As Banijay Americas CEO Ben Samek tells it, his company’s deal with Phil Rosenthal really started to coalesce over lunch at Rosenthal’s wildly popular L.A. restaurant, Max & Helen’s.
“Every person who walks there wants to go say hi to Phil. Seeing how excited people were [to meet] him, and he’s so engaging and connects with people at a different level,” Samek told The Hollywood Reporter. “It was like a three-hour lunch — by the way, amazing food — but it was a long lunch because there’s constantly people coming up to the table and engaging with him. It was celebrities down to just neighborhood people who love the restaurant, so that it really brought visibility into how well loved he is.”
The deal, unveiled March 9, will see Rosenthal’s food and travel series Somebody Feed Phil move to YouTube in 2027 from its current home on Netflix (though prior seasons will continue to stream there). Banijay Americas and Banijay Rights will also work with the Everybody Loves Raymond creator on developing and distributing other shows for a new version of Rosenthal’s YouTube channel.
The move off Netflix for a show like Somebody Feed Phil is unusual, but Samek said it sprung from Rosenthal’s desire to make the show as accessible as possible. Rosenthal said as much in the announcement of the deal: “One of the things I always loved about Everybody Loves Raymond was that it was free to watch everywhere. We are thrilled to announce that Somebody Feed Phil will move to YouTube, where our message of family, friendship, food, travel, and laughs can reach the most people.”
“His comment to me was, ‘I would love my show to be free and to reach as many people as possible,’” Samek told THR. “YouTube is a huge part of that strategy, clearly. Our goal is to then build the rest of the digital ecosystem and distribution system with his content, both Somebody Feed Phil and his other content that we intend to produce.”
As for what that other content might be, Samek said he and Rosenthal’s team will experiment with new formats for Rosenthal’s long-running Naked Lunch podcast (which he hosts with writer David Wild) and are discussing some ideas for short- and long-form programming. Moving Somebody Feed Phil to a free platform also means it will likely run with ads, and Samek said sponsored content might live among other elements of Rosenthal’s YouTube and social media channels.
YouTube is the largest single TV platform in the United States, responsible for about 12 percent of all viewing in any given month. Banijay will also look to distribute Somebody Feed Phil on other free platforms, including AVOD and FAST services and the channel lineups offered by connected TV makers (a la those on Samsung, LG and Sony sets). Samek sees the latter outlets as a growth area for the industry.
“If you look at the numbers [for AVOD services], they’re only continuing to grow,” said Samek. “Therefore, as revenue grows, the expectation of an audience to be able to get more of an offering will continue to grow. I think it’s a category, on the connected TV and AVOD sides, that will only grow in the level of production value and in revenues over time.”
Samek also said he hopes the deal with Rosenthal and his Lucky Bastards company (which Rosenthal runs with his brother Richard) will showcase how using multiple platforms can benefit both audiences and creators.
“Our relationship with platforms and with networks and channels hasn’t changed. That’s a huge part of what we do as a production company,” he said. “To me, this is a new growth category where we can look to partner with talent. Whether it’s a show that came off of another platform or not, I think there’s a way for us as a production company to embrace those creators and those talents at different levels, to be able to support and produce content and distribute it.”
