Blue Ant Acquires Saloon Media

Further expanding its North American production capabilities, Blue Ant Media has acquired the Toronto-based factual outfit Saloon Media.

Saloon Media’s credits include Mummies Alive for HISTORY (Canada), Smithsonian Channel (U.S.) and Yesterday (U.K.); Tornado Hunters for CMT; See No Evil for ID and Hunting Nazi Treasure for HISTORY (Canada), American Heroes Channel (U.S.) and More4 (U.K.). The venture is led by CEO Michael Kot, who was with Entertainment One before creating Saloon Media in 2013.

“Blue Ant Media is committed to growing its content business in both Canada and the United States,” said Sam Sniderman, executive VP of global production at Blue Ant Media. “The acquisition of Saloon Media is a key step in the execution of this strategy, as their award-winning factual content and notable creative talent fit perfectly within our content growth strategy in North America. We have long admired Michael Kot, and his team, for the quality and global reach of their programming and we are thrilled to have them as colleagues.”

“Saloon’s ambition to reach a wider audience and connect with new global business partners dovetails perfectly with Blue Ant Media’s push to expand content production for world markets,” Kot said. “We’re extremely excited to be part of Blue Ant’s growing North American team, and on a personal note, I look forward to working once again with Michael MacMillan to make great programs.”

The Saloon Media team also includes executive producers Steve Gamester and Paul Kilback, and Betty Orr as head of production.