Fremantle Australia

Fremantle Australia Pty Ltd.
Formerly
 FremantleMedia Australia (2006–2018)
Subsidiary
Industry Television production
Distribution
Licensing
Media
Founded 2006
Headquarters Sydney, Australia
Melbourne, Australia
Key people
 Ian Hogg (Chief Executive Officer)
Products Television
Owner Fremantle
Website www.fremantleaustralia.com

Fremantle Australia (formerly FremantleMedia Australia) is the Australian arm of global British production and entertainment company Fremantle and was formed in 2006 by the merger of market leader Grundy Television and comedy specialists Crackerjack Productions, who had both previously been acquired by Fremantle.

FremantleMedia logo from 2006 to 2018.

History

Grundy was founded by Reg Grundy, its first production being Wheel of Fortune in 1959, which was an original idea devised by Reg for a radio game show, before taking the idea to Sydney television network TCN9 (now part of the Nine Network). The then 36-year-old worked as both the host of the show and the producer.[1]

With the show becoming a success, Reg realized that US network television could serve as a ready source of new quiz show ideas, and Reg began visiting America to spot attractive formats for adapting and re-making back in Australia.[2] It is often quoted that Reg Grundy was the world’s first TV format producer, and the only ‘format mogul’ to have originated out of Australia. The formation of a licensing entity Reg Grundy Enterprises and Grundy International Distribution set the normal operating system for many production houses worldwide.

From its small beginnings Grundy became the largest privately owned Australian producer and distributor of television programmes both domestically and internationally.Realising that in order for Grundy’s to thrive, the company diversified from solely producing game shows to making serial drama, telemovies and children’s fiction.

Grundy's first success in the serial drama genre came during the 1970s with favourites The Young Doctors, The Restless Years, Sons And Daughters and Prisoner, which grew into a worldwide cult hit.

With Grundy cementing its production dominance in Australia, a US Grundy office was set up in 1979 to sell programming to the American networks. One of the most successful format sales was Sale of the Century – originally a US format that Reg had produced in Australia and then purchased the rights outright.

As Grundy’s grew and set up its presence around the world – particularly in Britain – the company was named as Grundy Worldwide outside Australia and the Grundy Organisation locally.

With a string of hits and format deals around the world, one of Grundy’s ever-lasting television legacies is serial drama Neighbours. First commissioned and broadcast by Channel 7 in 1985, it aired on Network Ten from 1986 to 2010 and then its digital channel 11 from January 2011, Neighbours continues to prove a hit, ranking No. 1 in its time slot for key young adult target groups. Neighbours was the highest rated daytime drama series in the UK in 2007, with audiences over 3 million viewers. Neighbours moved to broadcaster Channel Five in the UK in February 2008 and is the highest rated daytime show for the broadcaster.

On March 26, 1995,[3] a deal was signed in London between Reg Grundy and global entertainment company Pearson Television to acquire Grundy Worldwide. The Australian branch of the company remained with its roots and was called Grundy Television from 1995 to 2006, where it eventually took on the rebranded company name FremantleMedia Australia.

In April 2000, Pearson Television merged with CLT-UFA to create RTL Group, a leader across broadcast, content and digital. In August 2001, Pearson Television changed its name to FremantleMedia for the content production division of RTL Group and in December of that year Pearson Television’s holding company, Pearson PLC, sold its stake in RTL Group to the German-based Bertelsmann Group, which is one of the world’s largest media companies.

In 2003 FremantleMedia acquired Crackerjack Productions and in 2006 FremantleMedia merged both the Australian production companies, Grundy and Crackerjack, and formed FremantleMedia Australia.[4]

In 2011, Spring, a content creation division of the company, was established.[5]

The impact of FremantleMedia Australia productions on the Australian cultural psyche is undeniably impressive, with the company remaining one of the market leaders in the Australian entertainment scene with shows including the hugely popular Australian Idol, Family Feud (2014 Australian game show), The Great Australian Bake Off (season 2), Grand Designs Australia, Australia's Got Talent, The X Factor and The Farmer Wants a Wife and original dramas such as Wentworth, Neighbours, Hoges: The Paul Hogan Story, Mary: The Making of a Princess, Wonderland and Better Man. FremantleMedia Australia's next highly anticipated drama will be Picnic at Hanging Rock. FremantleMedia Australia also brought to Australian adaptations of MasterChef Australia, The Biggest Loser and So You Think You Can Dance.

Since Jennifer Mullin (former chief in North American unit) became the company's new CEO for International in September, the company introduced a new logo identifying it as simply Fremantle in the same month (Fremantle Australia in Australia).

Fremantle Australia, who is led by Regional CEO Ian Hogg, is also a market leader in the creation and production of branded entertainment and digital media content.

Current Programmes

Former Programmes

Digital Media

References

  1. ↑ TV Format Mogul: Reg Grundy's Transnational Career by Albert Moran
  2. ↑ TV Format Mogul: Reg Grundy's Transnational Career by Albert Moran
  3. ↑ Reg Grundy by Reg Grundy memoirs published in 2010 by Pier 9
  4. ↑ FremantleMedia's Official Site
  5. ↑ Fremantle Media launches Spring, a new content creation division to meet growing local demand "Retrieved on February 19, 2012"
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