James Townley Courtesy of Banijay Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Big Brother, Survivor, Deal or No Deal, MasterChef, Temptation Island - those are just some of the non-scripted hit shows of independent production powerhouse Banijay Entertainment. As Banijay's chief content officer, development James Townley is responsible for not resting on those laurels and instead driving the development and creation of original non-scripted intellectual property (IP), format acquisitions and documentaries across the company's 23 territories and its network of production banners. Co-leading the firm's unscripted unit Creative Networks, "he supports and champions a strong pipeline of new formats with international appeal," Banijay says. "He also manages group-level investment in non-scripted via the company's Creative Fund and internal creative incentivization schemes." Related Stories TV John Oliver Weighs in on Former Prince Andrew's Arrest Over a "Boring Computer Crime": "The Method Doesn't Matter ... You Have Been Stopped" Movies Inside the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards: Disclaimers, Dirty Jokes and Netflix's All-Star Afterparty Townley, who previously served as global head of Creative Networks at Endemol Shine Group, as Endemol Shine U.K.'s director of operations and held roles at Princess Productions and Sky, has a particularly busy week ahead. On Monday afternoon, he will be part of a MIP London panel entitled "Disruption in Formats Acquisitions and Sales," and on Wednesday, Banijay's London TV Screenings events take place. Ahead of London's big annual TV week, THR talked to Townley about the state of unscripted content, cross-collaboration across Banijay, the company's London TV Screenings lineup, including sport adventure reality format Football Island, culinary competition 100 Knives, quiz show How Old Is Your Brain?, and psychological reality game The Dinner. How do you approach your role, given the size and reach of Banijay across its various territories? It is a significant footprint, and the beautiful thing about having around 130 production companies is that it's about that creative community. They've all got their own identity. But in that creative community, what we're fully focused on now is creation. It's about taking advantage of opportunities, because we're still working in a very risk-averse market. So we are working on the development and creation of big new shows to launch globally to complement our current catalog, and in the industry's current catalog of big shows. So, we're looking for what's our next MasterChef, what's our next Big Brother, our next Survivor. They all sit at the top of their genres, whether it is competitive reality, whether it is adventure, whether it's romantic reality, or the world of social experiment. Reality feels like it is still absolutely king. '100 Knives' What are the key opportunities you see in this risk-averse market you mentioned? I think there are opportunities because we're able to do co-development, collaborations, partnerships, and these have been really, really successful. And when we spot a new embryonic creation, we're really lucky in that we have an internal investment creative fund with which we can supercharge those new ideas and try and get them launched with a partner somewhere in the world. Absolutely, that big new IP that can sit alongside current super brands. And whether it is reality and all those sub-sections of reality, or whether it is the next big quiz, game or talent show, there's opportunity. Coming into the [soccer] World Cup, you will probably hear everyone talking about how expensive sports rights are. But we also know that it's not just about those. Those channels need more than sports to complement those live events. Your team at Banijay has talked about finding new hits in that space where sports and entertainment meet, right? The infamous "where sport meets entertainment" - I present to you: sportainment! We've got a big show coming out of Holland called Football Island, a collaboration between SimpelZodiak and Southfields for Videoland. The clue is in the title. Yes, it absolutely is under the banner of football [aka soccer]. I think football fans, certainly Dutch football fans, will watch that show. There's fantastic talent. What we want to do, though, is to bring in that family viewing audience. We want them to watch it for other layers that are in that format. The show has that survival element, with 13 Dutch ex-footballers stuck on the island, and they talk about a lot of stories from when they were players on the field, but also off the field. I guess it's a special twist on Survivor and the like. Any other new twists you are presenting to the market? As the home of MasterChef, we're always looking for ideas under this banner of big, compet