CANNES: It?s known for its Big Brother franchise, which has been produced in several companies worldwide, placing it among the top global TV producers and format licensor. And Endemol president Tim Hincks announced today at MipTV what lengths it will go to retain its leadership position.

Speaking to a packed Grand Auditorium in the Palais des Festivals he said: ?We are back in the mergers and acquisition game. We have the free cash to do some takeovers. We will be announcing some of them soon.?

?The traditional broadcasting-producer model is doing very well thank you for all of us; it is very resilient. We have to change the way we think in our minds going forward in digital. It?s time to change the risk model,? he revealed.

In India, Endemol has roped in CA Media as a joint venture partner, but Hincks said that?s not something that could become a model for Endemol for other l markets. He said: "The fundamental principle for us is that we are global company but we operate incredibly locally. In India?s case, the joint venture was the right way to go. It?s not necessarily the way we?ll go as a rule."

He disclosed that Endemol had tied up with the Rolling Stones to launch a Digital App. ?I met up with Mick Jagger and he and his band mates asked us to help them to market themselves digitally and we have done just that,? he revealed. ?There?s a business opportunity here as they have loyal fans out there to whom we can directly market and also offer them a digital experience?
He also announced the launch of a Fear Factor YouTube channel in the US to be followed by launches elsewhere. ?It will be hosted by the Fear Factor hosts and will have a lot of archival material. We will also allow users to upload their Fear Factor videos and also interact with each other and create some commercial opportunities. We have to back the content we create online and offline with some clever marketing. Fuse these two together and you have winners.?

What about its core business of content creation for linear channels? What keeps Endemol going. ?It?s all about the creative process,? pointed out Hincks. ?Creatives like to have a notion of ownership and Endemol provides them that environment to fulfill their creative dreams.?

On that front, he is quite gung-ho about two new shows which are emerging from Endemol. One is a scripted entertainment show Low Winter Sun which is being produced for AMC. And the other is ?I know that face,? a format which was created in same and has become all the rage globally and which is expected to roll out shortly in the US and UK.

?The fact is that we launched 175 formats in 2012 in various countries right from Italy to German to US to Holland to Spain. We managed to do so because we are a creative engine,? he concluded.