy will stay back at the studio as EVP, development. Touchstone TV’s Jane Francis will also stay put and become EVP – series for 20th TV. Both Francis and Cassidy will report to Burke.
As part of the restructuring, 20th Animation, currently a division of 20th TV, will have its own unit, run by Marci Proietto. Additionally, Disney TV will launch a production unit for unscripted programming. Both divisions will be overseen by Hunegs.
Tara Duncan will continue to oversee original programming for Freeform. She and Erwich will continue to report to Walden.
“This has been an incredibly challenging but successful year. Our television studios produce many of the top-rated shows in the industry. ABC is now the number one entertainment network and the Hulu Originals team launched their most successful slate yet of critically acclaimed, award-winning, high-performing shows. I am proud of our exceptional leadership team and all we have accomplished, but the media landscape is changing and this reorganisation better positions us for the future,” said Walden. “The changes we are announcing today are in service of three goals: rightsizing our organization, streamlining functions across our studios and original content teams, and strengthening our partnerships with the extraordinary creators who call Disney Television Studios their home.”
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.
