John de Mol’s Talpa strikes format JV with France’s Satisfaction

Marble Mania

John de Mol’s prodco Talpa has struck a deal that hands exclusive rights to produce and sell its formats in France to Arthur Essebag’s Satisfaction Group.

The deal, structured as a joint venture, will provide Satisfaction with access to formats including Avastars, Hunting Season, A Quiz For You, Hit The Road, Kids Buy A House and Marble Mania, which was first broadcast on TF1 in France earlier this month.

Jon De Mol

It marks the latest partnership struck by Talpa, which recently unveiled a similar agreement with Dok1 Media in Belgium. Most recently, De Mol’s Talpa Network agreed to merge with RTL Group in the Netherlands to create a unified Dutch cross-media group.

Satisfaction, meanwhile, is led by CEO Judith Aboulkheir and owned by Arthur World Participation Group (AWPG). It too has been expanding and last year acquired Sony Pictures Television’s unscripted production interests in France.

AWPG founder and Satisfaction owner Essebag said the deal would provide his company with “up-to-date and innovative formats in many different genres attracting vast audiences.”

Big Brother creator De Mol added: “It has always been a pleasure to work with a professional like Arthur, he is the best partner in France to join. I am confident that the expertise they have in the French market will help us grow internationally. I’m delighted to be joining up with his team.”

De Mol set up broadcaster and streamer firm Talpa Network in 2017 before launching Talpa Entertainment Production, Talpa Concepts and Talpa Distribution. That followed his earn out period at ITV Studios, which had acquired his former company, Talpa Media, in 2015.