Alex Ritman French TV giant Banijay is losing its chief commercial officer. The company confirmed to Variety that Owain Walbyoff is stepping down from his role, adding that the London-based exec — who was formerly at Endemol Shine Group and was hired in August 2020 following Banijay’s $2.2 billion acquisition — would be leaving on Feb.
29. The reasons for Walbyoff’s departure were not disclosed. “Through his three-and-a-half-year tenure, and before that, decade with Endemol Shine Group, [Walbyoff] has been instrumental in setting the group’s brand and commercial agenda, spearheading monetisation efforts across its super brands, and delivering a raft of impressive deals across all functions,” said Banijay in a statement. “Major milestones included an exclusive global publishing and production music agreement with Universal Music Publishing Group and a significant TCC partnership with MasterChef for retail, whilst delivering and expanding The ‘Peaky Blinders’ and ‘Deal of No Deal’ licensing programmes across all consumer categories, recently extending the latter to a partnership with Tombola and ITV in the UK.
We wish him all the best with his future endeavours.” The news of Walbyoff’s departure comes a month after Banijay’s head of scripted Christian Wikander announced he would be leaving after just a nine months in the role.
Speaking to Variety following the news, the well-respected Swedish exec said that his departure came at a “time of correction that affects buyers and everyone involved.” Banijay, which has been on an acquisitions drive for several years, recently bought U.K.
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