Banijay UK appoints Leon Wilson as CEO of Shine and Zeppotron

Banijay UK has appointed Ex Talkback and Thames Managing Director and Co-Founder of Great Scott Media, Leon Wilson as CEO of Shine and Zeppotron. The appointment made by Banijay UK CEO Patrick Holland follows an announcement confirming Shine TV’s Managing Director Jon Swain’s departure from his role at the end of the year earlier this month. “As well as being a brilliant creative, Leon has phenomenal amounts of energy, enthusiasm, and insight," Patrick Holland, CEO Banijay UK said of the appointment said. "I’m so delighted that he’s chosen Banijay for the next chapter of his impressive career and I know that the teams in Shine and Zeppotron will benefit greatly from his expertise.”

Set to report to Holland, Wilson will assume the new role at the end of the month. The executive will now be tasked with the management of Shine, developing and broadening the range of its original IP, as well as overseeing its established slate including BBC’s MasterChef super-brands, Hunted and Celebrity Hunted and new Channel 4 streaming hit, Banged Up.

Wilson will work alongside Creative Director Tim Whitwell, MasterChef Executive Producer David Ambler and the wider Shine team as the company continues to expand across streamers and broadcasters within factual, reality and entertainment. Meanwhile, Zeppotron Managing Directors Ruth Phillips and Peter Holmes will work closely with Wilson as they push into the streamer market and establish their exciting new slate of comedy/ents/reality formats to sit alongside their existing much loved brands such as BBC One’s Would I Lie to You? and Channel 4’s 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.

The executive previously served as Managing Director of Talkback, followed by Managing Director of a combined Talkback and Thames between 2013 and 2019. During this time, he consistently grew the businesses’ turnover and won a raft of new business;  creating, selling and overseeing shows including Too Hot to Handle (Netflix), Harry’s Heroes: The Full English (ITV1), multiple Leigh Francis projects (Celebrity Juice, Through The Keyhole, and The Keith & Paddy Picture Show), Alan Carr’s Epic Gameshow (ITV), Jon Richardson’s Ultimate Worrier (Dave) and Your Face or Mine (Comedy Central).

Most recently, he founded Great Scott Media with Ed Sleeman backed by All3 Media. The indie quickly transformed into a yearly turnover to £14 million, with commissions including "Love Trap" (C4) and 10-part Netflix reality series "Dated & Related." Earlier in his career, Wilson worked on "The Graham Norton Show," "Dame Edna," "Fantasy Football" and "The Friday Night Project." “I can’t wait to start in this new role and work with the fantastically talented teams at Shine and Zeppotron," Wilson said. "I love prisons, being hunted, eating, lying and four fifths of cats … as well as winning new commissions. It’s literally a dream come true.”