Cathy Payne

Payne is CEO of Banijay Rights, where she sets the global strategy and oversees all distribution activity for Banijay Entertainment’s 265,000-hour catalogue, which includes landmark brands such as Survivor, Big Brother, MasterChef, The Traitors, Peaky Blinders and Black Mirror. In 2026, Payne was appointed to lead Banijay Entertainment’s newly combined distribution business following its merger with All3Media International. She had led Banijay Rights since Banijay’s acquisition of Endemol Shine Group in 2020. Before that, Payne spent 10 years at Endemol, later Endemol Shine, where as CEO of Endemol Worldwide Distribution she directed all worldwide distribution, leading a team across six territories, overseeing in-house and third-party content sales and working closely with the commercial team on IP exploitation. Previously, she was CEO of Southern Star International, which Endemol acquired in 2009. Over 20 years there, she built the company into one of the largest distributors of Engli