EXCLUSIVE: Banijay America has made a strategic move into creator-led comedy through a partnership with Don’t Tell Comedy, one of the fastest-growing stand-up brands in the United States.
Together with Banijay Rights, the global distribution arm of Banijay Entertainment, the deal brings Don’t Tell Comedy’s 14 million followers and 115 hours of stand-up content to streaming and digital platforms worldwide, while creating new opportunities for talent, formats and brand partnerships. Don’t Tell will benefit from access to Banijay Entertainment’s global network, digital channel expertise and production resources, helping monetize a growing content library, reach new audiences and create opportunities for its comedians through longer-form programming.
Under the agreement, Don’t Tell’s stand-up library will be distributed across AVOD, FAST and SVOD platforms internationally, including Prime Video Direct. In an effort to tap into YouTube’s rapid growth on living room screens, Banijay will launch all-new dedicated channels for Don’t Tell Comedy on the platform. They’ll also support the development of new projects, brand partnerships and financing opportunities to expand Don’t Tell Comedy’s digital reach, with curated longer-form compilations, specials designed for different streaming audiences, and more.
“This partnership marks another leap into the creator landscape for Banijay America,” said their CEO, Ben Samek. “Don’t Tell Comedy has built an exceptional platform for discovering and developing talent, and Kyle Kazanjian-Amory, Brett Kusher and the team have an unmatched eye for the next generation of comedy stars. By pairing that creative strength with Banijay Rights’ global reach, our existing partnership with YouTube and overall expertise in entertainment, we can help its comedians reach broader audiences, while expanding the brand across new formats, new screens and new audiences worldwide.”
Shaun Keeble, SVP Monetisation for Banijay Rights, added: “Don’t Tell Comedy has built something incredibly compelling by putting emerging comedians at the centre of a digital-first entertainment brand. With them we intend to extend that ecosystem across streaming and digital platforms, from AVOD and FAST to SVOD and new audience-focused YouTube channels. Through curated, longer-form programming and distribution windows, we can unlock further value from the catalogue while introducing emerging comedy talent to audiences around the world.”
Founded in a Los Angeles backyard in 2017, Don’t Tell Comedy is a live stand-up producer with a unique hook: Each year, they stage more than 5,000 secret-location shows worldwide, with the U.S. as their biggest market. With their underground comedy experiences, helping to spotlight new generations of comedic talent, the intention has been to create the feeling of a house party. Subsequently, Don’t Tell has furthered the reach of its brand with short taped comedy specials released online, which now accrue over 1.5B views annually across YouTube and other platforms. Comics who have gotten their start on Don’t Tell’s stages include Ralph Barbosa, Robby Hoffman, SNL‘s Michael Longfellow, Katherine Blanford and Malik Elassal, to name a few.
“Our mission is simple: to make comedy more accessible,” said CEO Kazanjian-Amory. “Nine years ago, we started by organizing affordable live shows in areas without good options for live stand-up. In 2022, we expanded to producing short-form stand-up specials and distributing them for free across social media. Now, with Banijay, we are excited to continue creating opportunities for emerging talent, connecting them with global audiences, and finding new formats to expand the Don’t Tell Comedy ecosystem where we shine a light on amazing talent from anywhere around the world.”
Banijay Entertainment operates across 25 territories and delivers an average of 19,000 hours of content and 3,000 live events globally each year. The Don’t Tell deal is just the latest big digital initiative for the company, which recently relocated Phil Rosenthal’s popular culinary series Somebody Feed Phil from Netflix to YouTube and has also worked with him on digital hub Phil Rosenthal World. Other initiatives include the Jamie Vardy’s Having a Party vodcast, and its subsequent Bundesliga rights package, and the ongoing development of creator-led formats like Stop the Train and Let’s Play Ball.