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Banijay-All3Media: Is This the Last Great Super-Indie?
The merger of Banijay and All3Media has created the largest independent television production group in the industry's history, with operations spanning 25 territories and a vast catalogue of intellectual property. The deal marks the latest step in a decades-long consolidation trend in TV production, but the article argues that scale matters mainly to investors and financial markets, while broadcasters and viewers remain largely indifferent to corporate ownership, focusing instead on individual production labels and the shows themselves.
Author Remy Blumenfeld traces the lineage back over 25 years, from Endemol's acquisition of his company Brighter Pictures in 2001, through Endemol's merger with Shine, its subsequent acquisition by Banijay, and now Banijay's merger with All3Media. He notes that despite growing corporate scale, individual creative labels such as Kudos, Remarkable, Dragonfly and Studio Lambert retain their distinct identities when pitching to commissioners, and that audiences associate hit shows like The Traitors, Big Brother and Peaky Blinders with their brand rather than their parent company. The piece suggests the merger's real significance will depend on what the newly enlarged group does with its scale, drawing on conversations with founders and creative leaders across both companies over the past 18 months.
In short
- Banijay and All3Media merge into TV's biggest independent production group
- Deal caps 25 years of industry consolidation since Endemol's 2001 acquisitions
- Scale appeals to investors, but creative labels and show brands still dominate
Explained simply
Television programmes are often made by independent production companies and sold to broadcasters and streaming services. Over the past 25 years, many of these companies have joined larger groups, which own collections of production labels and the rights to programmes they have made.
Banijay and All3Media are groups built through this kind of consolidation, and their merger brings together labels such as Kudos, Dragonfly and Studio Lambert. The labels still pitch programmes under their own names, while viewers are more likely to recognise the makers of shows such as The Traitors, Big Brother and Peaky Blinders than the groups that own them.
A larger group can offer investors a bigger catalogue of programmes and rights across more countries. Its effect on broadcasters and viewers depends on how it supports the individual labels and what programmes they make.