Campaign Profile

Jens Richter, CEO of commercial and international at Fremantle, and director of global entertainment Andrew Llinares discuss their Mipcom priorities, the role of YouTube in the company’s distribution plans, and the importance of IP.

What are your strategic goals and priorities for Mipcom this time? 

Jens Richter: We’re launching an incredible market-centric slate that spans all genres, featuring exciting new shows designed to drive big audiences. Mipcom is a great opportunity to see all the global buyers in person and use the opportunity to pursue targeted presale and co-production opportunities.

This year, we’re also excited about Mipcom’s social media focus, as we are one of the leaders in the social space. We operate over 2,000 channels in this space and are on track to surpass 50 billion views across our social platforms this year. Additionally, we look forward to engaging in productive discussions with all major FAST and AVoD platforms.

Andrew Llinares: We’re presenting a bold and diverse line-up of entertainment formats this year – including fresh new titles like Pandora’s Box, Knockout Champs, The Secret DNA Of Us, and Inside The Grid.

Whether it’s high-concept reality, content creator-led entertainment, or scalable production models, each format has been developed with today’s market and audiences in mind, blending creativity with cost-efficiency, and innovation with broad global appeal.

Across the board, what ties these formats together is a shared ambition to create returnable global hits that speak to what audiences want right now, and what buyers need. They’ve been developed with intent – grounded in audience insight, built for returnability, and shaped to offer creative solutions in a changing marketplace.

These new launches sit proudly alongside our most iconic IP and enduring successes, showcasing the continued strength and ambition of Fremantle’s global Entertainment offering.

How does your slate for Cannes reflect any changes in Fremantle’s content strategy?

Richter: We’re thrilled to have reached the No. 1 position on Netflix in July with Sullivan’s Crossing, which is now also in the UK Top 10. The series will return for its highly anticipated fourth season. Our drama Hotel Costiera recently launched across multiple territories with Amazon Prime – debuting at number one in Italy and recently hitting number one in the US, and overall ranking in the top 10 on Amazon Prime in 15 countries. Our content is consistently adapting to meet market needs, and we have seen increased demand in mainstream shows.

At Mipcom, we’re excited to unveil a slate of new, premium, and attention-grabbing shows, including The Iris Affair starring Niamh Algar and Tom Hollander; the bold and stylish revenge thriller Kill Jackie featuring Catherine Zeta-Jones; and the powerful true-story event drama Prisoner 951 starring Narges Rashidi and Joseph Fiennes, as well as Film Club with Aimee Lou Wood.

Our factual line-up is strong, with returning hit, immersive Police 24/7 that takes viewers to the front lines with cops, the timely series The Donald Trump Show, the exciting Luca Seeing Red for the many Ferrari fans, an impressive, unique new film on Billy Idol that takes you on a ride, the definitive documentary on Michael Jackson and The Beatle and the Bass, starring Paul McCartney. In entertainment, America’s Got Talent and Family Feud continue to deliver, led by the iconic Steve Harvey.

Llinares: Our entertainment slate reflects bold ideas, creative ambition, and formats that deliver for our partners – creatively, commercially, and globally.

One of the standout new titles is Pandora’s Box, an original, big reality competition format that brings the ancient Greek myth into today’s reality. In the ultimate test of temptation, players face the dilemma of choosing between protecting their fate or fortune. Reality is a key focus for us, and Pandora’s Box is our groundbreaking new take on it. It’s multi-layered reality, unlike anything we’ve seen before, with strong visuals and high-stakes gameplay and a new game mechanic at its core that’s unique and iconic. The show sets a new bar in the reality world, with cursed contestants and high stakes for survival, which we’re excited for.

The show is an original concept from the RTL Creative Unit, which we co-developed with our label Blue Circle from the Netherlands. This was a rewarding strategic partnership to enhance the show’s global potential to travel. We have three productions already underway in the Netherlands, France and Hungary – and they’re all set to launch soon.

We’re also excited about Knockout Champs – a format that reflects where the industry is heading. This bold new comedy format, from our Dutch label De Stroom, has a built-in partnership with digital content creators and is already delivering record-breaking numbers in the Netherlands where it launched, especially among younger male viewers, a notoriously hard to reach demographic.

Not only did Knockout Champs hold the number one spot for four weeks on the Dutch streaming platform NPO Start, at the same time on social media it exploded and to date has 85 million social views within weeks of launching. Knockout Champs is a great example of what can happen when you pair Fremantle’s production expertise with fresh creative voices who instinctively understand how audiences engage today.

How is growing risk-aversity among broadcasters impacting the format market?

Llinares: It’s true that broadcasters are being more selective – but that’s not the same as being less ambitious. Playing it safe doesn’t work with audiences – they still crave emotion, jeopardy and surprise. Our job is to innovate, delivering creative risk whilst maintaining the trust of broadcasters.

We need new formats that immediately resonate with audiences, that have a clear identity. For example, Pandora’s Box, which we have built around a central, iconic idea. It’s about creating formats that work across markets and platforms, so buyers can invest with confidence. When we bring something new to market, like Pandora’s Box or Knockout Champs, it’s because we believe they answer what both broadcasters and audiences are craving: big, distinctive ideas underpinned by storytelling that deliver week after week.

How is Fremantle capitalising on the trend for format reboots and revivals?

Llinares: Fremantle’s catalogue is full of global formats that audiences genuinely love – within the last 25 years, we’ve created 75 local versions of Got Talent, 58 of Idol, 77 of Family Feud, and 56 of The X Factor. This year we celebrated the 20th season of America’s Got Talent and it was still NBC’s number one entertainment series of the summer. We saw the return of Match Game with Martin Short as host with celebrity guests like Selena Gomez, a series that regularly ranks as the number two show of the day on ABC.

Next year marks a number of remarkable milestones for our legacy titles: 70 years of The Price Is Right, 50 years of Family Feud, 25 years of Idol and 20 years of Got Talent. The appetite for nostalgia is huge, and I think it works best when you strike the balance of evolving the format for a new generation, while keeping the DNA of the show at its core. Fremantle don’t just reboot shows and revive formats; it’s about future proofing them whilst giving new audiences the same feeling; reimagining them for how people watch and connect today without losing what makes them so special.

How is Fremantle seeing YouTube as a place to source new IP and talent for global exploitation?

Richter: We use YouTube as a platform to amplify our content and boost awareness to drive audiences to the launch of a show. For example, we drove engagement for Philippines Got Talent by releasing content 24 hours after on YouTube. We also use YouTube for brand extension on big shows. For example, on Britain’s Got Talent, we gave fans access to unseen footage with BGT Unseen, an eight-episode series created to complement the series, which aired on ITVX, YouTube, and Facebook. This was a hit for our audiences, with BGT Unseen recognised as ITVX’s most watched original entertainment format ever. A week after the season ended, the Britain’s Got Talent socials accumulated over 93 million views.

And we work directly with YouTube and on TV productions, including with Italy’s Got Talent and social media sensation Khaby Lame, and Britain’s Got Talent and the Sidemen’s KSI. We are a world leader in digital with more than 550 million fans across over 2,000 social channels and over 390 billion lifetime views across all platforms. In 2024, there was a total of 54.8 billion views across social platforms, and we were recognised by Tubular as the seventh largest media brand, globally, across Facebook and YouTube. With this, we can leverage our position to source new IP and talent to work with.

Llinares: Viewers have so many options to consume content now – and YouTube has

become a key player. And we’re finding lots of different ways to be part of this space when it comes to both IP and talent. In its 20th season, America’s Got Talent amassed a staggering 1.7 billion social video views. The evolution of Got Talent in the digital space has been key to its ongoing success.

The recent success of our new global format Knockout Champs, which began on YouTube, was created with digital-first talent. It proves that with the right creative collaboration, it’s possible to make brilliant, bold entertainment that speaks to new audiences.

We know there’s an appetite for our content with creators. We saw this with the Sidemen’s take of our iconic format Supermarket Sweep, where they put their own spin on it for their vast YouTube audience.

Fremantle has always been at the forefront of global format innovation and keeping our audiences front of mind. Working with content creators enables us to ride the next wave of global entertainment – bringing together Fremantle’s legacy of world-class formats with the immediacy and authenticity of the creator ecosystem.

How are strategic changes at the global streamers changing the market for drama?

Richter: At peak TV, streamers ran very high production budgets, and there was plenty of room for experimentation, including targeting a wide variety of niche audiences. Now, it is about big audience engagement – especially since almost all SVoDs have embraced selling advertisement, which means we must be brand-friendly. Hitting big demographics is key, and it is commercial content that cuts through. For example: Kill Jackie with Prime Video; Sullivan’s Crossing with Bell, The CW, Stan and Netflix; and Little Disasters with Paramount+.

Kill Jackie is adapted from a novel; how important is IP to getting things greenlit these days?

Richter: When we read Kill Jackie, we couldn’t stop talking about it internally. It’s a razor-sharp spin on the assassin thriller, The Price You Pay, written by Nick Harkaway – a revenge story with scale, smarts, and real soul. It’s explosive, emotional, and totally addictive.

This strong IP was important, however it’s also important to attach IP to the right talent – both on and off screen – to bring series like Kill Jackie to life in the bold way it deserves. Catherine Zeta-Jones is attached not just as our dream lead but an EP of the show. She gives a performance unlike anything you’ve seen before. Fierce, complex, and captivating – she is Jackie Price. From the moment we imagined her in the role, we knew this was something special.

Now with a world-class creative team – Tom Butterworth, Damon Thomas and Catherine Zeta-Jones – Kill Jackie is an action thriller like no other. Conor Keane created and co-wrote the TV adaptation and is associate producer. The lead director is Damon Thomas (Killing Eve) with writer and showrunner Butterworth (Gangs of London). Butterworth, the writer/showrunner, had the ambition to expand the world of Nick Harkaway’s novel into something equally funny, dark, and unique. We identified the book as strong IP for a stylish and irreverent TV adaptation that could blend thriller elements with humour and social satire.

What does the Fox remake of Baywatch reveal about the market right now?

Richter: Baywatch has always been a huge, global hit, with the classic Baywatch being the most watched TV show of all time. In the last 12 months alone, 50 million hours has been watched by audiences globally, and on social it achieves over 100 million monthly impressions across owned social platforms.

The new Baywatch will continue to entertain audiences, with high-octane scenes for rescues, relatable characters, optimism, pure escapism and most importantly – the show has a big heart, which resonates with audiences. Baywatch is a show about paradise and the people that keep it safe. We are thrilled to be working with Matt Nix (creator of Burn Notice and The Good Guys) as showrunner who is perfect for the show. On announcing the show, we got great early response in the market and look forward to discussing it with buyers at Mipcom.

How is Fremantle’s strategy for documentaries evolving?

Richter: We have a clear strategy focusing on quality. On one hand we love high-quality miniseries and movies on big, popular topics that drive attention and generate big audiences and has built-in marketing. This includes Legacy: Michael Jackson, The Donald Trump Show, Disasters From Space, and Billy Idol Should Be Dead. These are cut-through topics with marketing built in to appeal to broad audiences.

We also love long-running franchises – we’ve been cooking with Jamie Oliver for over 20 years. We love Grand Designs, and in 2024, celebrated our 25th anniversary of the show. Our new show, Police 24/7 is confirmed for 60 episodes this year, with the next season already commissioned. It is immersive, multi-jurisdiction storytelling with no narrator – truly involving audiences thanks to the unparalleled access to police departments across the US.

Fremantle is uniquely placed in the market, operating as a global portfolio business with 22 documentary labels in multiple territories. Mark Reynolds and the Global Docs team are constantly out there helping to bring these kinds of shows to life.

The Beatle & The Bass is a 1×90’ film; how is the market for this format changing?

Richter: The Beatles are one of the biggest bands ever, Paul McCartney is a super-likeable, iconic household name for all generations. People love him. Starring Paul McCartney and featuring exclusive new interviews with McCartney himself, this is the story of how his favourite first guitar was lost, and how his beloved instrument made its way back to him. We are given an incredibly entertaining close-up and new perspective of The Beatles, using a guitar to tell a new story.

We are going for movies and miniseries that address these popular themes. We’re also proud to be distributing a brand-new feature-length 1×120’ documentary, Billy Idol Should Be Dead, produced by Live Nation. This two-hour film is an intimate, no-holds-barred portrait of Billy Idol, told by those who know him best, including Idol himself. The film is directed by Grammy -winner Jonas Åkerlund, and it’s a remarkable story of fame – and of survival – it’s a must-see celebration of resilience and rock ‘n’ roll.