Australia’s Radar, Fred Media merge into single unit as Radar Studios

Australian media company WTFN Group is integrating its digital outfit Radar and traditional TV distributor Fred Media into a single business unit called Radar Studios.

Derek Dyson

WTFN said Radar Studios, which will make its official debut at Mipcom next month, has been developed in response to “the opportunities and pressures of a rapidly evolving market.”

Under the new banner, a new pipeline of original content will be prioritised, in addition to the company’s legacy IP.

Radar Studios will be structured as a fully integrated studio business, split into three core divisions.

The network division will manage a range of owned and operated FAST and digital channels across all key platforms, with examples including Bondi Vet, Real Emergency and Untamed.

The distribution division will represent a wide range of owned and third-party content in the international marketplace.

The content division will acquire third-party content via a newly established fund, as well as funding, developing and creating new originals for the network and distribution teams.

WTFN chief commercial officer Derek Dyson will lead Radar Studios in the same role. Some of the company’s existing senior team will take on new roles and responsibilities, including APAC sales manager Jamie I, who will become APAC sales and acquisitions lead.

Additionally, longtime consultant Kate Llewellyn-Jones will continue her remit to find, create and fund innovative new content and partnerships that deliver across the new business.

Dyson said: “Content supply is one of the major challenges in our business today, so we’ve developed Radar Studios to reduce potential risk and help provide a pipeline for a more sustainable model.

“I am most excited about our new originals strategy and the chance to work closely with WTFN’s recently appointed head of development, Michael McDermott, and chief creative officer, Steve Oemcke. Together, we will use data, trends and market intel that we gather to create new content for a range of global channels and platforms. And we’re thrilled that we already have some game-changing concepts in development.

“For a while, we have successfully operated with a total distribution strategy, aligning the Radar and Fred Media teams to ensure no rights were left on the shelf. However, creating Radar Studios brings full integration and simplifies that message to the market, removing any ambiguity over entry points to our business.”