Banijay expands in France with acquisition of ‘Mystery Duets’ prodco DMLS TV

Duos Mystères

Banijay has continued its recent acquisition spree by buying the French producer behind TF1 shows Duos Mystères (Mystery Duets) and La Chanson Secrète (The Secret Song).

DMLS TV will become part of Banijay France and will continue to be led by Anne Marcassus and Mathieu Vergne, who founded the company two decades ago.

They will report into Banijay France CEO François de Brugada, with DMLS TV joining the 10 other French labels in the group. These include Adventure Line Productions, which produces Koh Lanta (Survivor) and Fort Boyard, as well as Banijay Productions France, Banijay Studios France, Endemol France and H2O Productions.

DMLS TV was set up 20 years ago and, in addition to La Chanson Secrète, has also been behind La Chanson Challenge for TF1 and France TV’s La Lettre. The latter has been picked up in the US and in countries across Europe by ITV Studios, which struck a deal with the format’s distributor, Can’t Stop Media, in February.

De Brugada, who became CEO of Banijay France following the exit of Endemol Shine France’s president Nicolas Coppermann, described DMLS TV as “the perfect addition” to the company’s local operations. “Aligned in our commitment to high-quality, unscripted hits, Anne and Mathieu further bolster our entertainment and music catalogue and I’ve no doubt their titles have the capacity to travel the group worldwide.”

Marcassus and Vergne added: “As part of this partnership, we are looking forward to enjoying access to the business’ extensive catalogue, to provide solutions to all our broadcast and streaming partners.

“This is also a wonderful opportunity for DMLS TV’s titles to travel the world, while we continue to be a home for artists and the volunteer executive producer of annual charity event, Les Enfoirés, alongside a number of other projects.”

The deal is the latest acquisition for Banijay, which bought a majority stake in Netherlands-based sports prodco Southfields earlier this week. Banijay also launched a France-based talent agency earlier this month.