All3Media tops the Broadcast Indie Survey as the UK's biggest production group for the second year running

All3 stays top as Banijay buys ESG

All3Media was again the biggest consolidator in UK revenue terms, with its £520m turnover comfortably outstripping the combined figure for its newly merged rival

There was only one story in UK production consolidation last year: Banijay Group’s £2bn deal to acquire Endemol Shine Group (ESG) at the second attempt. The landscape-changing agreement is expected to close in the summer with regulatory approval from the European Commission, according to Banijay chief operating officer Peter Langenberg. However, even if ESG’s £364.9m and Banijay’s £66m UK revenues were grouped together, Fleabag and Midsomer Murders owner All3Media would remain the biggest consolidator in terms of British turnover. It posted £520.4m in 2019, up 6%.

Nine of the top 10 indie labels this year are owned by larger groups, while a total of 69 out of 143 companies are more than 50% owned by a consolidator. In total, Broadcast tallied 19 consolidator groups – the same number as last year.

All3 chief executive Jane Turton says that focusing on building its scripted business has been a key strategy since Liberty Global and Discovery jointly acquired the super-indie in 2015. “We acquired some companies and put a lot of time and effort into the existing ones such as Bentley Productions, Company Pictures and Lime Pictures,” she adds. All3’s strong performers include Lime – the top regional indie with turnover of £83.2m – which produces shows such as youth-skewed drama Free Rein; New Pictures, which made ITV’s White House Farm and Sky 1’s Cobra; and factual-entertainment formats such as Studio Lambert’s The Circle and Race Across The World. All3 also secured revenues from food shows from Optomen, including Channel 4’s Crazy Delicious and Snackmasters. “Although it’s a good time to be a producer – a golden age, people argue – it’s still very competitive,” says Turton. “You’re not sitting there in glorious isolation as the only producer in town – quite the opposite – but competition is actually a good thing for buyers and consumers.” Turton believes “scale is of value” and is prepared to “look at corporate development opportunities of all shapes and sizes in the UK and more globally”. All3 sees opportunity in format distribution and factual entertainment, and may look to push more into entertainment, she adds.