Arthur Essebag

This year’s International Format Awards also recognise
Arthur Essebag for his outstanding contribution to the
business, as the recipient of the International Formats
Business Gold Award.

Essebag is one France’s best-known TV hosts and, as an
entrepreneur, a leader in the development of the French
unscripted sector since the 1990s. He is also the founder of
producer Satisfaction Group. Essebag is known for hosting comedy shows and TF1
stalwarts Ce Soir Avec Arthur and Vendredi, Tout est Permis
Avec Arthur.

In the 1990s, he went into business with Stéphane Courbit –
now Banjay Group’s chairman – to create what became the
foundation for Endemol France, before leaving to launch his
own indie, Satisfaction, in 2010.

Satisfaction Group now produces more than 1,000 hours of TV every year and has a strong library of
formats following its acquisition of the French operations of Sony Pictures Television in 2020, including
Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and Dragons’ Den in France, which sit alongside its own creations such
as Divided and Liar Liar.

The group owns a roster of French production companies including Ah Production, Enibas, Ellimac, La
Grosse Equipe, Factual Factory and Alef One.