Banijay Group reported first-half 2026 revenue of €2.58 billion, up 16.9% year-on-year on a reported basis, in its inaugural set of financial results since completing a merger with All3Media that created an $8 billion production powerhouse (Variety; Banijay Group H1 2026 Press Release).

The numbers tell a split story. The group as a whole grew. But the entertainment division on its own — the legacy Banijay business before All3Media's contributions are folded in — saw revenue dip 2.2% to €1.37 billion ($1.56 billion) for the first six months of 2026, compared to the same period in 2025. The H1 results do not yet include All3Media's performance; those figures will be integrated from the second half of the year onward (Variety).

Within the entertainment arm, production revenue fell 11.9%, which the company attributed to anticipated phasing in its production schedule — meaning fewer shows were delivered in this window, with more slotted for later in the year. Distribution revenue moved the other way, rising 10.5% on the back of a format sale in the first quarter. The live events business was the standout, with revenues surging nearly 50%, driven by the Winter Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup (Variety).

At the group level, adjusted EBITDA — a measure of operating profitability before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation — climbed 18.5% to €503 million (Investing.com). On a constant currency basis, which strips out exchange-rate effects, group revenue grew 4.5% (Banijay Group H1 2026 Press Release). The company also confirmed its full-year 2026 guidance.

The merger, signed on 3 March 2026, combined Banijay's entertainment arm with RedBird IMI's All3Media. The resulting group spans 25 territories and holds a content catalogue of more than 265,000 hours — a library that includes The Traitors, Big Brother and Peaky Blinders (Variety). Banijay Entertainment Chair Jeff Zucker called the combined entity the largest independent producer ever created. On a pro-forma basis — meaning as if the two companies had been merged throughout 2025 — the group would have generated over €4.3 billion in revenue that year (Yahoo Finance).

Banijay Group CEO François Riahi described 2026 as a transformational year for the company. He said the second half will bring deeper integration of the two businesses and the start of synergy delivery — the cost savings and operational efficiencies that mergers are designed to unlock (Variety).

For viewers, the merger's impact is less about what is on screen right now and more about who is making it. A single company controlling format rights from Big Brother to The Traitors across 25 countries means that when a format is sold, adapted or cancelled, the decision flows through one set of offices. The first half showed the legacy business in a quieter production phase. The second half will reveal what the combined machine looks like with both engines running.