Banijay Rights EVP veterans set to exit

Two long-standing senior execs are set to depart the upper rungs of Banijay’s distribution team in the wake of its acquisition of All3Media, Broadcast International has learned.

Claire Jago, exec vice-president of EMEA sales and acquisitions, and Simon Cox, exec vice-president of content & acquisitions, will exit as the Banijay Rights and All3Media International teams are combined.

Jago has been with Banijay Rights for six years, having been part of the Endemol Shine Group team merged into Banijay following the mega-acquisition in 2020. She has worked for more than two decades across the two companies, taking on her most recent role in 2021 when she took responsibility for the EMEA team and activity across the entire region, reporting to chief exec Cathy Payne.

Before that she had stints overseeing the Nordics and was a senior sales director for Banijay Rights’ forerunner Endemol Shine International, having joined the business in 2006 as an executive assistant.

Cox, meanwhile, leads the global distributor’s acquisitions team, setting strategy across genres, overseeing financing and building relationships with global partners.

He worked on deals for shows including BBC1/Amazon thriller Chloe and format hit Lego Masters, and has been with the company for more than a decade, joining as head of international acquisitions at what was Endemol Shine International.

Prior to that, Cox held senior positions at Ingenious Media and BBC Worldwide.

The exits come ahead of Mipcom in Cannes next month, where Banijay Rights will present a combined slate with what previously fell under All3MI.

The sales arms are one of the major areas of crossover between the two companies, with considerable overlap of roles within Banijay Rights and All3MI.

The division houses around 265,000 hours of programming, ranging from Peaky Blinders and The Tourist to Survivor, The Traitors, MasterChef and SAS: Rogue Heroes.

Payne was appointed to run the operation in July, with All3MI’s Louise Pedersen exiting, while Matt Creasey has been named senior executive vice-president of world excluding EMEA. 

Other changes are yet to be confirmed, with the division expected to unveil its new distribution team in the coming weeks. 

Banijay declined comment on Jago and Cox’s exits, adding: “Since the merger has only just closed, we are not yet in a position to confirm Banijay Entertainment’s combined leadership team or organisational structure.”

ESNA exit

In related news, Endemol Shine North America’s chief exec Sharon Levy is also to leave after almost a decade with the company.

Levy joined the company from Spike TV and worked on shows including Fox’s Deal or No Deal Island, The Summit for CBS and Netflix and Showtime’s Ripley.

Her departure comes after Ben Samek was appointed to oversee Banijay Americas as chief exec.

The exits are the latest for Banijay as it shuffles its senior team following the acquisition of All3. Broadcast International revealed earlier this year that execs including Sara Geater and Stephen Brown would be exiting, with Patrick Holland taking on responsibility for the UK.