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. scripted outfit The Forge, behind shows including “Help,” starring Jodie Comer and Stephen Graham. On Feb. 20 it announced that Banijay U.K. had invested in Immovable Studios, the production company co-founded by hip-hop artist , author and entrepreneur Akala and his business partner and manager Channel Newman.
