Allspark Television

**Allspark Television** (formerly **Endemol Shine Group**) is an American television production and distribution company that is a division of the Allspark subsidiary of toy company Hasbro. that produces scripted and non-scripted multiplatform entertainment content. The company annually produced more than 15,000 hours of programming across scripted and non-scripted genres, including drama, reality TV, comedy, game shows, entertainment, factual and children's programming.

Formed in 2015 in Amsterdam, Netherlands as the result of a combination of 21st Century Fox's Shine Group and Apollo Global Management's Endemol, Endemol Shine possesses a global network of operations in more than 30 countries, works with over 300 broadcasters, digital platforms and licensees worldwide. The business covers development, production, marketing, distribution, franchise management and multi-platform initiatives including digital video, gaming and apps. Following a lengthy sale process due to the sale of Fox to The Walt Disney Company, Hasbro purchased Endemol Shine in November 2018, and the company was renamed Allspark Television.

Allspark creates and broadcasts reality, talent and game show franchises worldwide, including *Big Brother, Deal or No Deal, Hunted*, *MasterChef*, *The Biggest Loser, The Money Drop, Wipeout, and Your Face Sounds Familiar*. The company also has a portfolio of drama series including titles such as *Peaky Blinders*, *Black Mirror*, Humans, Grantchester and Tin Star.

## History

### Endemol

*Main article: Endemol*
Endemol was founded in 1994 by a merger of television production companies owned by Joop van den Ende and John de Mol, the name deriving from the combination of their surnames.

Endemol specialised in formatted programming that can be adapted for different countries around the world as well as different media platforms. One notable success has been the *Big Brother* reality television show, with versions in many countries after the initial Dutch version. Other examples include *Deal or No Deal* (sold to over 75 countries), *The Money Drop* (sold in over 50 countries), *Fear Factor* (sold in 30 countries) and *Wipeout* (sold in over 30 countries). In recent years the company has also been expanding its English language drama output with shows such as titles such as *The Fall*, *Peaky Blinders*, *Ripper Street* and *Black Mirror* in the UK and *Hell on Wheels* in the USA. In November 2013 the company launched Endemol Beyond, an international division specialising in original content for digital video platforms such as YouTube.

## Shine Group

### Key people

Elisabeth Murdoch (Chairman)
Alex Mahon (CEO)

### Website

shinegroup.tv

**Shine Group** was founded as **Shine Limited** in March 2001 by Elisabeth Murdoch, daughter of News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch. The company was 80% owned by Elisabeth Murdoch, 15% by Lord Alli, and 5% by BSkyB, which signed a deal guaranteeing to buy an agreed amount of Shine programming for two years.

Shine TV was also a supplier of franchise television to broadcasters around the globe including the BBC, Channel Five, Channel 4, HBO, and the RTL Group.

In 2006 Shine acquired Kudos Film and Television, Princess Productions and Dragonfly Film and Television Productions to create the **Shine Group**, although they still operated as four separate entities. Shine acquired Reveille Productions in 2008, and Metronome Film & Television in 2009.

News Corporation (now 21st Century Fox, to be acquired by The Walt Disney Company) acquired Shine Group in April 2011 for $415 million. However, US pension funds who are shareholders in News Corporation were suing the company accusing Murdoch of nepotism.

### Endemol Shine Group

In May 2014, Apollo and 21st Century Fox announced a joint venture to combine 21st Century Fox's Shine Group and Apollo's Endemol and CORE Media Group. The transaction was completed on December 17, 2014. Both Apollo and 21st Century Fox (to be acquired by latter) owning 50% of the joint venture called, "Endemol Shine Group" that took place on January 1, 2015.

#### Sale to Hasbro

In April 2018, Fox and Apollo appointed Deutsche Bank and Aryeh Bourkoff's Liontree to handle a potential sale of Endemol Shine, following Fox's impending sale to The Walt Disney Company. DHX Media, William Morris Endeavor, Hasbro, Lionsgate, and Banijay Group had eyed an acquisition of the company, with Banijay even entering advanced talks to buy the studio, and Microsoft officially placing a bid on the studio, in hopes of further expanding its Entertainment and Licensing division.

On 29 August 2018, the RTL Group (which owns Fremantle) withdrew its bid for Endemol Shine. In September 2018, BBC Studios, along with Discovery, Inc. and Liberty Global (which each own 50% of All3Media) announced that they would not bid on the studio. ITV plc provisionally placed a bid on the studio but did not confirm an official bid as the sale is still only a potential scenario at this point. In October 2018, ITV plc withdrew from the auction. Sony Pictures Entertainment also ruled out of the bidding. ProSiebenSat.1 Media (which owns Red Arrow Studios) was considered for a joint bid with Banijay, but the latter ruled itself out as well.

Endemol Shine later made a statement that they had been in negotiations with several parties and were confident they would have an owner by end of November 2018. On November 6, 2018, Hasbro agreed to purchase Endemol Shine from Fox and Apollo for 1.3 billion. The transaction was completed on November 10, and the company was renamed as Allspark Television.

## Operations

### Allspark Television North America

*Main article: Allspark Television North America*

### Allspark Television Australia

*Main article: Allspark Television Australia*

### Allspark Television France

Allspark Television France, headed by Nicolas Coppermann, is a major player in the creation, production and distribution of programming ranging from primetime entertainment, talent competitions and daily magazine shows to comedy, drama and documentary for major broadcasters throughout France.

### Allspark Television Germany

Based in Cologne, Allspark Television Germany is a leading TV production and entertainment company. The company is part of the international Endemol Shine Group, which is represented in over 30 countries worldwide and has produced more than 800 formats in 2017 alone. The company was formed as Endemol Shine Germany GmbH in May 2015 from the merger of the two producers Endemol Deutschland GmbH and Shine Germany GmbH.

Its productions include *Wer wird Millionär?* (the local version of *Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?*) and the local version of Big Brother.

### Allspark Television Nederland

Allspark Television Nederland is the Dutch division of Allspark Television, based in Amsterdam. Its formats include the original Dutch version of Big Brother, Miljoenenjacht (the original Dutch version of Deal or No Deal) and local version of The Biggest Loser.

### Allspark Television India

Allspark Television India is a joint venture bringing together Allspark Television and CA Media to create a global content creator, producer and distributor with over 600 revenue generating formats across scripted and non-scripted genres. It was formed as Endemol Shine India in 2015 and is led by CEO Abhishek Rege.

Based in Mumbai, Allspark Television India’s team comprises proven leaders in television and digital production whose shows have become rating hits. Allspark Television India’s slate represents the most exciting and popular programming on TV channels – shows such as MasterChef India and Bigg Boss. Allspark also produces films in India through its affiliate company Allspark Pictures India.

### Allspark Rights

Allspark Rights (formerly known as Endemol Shine International) is the worldwide distributor of television programming by Allspark, as well as independent producers. It was formed as a combination of Shine International and Endemol Worldwide Distribution.

## Programming

*Main article: List of Allspark television shows*