Fiction
Sanjay Subashchandran takes charge as chief operating officer at Vision Time and TrendLoud
CHENNAI: Media and entertainment executive Sanjay Subashchandran has been named chief operating officer of Vision Time India and TrendLoud Digital India, bolstering his already deep involvement with the south Indian content and events scene.
The dual appointment formalises a remit he has long straddled. At TrendLoud, where he has served as COO since 2020, Subashchandran built a creator economy powerhouse—launching 15 digital channels, producing 23 web series for major OTT platforms and locking in more than 1,000 influencer partnerships.
A co-founder of TrendLoud in 2015, he previously headed the business for five and a half years, managing media activity for over 80 production houses and delivering 12,000 hours of television content across the south.
Subashchandran has kept a parallel grip on Vision Time since 2013 as all-India head of media, marketing and content, where he strengthened channel management, drove revenue through strategic partnerships and created Singoo Candy Rush, an interactive children’s property.
He is also director of the digital-promotion start-up PickMySlot and co-founder of Maximise Entertainment, an events outfit that has staged large-scale celebrity concerts and brokered endorsements for stars from A.R. Rahman to Vijay Sethupathi. Earlier, he ran VisionPro Event Management for 15 years, producing advertiser-funded shows and spectacles such as PepsiCo’s Ooh La La La music talent hunt judged by Rahman.
With more than two decades in marketing, events and digital content, Subashchandran now consolidates his influence across Vision Time’s broadcast operations and TrendLoud’s fast-growing digital network.
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.
