Tag Archive: Catalogue

  1. STV Player signs with Banijay Rights for biggest-ever content deal

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    STV Player today announces its biggest content deal to date, after partnering with Banijay Rights to bring over 1200 hours of new programming to the free streaming service.

     

    The content will be dropped on the platform over the next twelve months and will primarily comprise high-end drama and compelling factual series from around the world.

     

    The first batch is due to go live in early August and will include titles such as Scandi-noir thriller Beck; French murder mystery Malaterra, based on the successful British series Broadchurch; and two acclaimed Australian series, The Time of our Lives and Tangle, which both focus on the trials and tribulations of chaotic Melbourne families.

     

    The Banijay deal also brings more big names to STV Player, including Olivia Colman and Vanessa Redgrave (who both star in The Thirteenth Tale), Frank Grillo and Nick Jonas (Kingdom) and Rowan Atkinson (The Thin Blue Line).

     

    In Scotland, STV Player is the on-demand home of Channel 3 network content. Across the UK, it’s one of the country’s fastest-growing AVODs, with an ever-expanding library of free content correlating with a significant surge in consumption.

     

    In the first half of 2021 (1 January – 30 June), streams have grown 94% and total online viewing is up 66% compared with the same time period last year. After launching on all major platforms at the end of 2020, STV Player increased its addressable audience more than tenfold to 50 million adults.

     

    In June, the platform celebrated its best-performing day since launching in 2009, achieving over one million streams in a single day for the first time ever.  Streams grew by 163%, with online viewing up 370% during June alone, fuelled by Euro 2020 and weekly soap drops. In the same month, free rewards service STV Player VIP was launched, which offers viewers personalised content recommendations, new prizes every month, and no pre-roll adverts so they can access content without delay.

     

    Richard Williams, Managing Director, Digital at STV, said: “As STV Player has continued to grow its audience across the country, we’ve gained a clearer idea of what our viewers want from the service. This significant deal with Banijay taps right into that, with hundreds of hours of unmissable drama set to drop on STV Player in the coming months.

     

    “The VOD world is constantly evolving and, as a relatively new player in this field, it’s important for us to have a niche. We’re delighted to be building our reputation as a free provider of big, star-studded dramas, along with popular overseas titles that viewers in the UK are unlikely to discover anywhere else.”

     

    Chris Stewart, SVP UK and Eire, Banijay Rights, said: “This landmark deal extends our partnership with STV and provides viewers on-demand access to a fantastic selection of premium drama and factual content, some of which is available in the UK for the first time.”

  2. Cathy Payne Takes Lead on Banijay’s Distribution Engine

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    Following her appointment as Chief Executive Officer of Banijay Rights back in April, Banijay today confirms Cathy Payne remains in post following the recent acquisition of the Endemol Shine Group. Overseeing the scaled-up distribution arm, she will now execute the integration of the two offerings and guide all exploitation across the portfolio of commercial finished tape.

     

    Encompassing linear and non-linear exploitation, including VOD and self-publishing relationships, Payne will be at the forefront of Banijay Rights’ commercial drive. With a multitude of brands under one roof, her remit will span the 88,000+ hour catalogue, which includes Survivor, MasterChef, Temptation Island, Mr Bean, Peaky Blinders and Big Brother to name a few.

     

    Continuing to report to Banijay’s Chief Executive Officer, Marco Bassetti, Payne is already underway on bringing the two significant catalogues under one roof, with a new website and app planned for roll-out in September. The ambition is also to have the teams combined by autumn, with the integration process commencing this month.

     

    Marco Bassetti, Chief Executive Officer, Banijay comments: “Cathy is without doubt one of the industry’s strongest commercial champions and just what we need in the ‘new world’ of content. Consistently driving value and opportunity, she is the prime voice to have at the helm of the business as we start the combined roll-out and exploitation of all 88,000 hours of catalogue.”

     

    Cathy Payne comments: “In an increasingly integrated production and exploitation business environment, it is critical that we have all finished tape efforts under a combined strategy. Banijay Rights has a tremendous offering for our clients and plenty of valuable opportunities for prospective brand partners worldwide.”