John de Mol’s Talpa continues expansion drive

Talpa, the formats company owned by John de Mol, has inked another joint venture agreement, this time teaming with Portuguese producer CBV. The company has been on an aggressive expansion drive in recent months, creating JVs designed to get Talpa programming into the US and various European countries.

In Portugal Talpa has formed a 50-50 JV with CBV, which has exclusive rights to develop Talpa fornats in the country. It will also service certain Portuguese-speaking African countries.

The JV will be run by Piet-Hein Bakker, one of the trio of former Endemol execs who set up CBV in late 2007. He said: “CBV has the domestic production capacity and in-house creativity, Talpa is developing a great catalogue of up to date formats in many different genres attracting a vast audience.”

John de Mol said: “Portugal is not the biggest market in the world, but it is open and competitive. That’s why I feel very pleased to start this partnership with CBV and the team of Piet-Hein Bakker who we’ve known for so many years.”

Talpa recently struck a similar agreement with Warner Bros’ Warner Horizon aimed at getting Talpa shows into the US. It also inked a deal with Shine, which is taking its formats into France. At MIPCOM last year Talpa announced plans to launch in Germany, France, Italy and Spain, the UK and US. The company’s current roster of formats includes The Golden Cage, Dating in the Dark, Viper’s Nest and I Love My Country.