Speaking at MIPCOM, Fremantle CEO Jennifer Mullin said her company was “not buying growth” but seeking “businesses, creatives and companies that feel like a good fit, that feel complementary to the type of content we are already producing,” noting that Latin America and India will be a focus in the near future.
Private equity also has discovered the potential of international TV, with KKR backing German production and distribution group Leonine, a mini-major that bundled several local independents, including distributors Tele München Group and Universum and producers Odeon Fiction and Wiedemann & Berg. There’s also the PE-backed French group Federation buying up the likes of London-based Vertigo Films .
The race is on between the studios and streamers, which are trying to keep as much content in house and independent production companies like Banijay and Fremantle that want to hold onto as many rights as they can, even as they make more and more shows for online platforms.
Bassetti took aim at the all-rights buyout deals common among streamers, saying it isn’t fair to ask talent “for everything and then when they are a huge success, they don’t get anything [back]. When you give producers the opportunity to invest and retain part of the rights, they will do a better job.
“The financial market has decided this is a golden age for content,” added Bassetti, but “this is not the golden age of revenue sharing.