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BBC Studios signs licensing deal for Mastermind with Bangladesh’s Duronto TV
MUMBAI: BBC Studios today announced a licensing deal with Duronto TV, a premier television channel for children in Bangladesh, for its iconic British TV game show, Mastermind. The local version of the international quiz show will be titled Mastermind Family Bangladesh and will be produced by Duronto TV. The show will premiere on 13 October 2019 and will play from Sunday to Thursday at 8.00 pm on Duronto TV.
Mastermind Family Bangladesh will have 64 families from across the country competing for the title. The show will be directed by Sundija Siddique and hosted by former BBC journalist Nobonita Chowdhury.
Mastermind was broadcast for the first time in 1972 in the UK. The long-running quiz show has as its distinct prop an imposing black chair in which contestants sit and attempt to answer a series of challenging questions. The show is immensely popular not only in the UK but across the world; it is broadcast in various forms in Australia, New Zealand, India, Ireland, Russia, Turkey, and many others.
Ron Crasto, Vice-President and Business Development, BBC Studios India, said: “We are excited to partner with Duronto TV to create the local version of Mastermind. We hope that the Bangladesh audience will support and love the series in the manner it has been in the UK, India and many countries.”
Abhijit Chowdhury, Director, Duronto TV said: “We are elated to bring the first-ever knowledge-based quiz show to our audiences. It is a pleasure to work with BBC Studios on this very exciting project.”
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.
