Fremantle (company)

Fremantle Limited (/ˈfriːmæntəl/), formerly FremantleMedia, is a British multinational television production and distribution company based in London. The company was founded as Pearson Television in 1993 when publishing and education company Pearson acquired the former British ITV franchisee Thames Television. Fremantle takes its name from Fremantle International, which was acquired by predecessor company All American Television in 1994. Pearson Television and Bertelsmann's CLT-UFA merged in 2000 to form the RTL Group, with Pearson Television itself being renamed FremantleMedia on 20 August of the following year.

Fremantle owns non-scripted formats, including the British talent shows Idols, Got Talent and The X Factor; all of which have been sold globally. Since 1994, Fremantle has distributed American game shows locally in the United States and globally.

On 23 April 1993, Pearson plc bought Thames Television, which had been one of the "Big Five" franchisees in the ITV network from 1968 to 1992, and, as an independent production company, was continuing to produce many shows for ITV and other broadcasters. Thames became the first division of Pearson Television, and Pearson gained the rights to Thames programmes like The Benny Hill Show and The Bill.

Then in 1995 it acquired Australian production company Grundy Television. Allied Communications Inc. (ACI), an American-based distributor of made-for-television films, was purchased later that year for $40 million.

In January 1996, Pearson Television acquired the British production company SelecTV plc, and merged into it.

Pearson Television announced on 1 October 1997 that it would launch a $373 million cash tender offer for publicly traded American television company All American Communications Inc. On 5 November, Pearson completed its tender offer, and All American was merged into Pearson Television the following year. This acquisition gave Pearson worldwide rights to various game show formats as well as drama series in the United States such as Baywatch, while All American Music Group was sold to Zomba Records subsidiary Volcano Entertainment.

Pearson Television acquired Italian drama production company Mastrofilm on 3 November 1998, and European animation financer and distributor EVA Entertainment on 2 February 1999.

In June 2000, Pearson Television had announced their decision to take over Smith & Jones' British production company Talkback Productions.