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Zodiak Media was a Swedish and later French global independent television group with up to 45 companies covering fiction, entertainment, and animation, spread across 15 countries, including France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, Spain, the
Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; ) are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe, as well as the Arctic Ocean, Arctic and Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic oceans. It includes the sovereign states of Denm ...
, and Russia. The group merged in February 2016 with Banijay Group, which then became the world's leading independent producer of content for television and multimedia platforms. Zodiak Rights, the international distribution arm of Zodiak Media, now a Banijay Entertainment company, is one of the leading distributors on the international market. Its catalogue has over 20,000 hours of programming.


History

The Zodiak Media group was formed by the successive acquisition of television production companies under the impetus of the Italian
De Agostini De Agostini S.p.A. is an Italian holding company that coordinates the strategic operating companies De Agostini Editore, De Agostini Communications, International Game Technology, IGT, and DeA Capital, and makes financial investments, among w ...
: Magnolia and
Marathon Media Banijay Kids & Family (formerly known as Zodiak Kids, Zodiak Kids Studios and Zodiak Kids & Family) is a French television production company owned by Banijay Entertainment based in Neuilly-sur-Seine. The company was originally founded in Februa ...
in 2007 (
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
,
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
and
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
), Zodiak Television in 2008 (
Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...
,
Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...
and
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
), RDF Media in 2010 (
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
). The company's first interrogation began when MTV Produktion AB was founded in 1981 under the name Mobile Television as a technical facility in Sweden to engage at outside broadcast for various clients, but by the late 1980s, when commercial television began established in the country they decided to move into television programming. In August 1995, MTV Produktion AB launched their own Danish division in Denmark named MTV Produktion A/S. Two months later in October of that same year, MTV Production AB had acquired Kanon Television from Swedish television production company Strix. Mastiff Media was founded in 1990 under the name Wegelius Television as an independent production company by its founder Annie Wegelius after when she left
TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television *Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso * Canal 3 Niger, a commercial television channel in Niger * Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala * Can ...
. By January 1995, Swedish media group
Bonnier Group Bonnier AB (), also the Bonnier Group, is a Privately held company, privately held Swedish media conglomerate, media group of 175 companies operating in 15 countries. It is controlled by the Bonnier family. Background The company was founded in ...
announced that their Swedish film production and distribution division
Svensk Filmindustri SF Studios is Sweden’s largest film studio. It is involved in production, distribution, and movie theater market chains (both Swedish and international, including American) with headquarters in Stockholm and local offices in Oslo, Copenhagen ...
(which is now known as SF Studios) had acquired independent production company Wegelius Television with its founder Annie Wegelius continued to be the president of the company. In Italy, Magnolia SPA was founded in 2000 by Giorgio Gori as an independent reality television production company so it could adapt entertainment formats to Italian networks. In November 2001, Wegelius Television had announced that they've rebranded as Mastiff Media by their CEO Brita Sohlberg in order for them to expand their operations. In April 2003, a major pan-Scandinavian entertainment production giant was born when MTV Produktion AB announced that they've acquired Stockholm-based Swedish and Danish production outfit Mastiff Media AB from its parent company
Bonnier Group Bonnier AB (), also the Bonnier Group, is a Privately held company, privately held Swedish media conglomerate, media group of 175 companies operating in 15 countries. It is controlled by the Bonnier family. Background The company was founded in ...
marking their first acquisition with Bonnier acquiring a 36% stake in MTV Produktion AB along with the two companies retaining their brands. In September 2003 following the acquisition of Mastiff Media back in April of that same year, MTV Produktion AB had announced that they've merged MTV and Mastiff Media together to form a new production group named MTV Mastiff Production AB with the focus on their core activities along with their production & distribution of their Nordic formats with MTV and Mastiff names being retained along with the group launching their newly owned international distribution division named MTV Mastiff International to distribute their formats to other countries. In August 2004, MTV Produktion AB had announced that they've brought fellow Swedish production company Jarowskij along with its Finland subsidiary Jarowskij Finland and merged the former company with their own production company MTV Mastiff Production AB to becoming the biggest Scandinavian production group with the MTV Mastiff and Jarowskij brands were being retained after the merger. By the following year in 2005 after the merger of MTV Mastiff Produktion AB with Jarowskij in that same year, their parent company MTV Produktion AB announced that they had changed their name to Zodiak Television AB with their international division MTV Mastiff International also being renamed to Zodiak Television World with their division MTV Mastiff being retained as a label within the renamed company. On May 3, 2005, Zodiak Television AB expanded its operations in Finland by announcing that they had acquired Finnish production company Broadcasters Group, marking their second acquisition in Finland with Broadcasters Group's management remained in the acquired company. In January 2006, Zodiak Television AB announced that they brought out a 35% stake in Polish production company Zebra Media, marking Zodiak's first entry into the Polish production outfit. In February 2006, Zodiak Television AB announced that their expanding its operations into Eastern Europe by acquiring a 34% stake in Russian production company TeleAlliance along with their companies Dixi Media, Teleformat and Rytm, marking the first time the Copenhagen-based entertainment group entered the Russian television market. In March 2006, Zodiak Television AB announced that they've acquired Danish production company Look Productions, thus expanding Zodiak's Danish operations in that country. In October 2006, Zodiak Television AB entered the British television industry for the first time when they announced that they had brought British producer Diverse Productions from FBC Group, marking Zodiak's first entry to the UK market with Diverse's international distribution division being folded into Zodiak's own distribution division. In January 2007, Italian publisher De Agostini had announced they've acquired a controlling stake in Italian reality television production company Magnolia founder its Giorgio Gori. In that same month, Zodiak Television AB announced that they've launched a new Russian division based in Moscow named Zodiak Vostok. In February 2007, Zodiak Television AB announced that they brought Swedish-based TV and film production company Yellow Bird with Jarowskij's drama production output being folded into the acquired company thrust expanding Zodiak's Swedish operations. In August 2007, Zodiak Television AB announced that they've strengthened their operations in the Russian and CIS market by announcing that they had brought a 75% majority stake in Ukraine-based production company YS Films and placed it under their Russian subsidiary Dixi Media. A few days later in that same month they announced that they've brought London-based British television production company Bullseye TV with the latter's distribution arm folded into Zodiak's international division with Zodiak Television AB announcing that their distribution division Zodiak Television World will move its international business from its home of Copenhagen to London from January 2008. At the start of October 2007, Zodiak Television announced that they've joined forces with the successful Benelux production company Kanakna by acquiring the latter group along with its shareholders expanding Zodiak's operations in the Benelux region. Eight days later on the 8th of that same year, Zodiak Television announced that they had acquired 35% stake in Indian independent production company Sol, marking Zodiak Television's expansion outside of Europe and the first time Zodiak entered the Indian television industry. On March 30, 2010, Zodiak announced that they increased their stake in Indian-based production company by acquiring 51% stake in the company. In November 2007, Zodiak Television announced that their distribution division Zodiak Television World was moving their distribution base from Copenhagen, Denmark to London, England starting from January 2008 with Zodiak Television World hiring former SDI Media and
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
executive John Coleman to become their operation manager along with Sarah Coursey joining Zodiak as their head of formats and acquisitions. Later in that same month, Zodiak Television AB announced that they brought former Damon Pattison's new production company Lucky Day Productions and placed it under their UK operations. In May 2008, Italian-based holding and publishing company
De Agostini De Agostini S.p.A. is an Italian holding company that coordinates the strategic operating companies De Agostini Editore, De Agostini Communications, International Game Technology, IGT, and DeA Capital, and makes financial investments, among w ...
who owns French-based production and distribution company Marathon Group and Magnolia, announced that they've made a deal to acquire Swedish-based Scandinavian international television production and distribution company Zodiak Television AB with Zodiak Television AB merged with Marathon Group and Magnolia into one global production and distribution company turning Zodiak from a European production empire to a single entertainment powerhouse. Five months later in November of that same year, De Agostini announced that they've completed their acquisition of Swedish-based Scandinavian international television production and distribution company Zodiak Television AB and the latter company announced that they're being rebranded and renamed by changing the company's name to Zodiak Entertainment moving the group into the global television content market with the company having its head offices in Paris and London along with the aim of acquiring more production companies. In October 2009, Zodiak Entertainment announced that they're expanding their UK operations by taking the acquisition in British factual and drama specialist indie production company Dangerous Films. They also announced that they've entering into the American Spanish-language market by launching a new production joint-venture company based in Miami with the Ricky Martin Entertainment Group being named RM 5to Elemento with the new joint venture company being headed by the CEO of Ricky Martin Entertainment Group Bruno Del Granado. In April 2010, Zodiak Entertainment along with their Miami-based joint venture production subsidiary RM 5to Elemento announced that they've established a production office based in Bogota, Colombia and had hired former Endemol Andino and
Caracol Televisión Caracol Televisión () (known as Caracol and previously as Canal Caracol) is a Colombian free-to-air television network owned by Caracol Medios, a unit of Grupo Valorem. It is one of the leading private TV networks in Colombia, alongside Canal ...
executive Juan Maldonado to head the production office as their managing director. In June 2010, Zodiak Entertainment had announced that they're acquiring UK-based British independent production and distribution company RDF Media Group bringing together Zodiak Entertainment's operations with those of RDF Media Group as David Frank the former CEO and founder of RDF Media and RDF Television becoming the new CEO of the enlarged Zodiak Entertainment group along with chairman and CEO of both De Agostini Group and Zodiak Entertainment Lorenzo Pellicioli continued to serve as chairman of the combined group. Three months later in September of that same year, Zodiak Entertainment announced that they're rebranding themselves by renaming it to Zodiak Media Group following Zodiak's acquisition of British independent production company RDF Media Group with RDF's international division RDF Rights being folded into Zodiak's international distribution division Zodiak International Distribution and was being renamed to Zodiak Rights. In December 2010, Zodiak Media Group announced that they're merging their two existing digital and branded content operations which were Italian Neo Network and British operation RDF Connect into one new global digital division dedicated to creation, production and development named Zodiak Active with president and CEO of Neo Network Marco Ferrari and founder/president of Magnolia and CEO of Zodiak's division Zodiak South Europe Giorgio Gori heading the new division. On February 24, 2011, Zodiak Media Group had announced that they're launching a children's TV production subsidiary that can specialise its family and youth programs called Zodiak Kids with their existing four kids productions companies along with the Kids & Family sales division of Zodiak Rights being united into one company. In April 2011, Zodiak Media Group announced a restructuring of its Latin American operations by launching a new division named Zodiak América Latina with Magnolia founder and president of Zodiak Southern Europe Giorgio Gori and chief operating officer Nicola Drago leading the division. Their Miami-based joint venture production company with Ricky Martin Entertainment RM 5to Elemento and Rio de Janeiro-based Brazilian production company Zodiak Brasil was placed under Zodiak América Latina with the former being renamed to Zodiak Latino with Harris Whitbeck became the CEO of the rebranded division. On July 28, 2011, Zodiak Media Group announced that it had acquired British-based independent producer Bwark Productions, further expanding its British operations in that country. In January 2012, as part of the wider strategy to strengthen its group operations and dive into future development, Zodiak Media Group announced that they were rebranding the company again this time they changed their name to just Zodiak Media with Vincent Chalvon-Demersay the CEO of Marathon Media being named as Zodiak's chief straight officer. In late-March 2012, Zodiak Media announced that they've sold their Polish television production company Mastiff Media Polska to their management team led by Grzegorz Piekarski in order for Zodiak Media to focus on their Scandinavian market and their Nordic formats with Mastiff Media Polska will be renamed the following months and will work closely with Zodiak's distribution division Zodiak Rights under an exclusive deal. In July 2012, Zodiak Media announced that their consolidating their production operations in the United States by launching their new division named Zodiak Americas. In June 2015, Zodiak Media had announced that they're in advanced exclusive talks to merge with French-based European global international television production giant Banijay Group that would combine the two companies operations into one pan-European global independent international television production and distribution company under the Banijay Group name. The deal would also bring the latter company back to the British television market. A month later in July of that same year, Zodiak Media announced that they had agreed to merge their operations and their production labels with those of the French-based independent international television production and distribution company Banijay Group with Zodiak CEO Marc-Antoine d'Halluin stepping down following the merger with the founder of Banijay Stéphane Courbit and Banijay's CEO Marco Bassetti will take over of the merged business. A year later in January 2016, Zodiak Media announced that the European Commission (EC) had approved their merger with French-based independent international television and distribution company Banijay Group. A month later in February of that same year, Zodiak Media had announced that they had completed their merger with French-based independent international television production and distribution company Banijay Group as the latter had become the world's biggest leading indie television production company with Zodiak Media's distribution division Zodiak Rights retained its name and
Vivendi Vivendi SE (stylized in all lowercase) is a French investment company headquartered in Paris. It currently wholly-owns Gameloft as well as a number of investments in several companies, primarily involved in content, entertainment, media, and t ...
had acquired a 26% stake in the combined company.


Divisions


Zodiak Nederland

Zodiak Nederland (formerly known as Palm Plus) was a Dutch television production company that was founded in 1992 by Ruud van Breugel and became a division of Zodiak Media in 2008. In December 1998 nine years before Zodiak acquired Palm Plus, Plam Plus announced that they brought Dutch production/distribution and licensing company Pri-Mation Media the parent company of
Telescreen Telescreens are two-way video devices that appear in George Orwell's dystopian novel ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''. Omnipresent and almost never turned off, they are an unavoidable source of propaganda and tools of surveillance. The concept of the t ...
from Japanese organisation
Mitsui is a Japanese corporate group and '' keiretsu'' that traces its roots to the ''zaibatsu'' groups that were dissolved after World War II. Unlike the ''zaibatsu'' of the pre-war period, there is no controlling company with regulatory power. Ins ...
.


Zodiak Los Angeles

Zodiak Los Angeles was founded in 2006 by the British entertainment company and parent company of RDF Television called the RDF Media Group straight under the name RDF USA. After the merger between the British company RDF Media Group and the French entertainment company Zodiak Entertainment along with the rebranding the latter to Zodiak Media Group, Zodiak announced that they merged Zodiak Entertainment US with RDF USA and renamed it as Zodiak USA.


RDF Television

RDF Television is a British independent television production company that was founded in 1993 by David Frank. In October 2005, RDF Television's parent company RDF Media Group announced that they're exclusive talks to acquire Glasgow-based Scottish independent production company and co-production partner behind ''Location, Location, Location'' named IWC Media in order for RDF to expand their regional production outputs. The deal would could expand RDF's factual production activities as their parent RDF Media Group previously had an partnership with the Scottish production company with RDF's distribution division RDF Rights distributed IWC's factual programming internationally before the announcement to acquire IWC. Two months later in December of that same year, RDF Media Group completed their acquisition of Glasgow-based Scottish independent production company IWC Media with Alan Clements remained CEO and president of the acquired company In April 2006, RDF Media Group had announced that they had brought rival Cardiff-based Welsh poker television production company Presentable. In August 2006, RDF Television under their parent company RDF Media Group announced that they had acquired Kent-based children's television producer The Foundation. In October 2006, RDF Media Group launched a digital arm named RDF Digital Media. In February 2008, RDF Media Group announced that they've acquired factual independent producer History Television International.


Key programs

Among the programs produced by Zodiak Media: '' Being Human'', the supernatural series produced for the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
and SyFy US; ''
Wallander Wallander may refer to: TV, film, books * Kurt Wallander, a fictional Swedish police inspector in novels by Henning Mankell :*Wallander (film series), ''Wallander'' (film series), Swedish-language television films of the Wallander stories starring ...
''; the '' Millennium Trilogy''; the French series ''
Sous le soleil ''Sous le soleil'' (''Under the sun''; ) is a French soap opera broadcast on French major channel TF1 from 1996 to 2008. A spin-off, ''Sous le soleil de Saint-Tropez'' has been broadcast in French channel TMC since 2013. Broadcast It has been a ...
'', and ''
Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
'', in co-production with Capa and Incendo for
Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...
. Zodiak Media is also the originator of the formats ''
Koh-Lanta ''Koh-Lanta'' is a French reality game show based on the international ''Survivor'' format. The series premiered on August 4, 2001. The show is broadcast on TF1 and there have been 22 regular seasons and 7 special seasons. The show has been host ...
'', '' Fort Boyard'' ( Adventure Line Productions), '' Sing If You Can'', '' Killer Karaoke'', ''
The Secret Millionaire ''The Secret Millionaire'' is a reality television show which originated in the UK, in which millionaires go incognito into impoverished communities and agree to give away tens of thousands of pounds (or tens of thousands of dollars in the Americ ...
'', '' The Best Singers'' (Swedish), and ''
Location, Location, Location ''Location, Location, Location'' is a British reality property programme that has aired on Channel 4 since 17 May 2000 and is presented by Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer. The show follows Allsopp and Spencer as they try to find the perfect ...
''. Zodiak Kids' catalogue includes programs such as '' Waybuloo'', ''
Totally Spies! ''Totally Spies!'' is a French anime-influenced animated spy-fi series created by Vincent Chalvon-Demersay and David Michel mainly produced by French company Zodiak Kids & Family France, with seasons three to five being co-produced with Cana ...
'', ''
Rekkit Rabbit ''Rekkit Rabbit'' (known as ''Rekkit'' in France) is a French animated television series created by Vincent Chalvon-Demersay and David Michel. It was produced by Marathon Media in co-production with Disney XD for the first season and Zodiak Ki ...
'', '' Mister Maker'', and ''
Gormiti ''Gormiti: The Invincible Lords of Nature'' ( Italian: ''Gormiti: Gli Invincibili Signori della Natura''), later changed to ''Gormiti: The Lords of Nature Return!'', is a toy property based primarily on tall non-articulated mini figures with a t ...
''.


See also

*
De Agostini De Agostini S.p.A. is an Italian holding company that coordinates the strategic operating companies De Agostini Editore, De Agostini Communications, International Game Technology, IGT, and DeA Capital, and makes financial investments, among w ...
* Stéphane Courbit


References


External links

* {{Banijay Group Banijay Mass media in Paris Television production companies of France Mass media companies established in 1981 Mass media companies disestablished in 2016 2016 mergers and acquisitions