Banijay is a case study for how to grow into a European, and global, production powerhouse via acquisitions, most recently its deal to merge with All3Media. So, it came as no surprise that the mega-deal, unveiled in March, got a shout-out or two on Wednesday, the final day of the inaugural StreamTV Europe in Lisbon, Portugal. The occasion was a panel session entitled “Case Study: The Banijay Blueprint: Diversified Entertainment for the Future.”
Executives from across the company discussed how it has been evolving its content strategy to maintain its competitive edge in a fast-changing industry.
“The entrepreneurial spirit sits at the core” of Banijay’s approach,” said Frederic Balmary, chief business officer at the company. “We constantly adapt, transform and diversify our business. … And creativity drives everything we do.”
Three strategic pillars, namely live experiences, digital and sports, have been in focus for Banijay as it has been working on moving from a business-to-business to more of direct-to-consumer approach, he said.
Among recent examples, he mentioned the likes of the upcoming The Black Mirror Experience, a 60-minute experience based on Charlie Brooker’s hit drama series Black Mirror, and produced by Banijay Live Studio and Univrse, that “blends physical space and virtual reality.
Discussing the All3Media deal and its rationale, Balmary pointed to past “transformative” acquisitions for Endemol, such as those of Endemol Shine and Zodiak Media. The All3Media combination “will close this year, and we will continue our mission to become the largest European studio with a strong focus on English-language content and also streaming services that now represent more than 20 percent of our revenue.”
Asked by host Evan Shapiro about what else the All3Media combination is about, the executive highlighted scale and creative talent. “We will become the natural consolidator in the market, which is important,” Balmary also highlighted. “We are reinforcing our English-language content in the U.K.”
Pilar Blasco, CEO Iberia at Banijay, touted the opportunities to further grow live events work following the recent Milan Olympics opening ceremony that was produced by the firm’s Balich Wonder Studio, The Black Mirror Experience, and the upcoming opening event for the 2026 soccer World Cup in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. “Audiences want to experience content rather than just watch it,” she explained.
Rick Murray, CEO of Workerbee, highlighted how his team is helping lead Banijay’s sports push. “Sports is something that is never going to go away,” he said, calling the firm a “key supplier” of sports docs in soccer for Amazon.
And he highlighted that Banijay was looking to launch YouTube channels across the world and create a network out of them. “We’re not able to announce anything just yet, but we have some exciting plans,” Murray said. “We are going to be launching sports YouTube channels in different territories and looking to build a network of those around the world, with a view to building [them] with creators who are covering sports.”
All in all, Murray concluded that it is all about “coming together to redefine what a producer is.”
Alexia Laroche Joubert, CEO France at Banijay, called the company and its team “risk-taker producers.” And she had a piece of advice for producers and other creators. “Stay independent, but be in partnership. We don’t want to eat everyone, everybody and every company, except the big ones,” she quipped. “But we need them to be independent to keep this inner feeling of being independent and creative.
Laroche Joubert also suggested a different way of thinking about the production sector rather than in terms of the competition between the creator economy and the traditional business. Her suggestion was to instead talk about “the economy of creation.”
