Banijay Rights Names John Richards Finance Chief as All3Media Veteran Exits
Banijay Rights has named John Richards chief financial officer, or CFO, of its newly combined international sales operation. Deadline reported the appointment on 28 October 2026.
The sales operation is the company that sells TV shows to broadcasters and streaming services in other countries. It was formed after the Banijay and All3Media merger, and it is led by Cathy Payne. Richards will oversee finance for the whole business, which holds a catalogue of more than 250,000 hours of programming. That catalogue includes Peaky Blinders, Big Brother and MasterChef.
Richards is not new to Banijay. He has been with the company for a decade. Before joining Banijay Rights, he was chief financial officer of Endemol Shine International, a role he had held since 2015. He had been that company's finance director before that.
The appointment comes as John Wagener leaves All3Media International, where he has been CFO and chief operating officer. Wagener is exiting after two decades with the company. He joined in 2006 to lead the finance team. After All3Media was sold to Liberty Global and Discovery in 2014, he was promoted to both COO and CFO. When the company was sold to Redbird IMI in 2024, he joined the All3Media Group Senior Executive Committee.
The merger also carries a savings target. According to Deadline, Banijay is seeking 50 million euros ($56.8 million) in synergies, meaning cost savings from combining the two businesses, within 12 months of the All3Media deal closing.
Earlier this year, Deadline reported that Louise Pedersen, chief executive of All3Media International, left soon after the Banijay-All3Media deal was revealed. All3Media International also distributes The Traitors, the reality competition that sells in many countries, meaning it handles the licensing of the format to broadcasters abroad.
For anyone who has watched a Banijay or All3Media show, the news is mostly about who runs the numbers behind the sales. Finance chiefs in this business decide how deals are priced, how costs are tracked and how the savings targets are met. Richards now holds that job for the combined company, and Wagener's two decades of service end with this move.
