Fiction
Balaji Telefilms targets OTT as core business in 5 years’ time
BENGALURU: Just a couple of days back at the Indian Digital Operators Summit (IDOS) 2015 organised by Indiantelevision.com and Media Partners Asia, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) principal advisor SK Gupta said that ‘the customer was king’ and suggested that players in the broadcast industry ecosystem look at over-the-top (OTT) platforms to cater to the consumers need.
Taking a cue from the current ‘over the top’ mood in the Indian broadcast industry, Balaji Telefilms Ltd is planning to make digital B2C (business to consumer) as its core business in five years’ time. This strategy will be driven via its own content as well as curated content.
As was reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, this business will be housed under Balaji’s subsidiary company ALT Digital, which was re-launched in Q2-2016 with renewed vigour.
With a three-pronged growth strategy covering television, films and digital B2C, Balaji Telefilms is looking at becoming a diversified media company. The most important component of the company’s growth strategy is to diversify into new opportunities via digital B2C. Balaji’s plans are built around the emerging changes in the consumers’ viewing habits.
Through ALT Digital, Balaji plans to offer original and curated premium content on its own Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) and advertising -Video on Demand (AVOD) platform across multiple genres and languages to garner a share of the online mobile and video market. The subscription driven platforms on ALT mobile app and other connected devices as well as the ALT website are slated for a Beta launch in Q3-2016 (quarter ending 31 December, 2016). Additionally, technical development, content production, promo launch and pre-launch marketing is also being targeted in the same quarter. The formal launch is being targeted for Q4-2016 (quarter ending 31 March, 2016).
While Balaji has been a content company, it seldom has had the chance to interact directly with the consumers. Now with the digital foray, not only will it have an opportunity to connect with consumers but will also be the owner of the digital IP unlike in television content where the IP of the show belongs to the broadcaster.
According to the company, a majority of content available online are either re-runs or DIY, which in turn leaves a big opportunity to offer original web-series for internet audience.
The business model that Balaji has chalked out for digital is subscription based ‘freemium’ approach as the primary source of revenue. Revenue from advertising, licensing and sponsorship will be the secondary source of revenue.
Targeting an urban and semi-urban audience group that comprises smartphone internet users active on YouTube and social media in the 19-34 age group, Balaji plans to use global ‘best of breed’ technology to ride on the imminent explosion of internet bandwidth in the country. Viewers will have streaming and offline viewing options, delivered over multiple screens.
The company’s strategy is to churn out original, edgy, never-seen-before content in India created especially for the OTT platform.
Balaji Telefilms is in the process of putting together a skilled team. Additionally, a robust implementation plan is being executed to help realise the opportunity and meet its goals.
Apart from its digital focus, Balaji Telefilms’ other two areas of focus are its existing businesses of television content and film production. On the television front, the company, which has had Hindi fiction as its mainstay until now, is planning to foray into regional and non-fiction content by making selective risk-reward plays. On the other hand, for films Balaji’s strategy is to scale moderately and become profitable.
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.
