Banijay Rights reshuffle brings four exits and a new top role for Rachel Job
The team that sells The Traitors, Big Brother and Survivor around the world is being rebuilt, and four senior executives are leaving.
Banijay Rights, the distribution arm — meaning the unit that licenses finished shows and formats to broadcasters and streamers — is losing Simon Cox, Claire Jago, Maartje Horchner and Chris Stewart, according to Deadline. All four took voluntary redundancy, meaning they accepted a paid exit package.
Cox was executive vice-president of content acquisitions. Jago was executive vice-president for EMEA sales and acquisitions, covering Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Horchner was executive vice-president of content at All3Media International. Stewart was senior vice-president of sales for the UK and Ireland.
Two other moves are confirmed. Denis Leroy has left Banijay’s international scripted division. Johannes Jensen has returned to a role within the Banijay Nordics team.
The most senior new appointment taking shape is for Rachel Job. She was All3Media International’s senior vice-president for unscripted, and she is now in line for a senior executive vice-president-level content role covering both scripted and unscripted rights across the merged group.
Cathy Payne is leading the new-look Banijay Rights. Banijay has been running a consultancy process for staff in recent weeks, a formal review of roles after a merger, which is now nearing completion.
The reason is cost and overlap. Banijay is seeking €50M ($56.8M) in savings within 12 months of the All3Media deal closing by cutting duplication in distribution and sales.
The scale explains why. The merged Banijay and All3Media business has more than 170 production labels. Its combined catalogue is more than 265,000 hours and puts The Traitors, Big Brother, Survivor, Fear Factor and Deal or No Deal under one roof.
Some of the departures close long chapters. Horchner joined All3Media in 2004. Cox joined Banijay in 2021 when it bought Endemol Shine Group, where he had been head of acquisitions since 2015.
For viewers, this changes little on screen. The same shows still get made by their producers. What changes is who sells them abroad and who decides what the combined library offers next.
The merger that triggered the review was agreed earlier this year to create what trade press described as an $8.5 billion super indie, according to The Hollywood Reporter. That deal brought together two of the largest independent producers in television.
