Endemol, Talpa in Distribution Deal

HILVERSUM, October 1: Endemol International has inked a
global distribution deal with Talpa Media, the format producer and distributor
owned by John de Mol.

The deal with de Mol—who owns a stake in Endemol via
his investment fund Cyrte’s partnership with Mediaset and Goldman
Sachs—also sees Maarten Meijs, previously international licensing manager
at Talpa, taking up the same role at Endemol. Meijs is responsible for
worldwide sales of Talpa Media’s catalogue, which now includes the portfolio of
French format creator Brainbox, following Talpa’s recent acquisition of a stake
in the company. Endemol will be handling both format and finished rights to
Talpa titles. With the deal, Endemol comes to MIPCOM with an enlarged
catalogue, including The Golden Cage,
which has just marked its first anniversary of non-stop transmission in the
Netherlands. On RTL 5 it has become the number one show amongst 20- to
34-year-old viewers with audience shares of up to 24 percent, while online it
has been achieving 1.4 million page views a day and almost 4 million video
downloads per month.

Also new to the Endemol International catalogue following
the deal is Brainbox’s Let's Go Shopping
(Prendere o Lasciare) airing on
Mediaset’s Italia 1 and the drama series Vipers Nest (Gooische Vrouwen), a big hit for RTL 4 in the Netherlands and now
also on air in France, Germany, Belgium, with a format deal in place in Serbia.

Mike Morley, the senior executive director of commercial and
creative affairs at Endemol International, noted: “This deal adds a great slate
of exciting formats and ready-made shows to our distribution catalogue. It will
be terrific to benefit from John de Mol’s creative output and we couldn’t ask
for a more qualified person than Maarten to maximize its value. He has a long
and proven track record in the industry and we’re delighted to have him on
board.”