Where the €1B went
Banijay Entertainment says it has put €1B ($1.1B) into creativity over the past four years. CEO Marco Bassetti shared the number at Rome’s MIA Market, framing it as the kind of investment independent producers now carry while broadcasters and streamers hold back. The figure includes production costs, scripted TV deficits and cash unlocked from incentives and funds. Last year alone, the France-based group made 110 shows for streamers.
The warning behind the spend
Bassetti’s argument is not only about output. It is that the payoff structure has not caught up. He criticised streamers for failing to share back end, and pointed to an unnamed Italian film Banijay made for a streamer that barely returned cash to the producer.
His fix is what he called “compensation for creativity.” He wants rewards built into budgets and agreements, not treated as a separate subsidy. He also pushed back on the idea that countries can simply keep raising incentives: “Can we increase our incentives to 60%? Of course not.” Without a direct reward for standout work, he said, creative people will go elsewhere.
Why terms of trade settle the argument
Bassetti pointed to the UK and France, where terms of trade allow rights to revert to producers. That structure, he said, is why Banijay, Mediawan and All3Media became global powerhouses. It changes the producer from a hired gun into an asset owner with a library that keeps earning.
He downplayed European audiovisual rules that require streamers to spend part of local revenue on original shows, arguing the levels are set country by country. Local funds and incentive systems, on their own, are not enough.
What to watch after the All3Media merger
The remarks arrive after Banijay’s new structure debuted at Cannes. Banijay Group and RedBird IMI each hold 50% of an enlarged company that is now the largest independent producer in the world, with a 265,000-hour library spanning The Traitors, Survivor, Big Brother, Peaky Blinders and more. Bassetti and Jeff Zucker have both flagged U.S. scripted as a growth area.
For media buyers and commissioning teams, the signal is clear: the next wave of producer deals will be fought over rights, not just budgets.
- €1B spent on creativity over four years, including deficits and unlocked incentives
- 110 shows produced for streamers last year
- 265,000-hour library after the All3Media merger
- Rights retention, not higher subsidies, is the central demand
Source: Deadline
