Banijay Entertainment sent a clear message during its first-half earnings call: It is looking to increase its output on YouTube. The Paris-based production company, which reported half-year earnings of approximately $236 million, wants to bring some of its well-known properties to the platform where many YouTube people turn for their entertainment needs.
The list of Banijay-owned properties includes reality favorites like Big Brother and MasterChef, as well as scripted fare like Black Mirror and Peaky Blinders. Those shows historically reached millions of viewers through linear TV channels, but with viewership and ad dollars shifting to YouTube, Banijay is following the money.
Banijay Entertainment CEO Marco Bassetti detailed the company’s “digital transformation efforts” during the recent earnings call. He said those activities will “rapidly unlock greater efficiencies, further amplify the value of our catalogue, and enhance our presence on YouTube specifically. In embracing new technologies and diversifying our revenue streams in areas like sport too, we continue to prepare the group for the future, cementing our house as the number one for talent, IP, and creative innovation.”
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Despite the renewed push, Banijay already has a significant presence on YouTube. Its 2020 acquisition of Endemol Shine Group gave it a digital foothold thanks to that prodco’s previous operations as Endemol Beyond. Banijay has since unlocked new opportunities for digital-native channels like Simon’s Cat.
In recent years, however, Banijay has found new ways to extend its traditional properties to the digital sphere. It made a notable bet earlier this year when it announced MasterChef Creators, an influencer-led spinoff of the titular cooking competition.
Banijay is now looking to forge even more connections between linear TV and digital-native creators — and it is not alone in that effort. A wide range of production companies and distributors, including Sony Pictures Television and the U.K.’s Channel 4, have launched new units and channels that will allow them to ramp up studio operations on platforms like YouTube. The Google-affiliated hub is already the biggest thing on TV screens, and if the biggest formats in the world continue to set up shop there, YouTube’s slice of the pie is only going to get bigger.
