Endemol Shine to drive digital growth

Endemol Shine chief Sophie Turner Laing says that a quarter of the content giant’s revenue will come from its digital operations within five years.

Turner Laing gave a keynote address at MIPCOM yesterday and set out the ambition to rapidly grow the digital side of the business.

Speaking after her speech in Cannes, she said: “We’re looking to do get [digital] revenues to rise from about 5% to a quarter of revenues within five years.”

The company counts its MCN business and digital branding and licensing and merchandising in the ‘other’ digital category, but not programme sales to SVOD and streaming platforms, which fall under distribution.

Turner Laing told MIPCOM delegates that scale – Endemol Shine has over 100 production companies around the world – does not hinder creativity under the company’s federal mode.

She later told TBI that she is not a big believer in centralised content and development divisions, and that each of Endemol Shine the prodcos will retain its individual identity. The Endemol Shine brand will not change, she added.

In terms of future M&A plans, the Endemol Shine chief said it is more likely to partner with talent than make outright acquisitions, though the company did buy animation firm Simon’s Cat earlier this year.