Film Production
Banijay and All3Media in merger talks as TV giants bulk up
PARIS: Banijay Group, owner of the Big Brother franchise, is in talks with the parent of All3Media, producer of hit reality show The Traitors, as old-guard television groups scramble to scale up against the streaming behemoths.
The discussions, first reported by Reuters, centre on a potential combination of Banijay’s entertainment and live business, which also houses MasterChef, with All3Media’s production arm, according to people familiar with the matter.
Banijay confirmed on Tuesday that it had entered into discussions with All3Media’s owner over a possible tie-up, stressing that no decision had been taken and there was no certainty a deal would be struck. All3Media and its owner RedBird IMI declined to comment.
If completed, the merger would create one of Europe’s largest production houses, boasting a catalogue that spans Survivor, Peaky Blinders and Race Across the World.
Talks began late last year after Amsterdam-listed Banijay dropped its pursuit of ITV Studios and have now reached an advanced stage, the sources said. Any deal would likely involve All3Media and RedBird IMI injecting fresh capital into the combined group, reflecting their smaller scale.
In 2024 numbers, the merged entity would generate about €5.7 billion ($6.65 billion) in revenue. Banijay’s market capitalisation stood at €3.42 billion at Monday’s close, according to LSEG.
The negotiations underscore a broader consolidation wave sweeping the media industry as traditional producers seek to counter Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video. France’s Mediawan merged with Leonine Studios last year, while Italy’s MFE-MediaForEurope snapped up rival ProSieben.
Banijay and All3Media have both previously explored combinations with ITV Studios. ITV is now in talks to sell its broadcast arm to Comcast-owned Sky, a move that could leave ITV Studios as a standalone production business.
All3Media was bought in 2024 for £1.15 billion ($1.55 billion) by RedBird IMI, led by former CNN executive Jeff Zucker and backed by Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. RedBird Capital, its US partner, is also backing Paramount Skydance’s $108.4 billion bid for Warner Bros Discovery.
Banijay founder and chairman Stephane Courbit remains the group’s largest shareholder with a 45 per cent stake, followed by Vivendi with 19.2 per cent.
As audiences fragment and streamers tighten their grip, television’s power players are racing to bulk up. In this battle for scale, size is fast becoming the ultimate format.
Film Production
Priyanka Kaur Dhillon joins SVF Entertainment as lead for music distribution
A seasoned content dealmaker with 16 years in digital and satellite media joins the Bengali entertainment powerhouse as it pushes into the pan-India music market
Mumbai: Priyanka Kaur Dhillon has made her move. The content acquisitions and commercials veteran, most recently commercial manager at Sony Pictures Networks India, has joined SVF Entertainment as lead for music distribution, stepping into one of the more interesting briefs in regional entertainment right now.
SVF is no ordinary regional label. Over 30 years it has built a formidable legacy in Bengali cinema and music, driven by culturally resonant storytelling and a catalogue that consistently punches above its weight. Its recent success with Chiraiya underlines the point. But the Kolkata-based powerhouse now has its sights firmly set beyond Bengal, most visibly through Legacy, a rap reality series produced in collaboration with hip-hop label Kalamkaar that signals a deliberate push into the pan-India music ecosystem.
Dhillon brings precisely the kind of muscle SVF needs for that expansion. At Sony Pictures Networks India, she led film acquisition and commercials and handled music licensing across the entire satellite network. Before that, she spent nearly 15 years at Hungama, rising to assistant general manager and leading strategic content licensing for the platform’s digital entertainment business, with a particular focus on international markets. Her label relationships span the full roster: Sony Music, Universal Music, Warner Music, Believe International, Tunecore, The Orchard and a clutch of smaller aggregators. She has negotiated and closed deals with Hollywood studios, Bollywood production houses and regional content players alike, building pricing models and deal structures off data analysis rather than instinct.
Announcing the appointment, Dhillon said she was “thrilled to begin this journey with an iconic Bengali music label and content powerhouse,” adding that SVF’s “constant drive to push boundaries” was what drew her to the role.
SVF has spent three decades proving that regional does not mean limited. With a sharp commercial operator now steering its music distribution, its bid to go national just got a good deal more serious.
