{"id":305741,"date":"2026-02-23T09:19:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T09:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/305741\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T09:19:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T09:19:09","slug":"banijays-james-townley-interview-on-reality-sportainment-next-hit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/305741\/","title":{"rendered":"Banijay’s James Townley Interview on Reality, Sportainment, Next Hit"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tBig Brother, Survivor, Deal or No Deal<\/a>, MasterChef, Temptation Island<\/a> \u2013\u00a0those are just some of the non-scripted hit shows of independent production powerhouse Banijay Entertainment<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\n\tAs Banijay<\/a>\u2018s chief content officer, development James Townley<\/a> is responsible for not resting on those laurels and instead driving the development and creation of original non-scripted intellectual property (IP), format acquisitions\u00a0and documentaries\u00a0across the company\u2019s 23 territories and its network of production banners. Co-leading the firm\u2019s unscripted unit Creative Networks, \u201che supports and champions a strong pipeline of new formats with international<\/a> appeal,\u201d Banijay says. \u201cHe also manages group-level investment in\u00a0non-scripted via the company\u2019s Creative Fund and\u00a0internal creative incentivization schemes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTownley, who previously served as global head of Creative Networks at Endemol Shine Group, as Endemol Shine U.K.\u2019s director of operations and held roles at Princess Productions and Sky, has a particularly busy week ahead. On Monday afternoon, he will be part of a MIP London<\/a> panel entitled \u201cDisruption in Formats Acquisitions and Sales,\u201d and on Wednesday, Banijay\u2019s London TV Screenings events take place.<\/p>\n

\n\tAhead of London\u2019s big annual TV week, THR talked to Townley about the state of unscripted content, cross-collaboration across Banijay, the company\u2019s London TV Screenings\u00a0lineup, including sport\u00a0adventure\u00a0reality\u00a0format\u00a0Football Island, culinary competition\u00a0100\u00a0Knives, quiz show How Old Is Your Brain?, and psychological reality game The Dinner.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow do you approach your role, given the size and reach of Banijay across its various territories?<\/p>\n

\n\tIt is a significant footprint, and the beautiful thing about having around 130 production companies is that it\u2019s about that creative community. They\u2019ve all got their own identity. But in that creative community, what we\u2019re fully focused on now is creation. It\u2019s about taking advantage of opportunities, because we\u2019re still working in a very risk-averse market. So we are working on the development and creation of big new shows to launch globally to complement our current catalog, and in the industry\u2019s current catalog of big shows.<\/p>\n

\n\tSo, we\u2019re looking for what\u2019s our next MasterChef, what\u2019s our next Big Brother, our next Survivor. They all sit at the top of their genres, whether it is competitive reality, whether it is adventure, whether it\u2019s romantic reality, or the world of social experiment. Reality feels like it is still absolutely king. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\u2018100 Knives\u2019<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat are the key opportunities you see in this risk-averse market you mentioned? <\/p>\n

\n\tI think there are opportunities because we\u2019re able to do co-development, collaborations, partnerships, and these have been really, really successful. And when we spot a new embryonic creation, we\u2019re really lucky in that we have an internal investment creative fund with which we can supercharge those new ideas and try and get them launched with a partner somewhere in the world.<\/p>\n

\n\tAbsolutely, that big new IP that can sit alongside current super brands. And whether it is reality and all those sub-sections of reality, or whether it is the next big quiz, game or talent show, there\u2019s opportunity.<\/p>\n

\n\tComing into the [soccer] World Cup, you will probably hear everyone talking about how expensive sports rights are. But we also know that it\u2019s not just about those. Those channels need more than sports to complement those live events. <\/p>\n

\n\tYour team at Banijay has talked about finding new hits in that space where sports and entertainment meet, right?<\/p>\n

\n\tThe infamous \u201cwhere sport meets entertainment\u201d \u2013 I present to you: sportainment! We\u2019ve got a big show coming out of Holland called Football Island, a collaboration between SimpelZodiak and Southfields for Videoland. The clue is in the title. Yes, it absolutely is under the banner of football [aka soccer]. I think football fans, certainly Dutch football fans, will watch that show. There\u2019s fantastic talent. What we want to do, though, is to bring in that family viewing audience. We want them to watch it for other layers that are in that format. The show has that survival element, with 13 Dutch ex-footballers stuck on the island, and they talk about a lot of stories from when they were players on the field, but also off the field. <\/p>\n

\n\tI guess it\u2019s a special twist on Survivor and the like. Any other new twists you are presenting to the market?<\/p>\n

\n\tAs the home of MasterChef, we\u2019re always looking for ideas under this banner of big, competitive reality food shows. And we\u2019ve got one from Mastiff Sweden, Bunim\/Murray Productions and Smart Dog Media [for TV4] called 100 Knives, which has just shot in Sweden. It really looks fantastic.<\/p>\n

The twist is essentially that it\u2019s not about individuals at all. It\u2019s about teams. They\u2019re actually called brigades in the format. So, there\u2019s that competitive element. But what I love about it is the camaraderie of bringing people together. Audiences are incredibly savvy, and I think we have to bring that positive tone, that tone of where you are stronger together and people wanting other people to succeed. We\u2019ve seen lots of reality shows where everyone\u2019s competitive, and there\u2019s the evil contributor on the side \u2013 absolutely, there still is that element when you have a competition. But what I love about 100 Knives is brigades all working together, and the bond that they develop.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat\u2019s also fantastic is that it\u2019s got real scale, but we have the ability to produce it as a huge scale show, a medium scale show, or a slightly smaller show. So we can fit these formats to various global needs, because each territory is slightly different.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\u2018Football Island\u2019<\/p>\n

\n\tAny other new themes or trends you are seeing? <\/p>\n

\n\tIn the vein of entertaining audiences, comedy entertainment is something we\u2019re really keen on. It\u2019s no secret that Amazon has had huge success with LOL, and we\u2019re lucky to produce that in 11 territories. We\u2019re keen to work on comedy entertainment inside the studio, comedy entertainment outside the studio, and hybrid formats that have a comedy entertainment edge. There\u2019s a big show coming from Metronome in Denmark called Who\u2019s Guilty?, which is filming as we speak. That is using comedians and celebrities who have to guess who the guilty comedian is. [In each episode, a group of comedians is thrown into a fictional crime and interrogated in a courtroom in front of a celebrity jury. One comedian is secretly assigned to play the guilty party; the others are innocent, but they all work together to convince the jury to convict one of them of the crime.]<\/p>\n

\n\tSo, how do you balance the familiar and popular, in this case, maybe a dash of The Traitors, with the new? <\/p>\n

\n\tThere are some big psychological reality shows in our industry, such as The Traitors. And when we are creating these big shows, you have to make sure they\u2019ve got their own DNA. You have to make sure that they stand on their own. You have to [look for] what\u2019s the new unique element. They\u2019ve got to have this element.<\/p>\n

\n\tBanijay is also working with third-party partners on some of their big IPs, right?<\/p>\n

\n\tThat is also a huge priority for the business. We\u2019ve seen such success from LEGO Masters in the past in that regard. So we nurture that third-party format and are always looking for new partners. Other third-party successes include [strategic reality format]\u00a0Werewolves,\u00a0Ninja Warrior, and [digital-first format]\u00a0All Star Hide and Seek.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tOur teams within Banijay want to work on the best formats, and our partners want to create the best formats and work with the best people. I talked about 100 Knives and the brigades. It feels like we\u2019re creating quite a few internal brigades in that regard. We\u2019re just trying to bring everyone together, because there\u2019s so much that these teams learn and that they can share \u2013 on third-party and our own [IP].<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\u2018Ninja Warrior\u2019<\/p>\n

\n\tWho is willing to take risks in this risk-averse market?<\/p>\n

\n\tProbably from our pipeline\u2019s point of view, the streamers are the ones who are taking the biggest swings. When we are launching a huge amount of new IP, actually, sometimes the hardest part is to prioritize what we feel is the biggest international hit of the future.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou can\u2019t wait to make a format strong. You have to make it strong before it launches. If you don\u2019t put the time and effort into it at Base Camp One, it will die, it will fizzle out in an industry and in a content market that is as competitive as it has ever been. So, we really do put a huge amount of time, effort, blood, sweat, tears, and investment into those potential opportunities that we can see traveling around the world.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the U.K., at the moment, we have The Summit on ITV, which is a format that\u2019s now traveled to nearly 10 territories, having originated in Australia. [The ITV version sees 14 strangers trying to summit a mountain in New Zealand, competing in a test of resilience and strategy. \u201cCan teamwork prevail or will \u00a3200,000 ($270,000) tempt betrayal?\u201d asks a synopsis.) The Australian team didn\u2019t take a few weeks to come up with that format. It was in their pipeline for 18 months of rigorous development and investment stages.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat do you think is appealing to audiences about non-scripted shows?<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s still escapism, nostalgia. Because the news is not always the most positive, that is appealing. And for others, they\u2019re just a brand new audience that has never seen anything like this before. <\/p>\n

\n\tBut you have to keep formats fresh. One in particular that seems to be hugely successful out in the U.S. is [the Fear Factor revival] Fear Factor: House of Fear with Johnny Knoxville, which has done brilliantly in overnight numbers that apparently no one cares about anymore. And it is also incredibly successful on Hulu. And I think where you have that opportunity to drive audiences to [networks and] streaming, so you have a dual purpose, that\u2019s great. <\/p>\n

\n\tI heard you will also be talking about a new format called The Dinner this week. What\u2019s that about?<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Dinner isn\u2019t really about the dinner and what you eat. It\u2019s a fantastic partnership of SimpelZodiak and Talpa Studios [for SBS6] that has elements of psychological and strategic reality. It\u2019s also one of those scenarios where it\u2019s like a mirror moment for the audience. You know, when you sit with friends around a dinner table, there are always friends who\u2019ve got lots of different stories. But in this particular case, it\u2019s more of a game show where money is at stake. The individuals, who in this particular case are celebrities, are telling stories, and the other diners at the table have to guess whether that story is real or fake. <\/p>\n

\n\tThere are some fantastic stories in there, and some of them you just would never, ever believe were true. It\u2019s incredibly watchable and very bingeable as well. We\u2019ve got a great legacy with panel shows. So we have the expertise and know how we can appeal to audiences, but now put it into a totally different environment. And if you get the cast right, it\u2019s fantastic, so the casting is absolutely integral. And this one is very addictive. It doesn\u2019t need to be a quiz show to play along at home, so this is a way to bring the family together. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\u2018Werewolves\u2019<\/p>\n

\n\tSpeaking of quizzes: any new quiz formats?<\/p>\n

\n\tOur team at DMLS in France has created a show originally called Brain Master, which is now known as How Old Is Your Brain? What\u2019s great about it is that you have all these different questions, so people can play along together at home. It\u2019s a great quiz that goes across all sorts of demographics. And there is a little sidebar for the format with a scientist giving you tips and tricks on how to keep your brain fresh. So you get a little bit of science into it, as well as the game show, making it a hybrid.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou mentioned the opportunity to super-charge hot ideas with your fund. Can you tell me a bit more about that fund?<\/p>\n

\n\tThe very-well stocked Creative Fund we have is there to invest solely in creativity, because that sits absolutely at the heart of what we all do. The people who have the creativity sit at the heart. When we are looking for those big, new ideas, we set up various creative initiatives. <\/p>\n

\n\tLast year, we launched the Genre Accelerator Fund that is really simple. We have six genres, in which we feel there is a multi-territory, multi-buyer opportunity: romantic reality, adventure reality, quiz and game shows, talent shows, sportainment, and social experiment. And we asked every single non-scripted label at Banijay to submit one big idea. They were allowed to decide which genre they wanted to submit to, and we chose a winner whose bounty was an investment in that idea. So we ended up with six winners, and we\u2019re currently talking with all of them at the moment about the best use of that investment. Some are further down the line than others.<\/p>\n

\n\tBanijay has talked about using AI in the development of shows. What role does AI play in some of the shows\/formats Banijay is showcasing at the London TV Screenings \u2013 whether on screen or in the development and production process?<\/p>\n

\n\tAI is increasingly part of our creative workflow, both on-screen and behind-the-scenes,\u00a0and you\u2019ll see that reflected across our London TV Screenings showcase this week. A ground-breaking example is\u00a0Staying Alive, our new music entertainment format\u00a0from EndemolShine Germany, where cutting-edge technology enables today\u2019s artists to perform showstopping duets with legendary voices like Elvis Presley, Whitney Houston, Amy Winehouse\u00a0and Freddie Mercury. Creating a performance entertainment format like that simply wasn\u2019t possible before. Beyond that, AI now helps our teams visualize concepts faster, streamline production, and unlock new ways to elevate storytelling and amplify creativity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAnything else you\u2019d like to highlight? <\/p>\n

\n\tYou have to hook people early, and you have to give them what they want. But sometimes the premise of a format can be incredibly simple, and that\u2019s the beauty of it. Staying Alive is an example of that.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe beautiful thing about the Banijay pipeline and the new shows is that it is not monotonous, and we\u2019re always looking for what is different enough from everything else, not only within our catalog, but within the world. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Big Brother, Survivor, Deal or No Deal, MasterChef, Temptation Island \u2013\u00a0those are just some of the non-scripted hit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305742,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[36546,146,85,399,46,153843,153844],"class_list":["post-305741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-banijay","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-international","tag-israel","tag-london-screenings","tag-mip-london"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305741"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305741\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}