Fiction
Production powerhouse Banijay unveils new brand identity
MUMBAI: A new giant has emerged on the global TV production front with the completion of Banijay’s takeover of the Endemol Shine Group last week. And the group has gone in for a rebranding exercise, revealing what it calls a new and contemporary brand identity. The merged parent entity and its operations have been called Banijay and will cover 22 territories, 120 plus production and a catalogue of over 88,000 hours of content.
New logos – with an iconic pinkish B attached to every company logo – a fresh colour palette and an overhauled website have been unveiled. Globally, Banijay Rights continues to lead distribution activities, while all territory-level holding companies will soon switch to Banijay. In India for instance, Banijay has three firms under its belt: Banijay Asia, Endemol Shine India and SOL India. Each of them has had the “B” attached to their logos and each has the tag identifying them as a Banijay company. While Banijay Asia is led by Deepak Dhar, Endemol Shine India has Abhishek Rege at the helm and SOL Productions has Fazila Allana and Kamna Narula Menezes leading it.
The rebrand was imagined and executed by leading global creative partner Moving Brands with website design and build handled by Alchemy Digital.
“The acquisition of Endemol Shine Group marks a major gear shift for our business and that had to be represented in our branding. We now have unrivalled global reach, an abundance of high-quality, multi-genre titles, and some of the best creative entrepreneurs in the world,” said Banijay CEO Marco Bassetti. “Celebrating our values, the significant breadth of our new offering and our continued investment in innovative IP, the simple, yet effective branding, provides standout alongside versatility, and we hope in years to come, our B will act as a beacon for ground-breaking storymaking and a stamp of excellence.”
Among its global top shows figure: Survivor, Big Brother, Peaky Blinders, Temptation Island, MasterChef, Wallander, The Kardashians, Mr Bean, The Wall, Hunted, Black Mirror, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Deal or No Deal.
With Bassetti fully in charge as CEO, Endemol Shine Group CEO Sophie Turner Laing is slated to exit by end this week. French entrepreneur Stéphane Courbit, who helped stitch together the deal, serves as chairman of the group. Total pro-forma revenue of Banijay-Endemol Shine for 2019 totted up to Euros 2.7 billion.
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.
