Sister, the media group and production company co-founded by Elisabeth Murdoch, Jane Featherstone and Stacey Snider, has taken a significant stake in newly launched TV and tech entertainment company Yes Yes Media, founded by British broadcaster and format developer Richard Bacon.
As well as creating new unscripted formats, Yes Yes Media is developing proprietary hardware and software to enable viewers to interact with these formats across multiple devices. To lead this development, Yes Yes Media has hired California-based tech entrepreneurs Geoff Abbott and Reed Seerman.
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The size of the stake and other terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
“We’re now truly in the TikTok era, but traditional television entertainment hasn’t fully tapped into that in a way that feels native,” said Bacon, best known in the U.K. for hosting a number of TV and radio shows. “I see all screens as television now. At Yes Yes we’re developing content that naturally and authentically meets audiences on any of their devices. We’re writing talent and game shows, collaborating with a video gaming company, and creating formats that we’ll livestream directly to viewers ourselves, with everyone watching changing the story.”
Bacon added: “I’m so proud to be partnering with the team at Sister, who have understood and supported this vision from the get-go, and granted us access to an incredible level of expertise and support that comes with their global network.”
Elisabeth Murdoch, Sister co-founder and executive chair, said: “Sister was built to support the best creative talent regardless of genre or medium, and Richard’s vision to combine technology and storytelling is a perfect fit. He is a bold, creative entrepreneur, who is full of ideas and truly thinks differently, and I’m delighted to bring his creativity, industry experience and commercial ambition into the Sister fold.”
Alongside the deal with Sister, Yes Yes Media also unveiled a partnership with Satisfaction, the largest producer of unscripted television in France. Satisfaction and Yes Yes Media have agreed to a television format development partnership to create new unscripted formats for local and global buyers, with Satisfaction also making a significant investment in Yes Yes Media.
Other backers in Yes Yes Media include Courteney Cox, as well as songwriters Johnny McDaid and Savan Kotecha. Kotecha is the 17-time Grammy nominee behind multiple hit records for artists, including Ariana Grande and The Weeknd, such as “What Makes You Beautiful” and “Can’t Feel My Face.” Snow Patrol’s McDaid’s songs include “Shape of You,” “Photograph” and “Bad Habits,” all co-written with Ed Sheeran. He also writes with Pink, Alicia Keys and Lewis Capaldi. Together Bacon, McDaid and Kotecha are developing new music formats.
Yes Yes Media is represented by CAA and Hansen Jacobson Teller Hoberman.
