Fiction
CBS upgrades LA’s Television City with Sony’s new 4k live production camera
MUMBAI: CBS’ Television City production facility — home to many of television’s top-rated entertainment programs including Survivor finale, American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, The Price is Right, The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful, The Late Late Show, and So You Think You Can Dance — is adding Sony’s new HDC-4300 live 4K high frame rate camera system to its line-up. The facility will roll-out eight of the new 2/3-inch sensor models starting in June.
The new cameras will complement CBS’ current inventory of Sony high-definition HDC camera models. Now with HD/4K simultaneous recording, the facility can continue to deliver the highest-quality HD programming, while also giving CBS Television City the option to capture an “evergreen” 4K master for archival and future broadcast use.
“With the capabilities of these new cameras, we can continue to put the best-looking product on the air today, enhance our production values and protect our assets well into the future with the highest resolution master,” said CBS Television City senior vice president and general manager Barry Zegel.
CBS has a long history with Sony HD technology, starting with the first demonstration ever of HD in the US and including a variety of HD broadcast firsts in sports and entertainment.
The new camera also uses the same control surface as Sony’s previous HDC series cameras, so operators will be instantly familiar with the new HDC-4300 operation.
The HDC-4300 uses three 2/3-inch chips with Ultra HD (3840 x 2160) native resolution; 3x Super Slow Motion as standard, with even higher speeds up to 8x planned for the future; and support for the same 2/3-inch sports, studio and ENG lenses used with Sony HDC models.
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.
