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The battle for the future of entertainment is becoming a battle\u00a0for\u00a0scale. As media companies race to bulk up to survive the streaming era,\u202fthe newly formed Banijay Entertainment<\/a>\u202fhas emerged as one of the industry\u2019s biggest players\u2014and, thanks to a major investment from Abu Dhabi, could also help put the Gulf at the centre of the next chapter in global content creation.\u00a0<\/p>\n The merger reflects a broader wave of consolidation sweeping the entertainment industry, with planned blockbuster deals including\u00a0the planned\u00a0merger of Sky and ITV\u2019s television businesses in the U.K., and Paramount\u2019s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery<\/a> in the U.S. (which is currently facing legal challenges<\/a>).\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe media ecosystem in the world is changing rapidly, and this merger allows us to keep up with all the changes taking place,\u201d Jeff Zucker, the new\u202fchairman\u202fof Banijay Entertainment, told\u202fFortune<\/em>.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u202fgives us great scale, a great library, a great distribution arm and\u202fgreat quality\u202fcontent. And I think\u202fthat\u2019s\u202funmatched, frankly, in the world today.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The\u00a0$8 billion merger of Banijay Entertainment and All3Media\u00a0creates a\u00a0new entity\u202fspanning\u00a025 countries. It is\u00a0home to one of the largest independent\u00a0back\u00a0catalogues in the industry, with more than 265,000 hours of content.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n It boasts a glittering raft of\u00a0programmes including\u00a0MasterChef, The Traitors, Big Brother, Race Across the World, Survivor, Peaky Blinders, Hamnet and The Culpa Trilogy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe\u202fmerger will\u202fopen up a whole new opportunity to tell great stories,\u202fmany of which have yet to reach a global audience\u201d<\/p>\n Jeff Zucker, the new\u202fchairman\u202fof Banijay Entertainment<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n Zucker\u00a0has\u00a0identified\u00a0the\u202fkey\u202frole that the UAE played\u202fas part of the\u202fRedBird\u202fIMI partnership\u202fin closing the deal.\u00a0RedBird\u00a0IMI\u00a0of which Zucker is CEO, is\u202fan investment partnership\u202fbetween\u202fNew York\u2019s\u202fRedBird\u202fCapital Partners and Abu Dhabi\u2019s International Media Investments (IMI).\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe UAE has been a fantastic investor, a great shareholder, and that\u2019s because they are interested in media,\u201d said Zucker, the former president of celebrity.land Worldwide.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re\u202fpatient with their investments, and\u202fthey\u2019re\u202fwilling to take chances on the global stage. And\u202fthat\u2019s\u202fjust an incredible combination for someone\u202fwho\u2019s\u202flooking to invest in media.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n IMI, a private investment company controlled by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan\u2014the UAE\u2019s vice president and deputy prime minister, and owner of Premier League club Manchester City\u2014is one of the country\u2019s leading media investors. Its portfolio includes\u202fThe National<\/em>\u202fnewspaper,\u202fas well as\u202fSky News Arabia.\u00a0<\/p>\n RedBird\u202fIMI and Paris-headquartered Banijay Group\u202fwill serve as\u202fpartners in\u202fBanijay Entertainment,\u202fwith the board equally split between the two. RedBirdIMI previously acquired All3Media in\u202fearly\u202f2024\u202ffor \u00a31.15 billion ($1.5 billion)\u202f\u2013 its largest deal at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n Zucker believes one of the\u202fGulf\u2019s\u202fhitherto\u202funtapped\u202fresources\u202fis its stories.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think\u202fan aspect that\u202foften goes unrecognized\u202fis\u202fthe tremendous number of stories from the region that have yet to be told, particularly in the UAE,\u201d he said.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe\u202fmerger will\u202fopen up a whole new opportunity to tell great stories,\u202fmany of which have yet to reach a global audience.\u201d\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n Banijay already has several productions underway in the UAE\u202fthat\u202fwill continue through the new company.\u202fThey\u202finclude\u202f\u2018The\u202fLost\u202fKingdom of Arabia\u2019\u202fand a\u202fhistory program about the 67-million-year-old\u202fT.Rex\u202fskeleton at\u202fthe Natural History Museum on\u202fSaadiyat\u202fIsland in Abu Dhabi.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAll of these productions have been made possible by the UAE\u2019s\u202finvestment\u202fin\u202fus, and\u202fwe\u2019re\u202fnow telling stories that are much more a part of that world.\u202fI think\u202fthat, with us being a bigger presence there, and looking for more content,\u202fthere\u2019s\u202fno reason to believe the UAE\u202fshouldn\u2019t\u202fbe a bigger exporter of content.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Zucker said that live events and live experiences will\u202falso\u202fbe an important growth area for\u202fBanijay Entertainment\u202fin the years ahead.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n The company, which encompasses\u202fmore than 170 production and live-events companies,\u202fhas already produced high-profile\u00a0live moments,\u00a0including\u202fthe opening ceremonies for the\u202fMilano Cortina Winter Olympics in February and\u202fthe FIFA World Cup in the U.S.,\u00a0Canada\u00a0and Mexico.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cCertainly,\u202fwe see huge potential in\u202fsports,\u201d\u202fsaid Zucker, who added that upcoming major regional sporting events, such as Saudi Arabia\u2019s hosting of the FIFA World Cup 2034, are \u201cvery\u202fmuch\u202fopportunities that we can hopefully be part\u00a0of.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n