10 Minutes With … All3Media International on ‘The Traitors’ and its Gameshow Slate

License Global: “The Traitors” continues to be a huge success. What can you tell us about the licensing program connected to the show and what we can expect to see coming up?

Jason Easy: It’s hard to believe it’s been less than two years since “The Traitors” first launched on BBC. An addictive psychological competition series with a fresh look and tone, it reinvigorated the entertainment reality genre and had audiences instantly hooked. Since launching at the end of 2022, Season 1 was a smash-hit, word-of-mouth success drawing in over 34 million views on BBC iPlayer and winning two BAFTAS, whilst Season 2 cemented its place as a nation-gripping series, averaging 8.1 million, and watched by 8.8 million during the finale. A third was commissioned before Season 2 aired – all in the space of just over a year.

The incredible ratings, reviews, awards and social media reactions quickly signified there was a fanbase for “The Traitors” that All3Media International needed to tap into as rights holder for the property, and so we quickly began exploring opportunities for “The Traitors” in the licensing market.

Around AW23 the first products for “The Traitors” launched, ahead of Season 2 airing in January 2024, including The Traitors board game (Goliath), the card game (Ginger Fox), a play-along interactive book published by Penguin Random House, The Traitors cloak from Rubies Masquerade and T-Shirts from Bioworld. All these products proved a success in their own right and signified the brand’s off-screen appeal. Goliath’s board game was one of the most successful licensed games of 2023 as was Ginger Fox’s card game, with both making Amazon’s top 10 bestselling toys and games last Christmas. Rubies’ cloak sold out within a few weeks, and the book was a top 40 bestseller last year. Bioworld managed to secure a last-minute listing with George at ASDA for a T-shirt that launched three days before Season 2 finale and sold out in just four days. And we were thrilled to recently find out “The Traitors” has been recognized as a finalist in two Licensing Award categories, for Best Teen or Adult Property and Best Licensed Toy or Game for The Traitors Board Game.

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Following such a strong launch, we have been steadily building out our licensing footprint, culminating in broader category launches and deeper retail listings this AW. We have several apparel categories, including Nightwear lines from TDP and Aykroyds and socks from Roy Lowe & Sons rolling out, with selections across high street and grocery channels, including ASDA, Tesco, Boohoo, Next, New Look, Character.com and Primark to mention a few. We also have Christmas Jumpers from NOTJUST, food gifting from Kimm and Miller launching this AW and several more partners launching products in 2025. We are also close to being able to reveal further details about “The Traitors” live immersive experience, so stay tuned.

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Jason Easy, All3Media

The brand’s reach has gone truly international. Have you seen any significant trends in any particular territories or product groups?

Each international market is in a slightly different phase of our licensing journey, but for “The Traitors,” we are essentially looking to replicate the success of the U.K. market. The board game has already proved a great international success, and is now available in France, Germany, Sweden, Hungary, Holland and Belgium, with Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Poland and the Czech Republic to follow.

Beyond “The Traitors,” you are also responsible for a host of hit gameshows, dramas and factual entertainment brands. Can you provide us an update on your slate and what’s to come in each of these categories, from a licensed consumer product perspective?

All3Media International’s background is in television distribution, so we are relatively new to licensing. However, our catalog has an expansive range of content that presents great opportunities for licensed consumer products.

In addition to “The Traitors,” we house iconic brands across a wide range of genres. From hit gameshows like “Catchphrase,” “Lingo” and “The Cube,” to feel-good entertainment formats like “Race Across The World,” “Gogglebox,” “Sort Your Life Out” and beloved scripted series like “Midsomer Murders,” “All Creatures Great and Small” and “Hollyoaks,” escapist gardening shows such as “Garden Rescue” and “Love Your Garden.” We’ve only scratched the surface of our licensing potential.

Our evergreen gameshows catalog naturally lends itself to licensing activity, so we have initially focused on our game partnerships with the likes of John Adams, Big Sky Games, Goliath and Ginger Fox. Our brands have also traveled well across publishing including The Traitors interactive game book published by Penguin Random House, a “Lingo” Puzzle Book published by Michael Joseph, “Sort Your Life Out” home maintenance guide from Ebury and a “Midsomer Murders” interactive novel from Octopus. Brands including “Race Across the World” and “All Creatures Great and Small” also have publishing deals that we look forward to revealing more details about.

“Lingo” Puzzle Book published by Michael Joseph

More generally, what is trending from a licensed consumer product perspective in the TV and streaming space? What are consumers looking for from licensed products and how do you meet that need?

Two trends we are seeing getting stronger are collaborations and live events.

Collaborations let us expand and explore more opportunities to bring fans the brands they love. Excitingly we have partnered with U.K. Underwear brand, OddBalls, founded to raise awareness of Testicular Cancer on a The Traitors men and women’s underwear line. We are also working on a few additional collabs for The Traitors with more to come.

Live events and immersive experiences are having a real surge in the market. Consumers love to access the worlds of their favorite TV shows, and immersive experiences offer the most encompassing way to do this. With shows like “The Traitors” where viewers love the psychological gameplay, the chance to experience the emotional rollercoaster and the jeopardy of the series on a roundtable setting is a thrilling and unique opportunity that we look forward to replicating with “The Traitors” immersive experience.

How will you be using Brand Licensing Europe in September to showcase these IPs? Do you have any specific plans for the show that you are able to share with us? Why is BLE important for you as a company?

Brand Licensing Europe is incredibly important for All3Media Intentional. Being new to the licensing world, it’s important for us to build our presence and showcase our content. Over the past 12-18 months there has been a lot of focus and conversation around “The Traitors,” and now we’ve cemented this brand’s success we are excited to explore how many other opportunities from our diverse portfolio of brands like “Race Across The World,” “Gogglebox,” “Midsomer Murders,” “All Creatures Great and Small,” “Catchphrase,” “Hollyoaks,” the list goes on.

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This year BLE celebrates its 25th anniversary. Have you attended the show before? What is your first memory of the show? Do you have any particular highlights from over the years?

As a company this will be our third BLE and my second since joining. Last year was brilliant to introduce the market to “The Traitors” and we’re excited to continue expanding All3Media International’s presence.

Personally, I have attended the show many times before, my first being back in 2011 at Olympia while with Nickelodeon. My overriding memory is witnessing the huge number of brands on show and not having the opportunity to walk the floor to have a closer look, due to the huge number of meetings in my schedule.

"The Traitors" Underwear, Oddballs

Are there any significant deals that came about because of conversations at BLE or licensing programs that you have launched at BLE over the years?

Last year’s BLE was a great success for us. Conversations started at the market have translated into partnerships with the likes of Professor Puzzle (Ginger Fox) for The Traitors card game, Event Merchandise for The Traitors online store, TDP and Aykroyds for The Traitors nightwear range and Lowes for The Traitors sock line. We now have agreements for “The Traitors” with all of these partners with Professor Puzzle and Event Merchandise both launching earlier this year and TDP, Aykroyds and Lowes set to launch this AW.

We have every confidence this year’s BLE will be just as successful and will continue to expand “The Traitors” partners while also welcoming in partners across our expansive brands.

Looking back further, personally my first retail activation in 2011 with Nickelodeon was born out of BLE, a Victorious promotion and fashion show with George/ASDA.

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