DLT Entertainment has purchased Juniper Productions, the indie producer owned by BBC Chairman Samir Shah.
Monetary phrases of the deal weren’t introduced, however London-based DLT mentioned the acquisition marked “a big enlargement of its portfolio within the factual programming area.” Juniper will proceed to function from places of work in London.
Juniper (aka Juniper TV) is behind exhibits similar to Politics London and Politics South East for the BBC and The Political Slot for Channel 4, all of which have been commissions taking them into 2025.
DLT mentioned that, “in a time when politics has taken centre-stage for UK audiences, significantly following the latest election, these applications have change into important viewing for these looking for to know the complexities of native and regional governance.
Shah has owned Juniper since 1998, when he acquired it from Michael Wills, who left the TV enterprise to change into an MP. Upon being appointed BBC Chairman to interchange Richard Sharp, Shah was compelled to step down from Juniper, with the FT reporting in February he was looking for a purchaser or winding up the enterprise.
DLT, in the meantime, was launched again in 1963 and has headquarters in London and New York. It owns stakes in varied artistic companies and owns London’s Shaftesbury Theatre, and has lately invested within the likes of expertise homes Gag Reflex and The Soho Company, comic Mark Watson’s Impatient Productions and voiceover agency Bedford Sq. Voices.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Juniper Productions into the DLT Leisure household,” mentioned Donald Taffner Jr., President of DLT Leisure. “Samir has constructed an distinctive firm with a outstanding repute for delivering high-quality content material. We have now an exquisite benchmark during which to construct on this legacy and proceed producing excellent programming that displays the strengths and values of each DLT and Juniper. We look ahead to persevering with manufacturing of Politics London and Politics South East subsequent 12 months with the identical manufacturing group making for a seamless transition.”
Shah and Belkis Bheghani, Juniper firm director, mentioned Taffner Jr. had “a terrific imaginative and prescient for the way forward for Juniper and that they had been “certain Juniper will thrive and prosper underneath his steering.”
“DLT’s dedication to Juniper’s core values of impartiality, creativity and accountability was essential to us and now we have little question that Juniper will proceed to ship journalism of the very best order,” the added in an announcement.
Jerry Thomas, Sequence Editor for Politics London, added: “The acquisition by DLT Leisure opens up new alternatives for us to develop our attain and improve the standard of our programming. We’re desperate to work alongside DLT to proceed delivering top-tier political protection to our audiences.”
