CAN'T STOP media

What CAN'T STOP media does

CAN'T STOP media is a London-based boutique format distribution company founded in 2020 by Matthieu Porte and Arnaud Renard. It acquires international distribution rights to television formats originating primarily from French production houses and broadcasters (TF1, France 2, Canal+, DMLSTV, Quad+TEN, Kiosco.TV, Effervescence) and licenses them to broadcasters and production partners across more than 50 countries. The catalog of 50+ formats spans gameshows (Let's Make a Deal, Guess My Age, Couple or Not?), factual entertainment (The A Talks, Facing the Classroom), reality (Stranger Sins, Cash Island, Sheep & Celebrities), comedy (The Guignols, Funnymals), and documentary (The Queer Explorer, Legends of the Pharaohs).

The company monetizes through per-territory format licensing fees, production support, and format royalties, with additional revenue from finished-tape distribution. Multi-territory bundle deals with major studios such as ITV Studios, Warner Bros. International Television Production, Banijay Group, and RTL Germany allow simultaneous market rollouts. Go-to-market combines direct B2B sales at industry events (MIPTV/MIPCOM), digital marketing via the company website and LinkedIn, and earned media in trade publications (C21 Media, Variety, TBI, Deadline). The business is privately held, founder-led, and operates without disclosed external institutional investors.

Name

CAN'T STOP media

Legal name

CAN'T STOP media

Website

https://cantstopmedia.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

CAN'T STOP media is a London-based boutique TV format distribution company founded in 2020 that licenses a catalog of 50+ gameshows, reality, and factual formats from French production houses to broadcasters and production partners across more than 50 countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

TV Format Distribution & Licensing

NAICS

Motion Picture and Video Distribution (51212), Motion Picture and Video Distribution (512120)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Distribution (7822), Services-Allied To Motion Picture Distribution (7829)

akta.pro primary industry

International TV Program Distribution (Sales/Output Deals) (MPABAMAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Distribution Feeds & Syndication (Partner Delivery, APIs, Feeds) (MPAHALAJ), Usage Reporting, Reconciliation & Royalty Accounting (Statements, Audits) (MPAHALAN)

Keywords

• TV format distribution
• Format licensing
• International broadcast sales
• Entertainment format catalog
• Production rights acquisition

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Format Licensing: Licensing of TV show formats (game shows, reality shows, factual entertainment) to broadcasters in international markets. Formats are adapted locally by production partners. Revenue comes from licensing fees, production support, and format royalties.
2. Finished Tape Distribution: Distribution of completed TV episodes to international broadcasters. Some formats are distributed as finished episodes rather than adaptable formats.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

CAN'T STOP media is a London-based boutique distribution company that acquires international rights to scripted and unscripted TV formats and licenses them to broadcasters and production companies worldwide. The company represents a catalog of 50+ formats spanning gameshows, reality, factual entertainment, comedy, and documentaries, distributing them either as adaptable formats for local production or as finished programs for international airing.

Product overview

CAN'T STOP media is a London-based boutique format distribution company specializing in international TV format sales and distribution. The company's product portfolio consists of discrete TV format types—gameshows (Let's Make a Deal, Guess My Age, Couple or not?, Split Second), factual entertainment (The A Talks, Facing the Classroom, Pilgrimage), reality formats (Stranger Sins, Sheep & Celebrities, Cash Island, Dating with dogs), comedy (The Guignols, Funnymals, That Awkward Moment), and documentary formats (The Queer Explorer, Secrets of the Pyramid Builders)—offered as licensable intellectual property that gets adapted locally by broadcasters and producers in each territory.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The A Talks Interview format where celebrities and politicians face questions from a panel of autistic and neurodivergent journalists, created by Quad+TEN and Kiosco.TV for France 2. Distributed internationally by CAN'T STOP media.
• The Secret Song Shiny-floor music entertainment format where celebrities are surprised with performances of their favorite songs by other artists, created by DMLSTV for TF1.
• Mystery Duets

Quantifiable outcome

• The A Talks reached 20th version globally, ranking among three fastest-selling formats worldwide
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• RTL GermanycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 3 September 2025Exclusive partnership with RTL Germany to distribute Stranger Sins format internationally. RTL Studios produced 2 seasons for RTL+ with Season 3 commissioned for 2026. CAN'T STOP media handles international distribution for both format and finished tapes.
• EffervescencemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 August 2023Effervescence produced The Queer Explorer docuseries for France Télévisions. CAN'T STOP media acquired global distribution rights. Effervescence is also behind France 2's hit miniseries and daily gameshows.
• Warner Bros. International Television Production (WBITVP)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 3 April 2022Multi-territory deal for The Secret Song format covering US, UK, Australia, and New Zealand. Deal includes Warner Bros. Unscripted Television development in US and local adaptations in other territories.
• Marcus/Glass ProductionscoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 3 December 2021CAN'T STOP acquired rights to distribute Let's Make a Deal format worldwide (excluding US, Germany, Canada). Marcus/Glass Productions was formed by Marcus Lemonis and Nancy Glass to oversee the Hatos-Hall Productions gameshow catalogue.
• Banijay GroupcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 14 April 2021Banijay licensed Mystery Duets for Brazil, India, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Russia, and Spain through multi-territory development agreement.
• ITV StudioscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 8 February 2021Multi-territory deal for Mystery Duets covering US, UK, Germany, Scandinavia (Sweden, Denmark, Norway), Australia, and Israel. ITV Studios produces local adaptations in these territories.
• PropagatemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 June 2018Propagate (Ben Silverman) partnered with Vivendi to develop US version of Les Guignols. David Javerbaum (13 Emmys) tapped to write and executive produce. Fox confirmed the development project.
• DMLSTVcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDMLSTV creates and produces formats including The Secret Song and Mystery Duets. CAN'T STOP media handles international distribution for their formats globally.
• Quad+TEN and Kiosco.TVcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreators of The A Talks format, initiated by movie directors Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano (The Intouchables). CAN'T STOP media distributes the format internationally.
• HELIUM PicturesmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHELIUM Pictures (Mark Fennessy) produced Australian adaptation The Assembly for ABC, featuring autistic student journalists interviewing celebrities including PM Anthony Albanese.
• Rockerdale StudiosmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRockerdale Studios produces UK version of The Assembly for ITV1 and ITVX, working with autistic and neurodivergent organizations for authentic representation.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Sony Pictures Television International: Major Hollywood studio with a sizable international format distribution business. Comparable go-to-market selling global format rights to broadcasters across territories.
• Fremantle: Major global format distributor and producer behind franchises like Got Talent, Idol, and The X Factor. Operates a comparable model of acquiring and licensing international formats to broadcasters worldwide, but at vastly greater scale and with owned-IP emphasis.
• BBC Studios: Commercial arm of the BBC, one of the world's largest format licensors (Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing with the Stars, Top Gear, The Great British Bake Off). Offers directly comparable B2B format distribution at the incumbent broadcaster scale.
• Banijay Group: World's largest international content producer and distributor with deep format library (MasterChef, Big Brother, Survivor) and global production infrastructure. Directly comparable to CAN'T STOP as a format licensor and is itself a distribution partner to CAN'T STOP on Mystery Duets.
• All3Media International: Leading UK-headquartered format and finished-program distributor. Comparable business model to CAN'T STOP with broader catalog including formats like Undercover Boss and The Traitors (international).
• ITV Studios: Global format distribution arm of ITV plc, partner to CAN'T STOP on Mystery Duets and The Assembly (UK). Competes in the same format-licensing space and offers a directly comparable B2B go-to-market model.
• ZDF Enterprises: International distribution arm of German public broadcaster ZDF. Comparable B2B format distribution model with catalog spanning factual, entertainment, and children's programming.
• Warner Bros. International Television Production: International production and distribution arm of Warner Bros. Discovery, multi-territory partner to CAN'T STOP on The Secret Song. Competes in format licensing while also operating as an in-house production house.

Direct peers

• Red Arrow Studios: International format distribution and production company owned by ProSiebenSat.1. Operates a comparable boutique-to-mid-market format licensing model similar in size and approach to CAN'T STOP media.
• Global Screen (Telepool): European format and finished-program distributor serving similar customer base of mid-tier broadcasters. Comparable boutique-to-mid-market positioning and similar catalog breadth in entertainment and factual formats.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/CANTSTOPmedia
• Facebookfacebook.com/CantStopMediaOfficial
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/can%27t-stop-media-llp/?trk=public_profile_experience-item_result-card_image-click&originalSubdomain=fr

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CAN'T STOP media