Banijay Group, the leading creator, producer and distributor of worldwide content, has today announced the acquisition of 7Wonder, one of the fastest growing non-scripted independents in the UK. The deal marks the first UK non-scripted acquisition for the super-indie following a number of scripted additions over the last year.
Alexandra Fraser, Liza Abbott, and Simon Ellse founded 7Wonder in 2014 and will continue to run the business as Chief Creative, CEO and CFO respectively, in a deal that will see over 160 hours of 7Wonder programming added to Banijay UK’s non-scripted slate.
Since its creation in 2014, 7Wonder has won a host of returnable commissions, with six second-series orders secured in the last year, including a supersized order (12×60’) of BBC Two’s Back to the Land with Kate Humble following a successful three-part debut run; landmark Sky Arts series Tate Britain’s Great British Walks (6×60’), CBeebies pre-school reality series Do You Know? winner of a Children’s BAFTA for Best Presenter; and the UK adaptation of My Kitchen Rules for Channel 4 – a hit format from the indies previous backers, the Seven Network.
7Wonder expect to announce a number of new commissions in the coming months, with Channel 4 series Seven Year Switch (6×60’) airing in March, and BBC Two documentary Heart Transplant (w/t), a topical 90 minute special filmed at the Institute of Transplantation in Newcastle which aims to bring viewers the most complete picture of the donation process ever put on screen, set to air this Spring.
7Wonder operates out of Somerset House in London and The Library of Birmingham, and produces content across a variety of genres, from pre-school through to format, specialist factual through to factual entertainment, and celebrity-led travelogues. The 7Wonder creative team, including Creative Director Duncan Coates, boasts a long history of producing award-winning television and have secured numerous BAFTA, Emmy and Broadcast Awards. They have also successfully established third party partnerships with US Networks in order to adapt formats for the UK market.
7Wonder will work collaboratively with fellow Banijay UK award-winning prod co’s RDF and IWC Media, and will explore opportunities for co-productions in the UK and around the wider global Banijay Group. 7Wonder’s previous partnership with Seven Network Australia has concluded and Banijay Rights will distribute 7Wonder content going forward.
Alexandra Fraser, Chief Creative, 7Wonder said:
“We are absolutely delighted to be joining Banijay. With RDF and IWC, Banijay already enjoys a strong reputation for delivering high quality factual programming in the UK which we hope to build on, but we’re tremendously excited, too, by the international opportunities that will now open up to us.”
Peter Langenberg, COO Banijay Group said:
“We are thrilled that 7Wonder are to become the first non-scripted acquisition for Banijay UK. Alex and the 7Wonder team have an excellent track record of creating and executing successful returnable formats and authentic factual programming; they will be the perfect complement to our existing non-scripted labels RDF and IWC, and we could not have hoped to have found a better addition to the Banijay family.”