FremantleMedia Ups Stake in European MCN

LONDON/BERLIN: FremantleMedia is now the majority shareholder in the European MCN Divimove, upping its stake to 51 percent as it looks to expand its efforts in discovering and developing online talent.

FremantleMedia first acquired an interest in Divimove in 2013 and the two companies have been working together ever since to find new creative voices from the online entertainment space. The MCN has 900 million viewers per month, with 1,700 partner channels attracting 80 million subs. Its network includes the leading YouTube personalities in Spain, Italy and the Netherlands. Together, FremantleMedia and Divimove have launched Shootrs, a talent program that brings professional production expertise to Divimove's online content specialists. UFA in Germany and Blue Circle in the Netherlands were part of the program in 2014. Other European companies within the FremantleMedia group will join the program this year. FremantleMedia is also working with the MCN on branded-entertainment campaigns across Europe.

“Divimove‘s amazing growth is a result of an exceptional team and a great roster of content creators," said Keith Hindle, the CEO of digital and branded entertainment at FremantleMedia. "Divimove works with really exciting emerging talent across multiple markets, which fits our global TV production business well, and we look forward to working with them even more.”

Brian Ruhe, the CEO of Divimove, added, “For us, the development and support of talent is at the center of our business and we’re delighted that we have found a partner who has the same values. Working with FremantleMedia has given us the opportunity to invest even more in our creators and develop new ways to grow their careers. We will continue to do so as we expand our relationship.”