by FilmInk Staff

Re-brand sees merger of Radar and Fred Media businesses, plus major new focus on creating Originals

WTFN Group, one of Australia’s leading independent media companies, announces the launch of Radar Studios – a new, future-facing business that fully integrates its rapidly growing digital outfit Radar and traditional television distributor Fred Media. As a result, both names will make way for the new Radar Studios when it makes its official debut at MIPCOM next month.

Radar Studios has been developed in response to both the opportunities and pressures of a rapidly evolving market. Content will be front and centre, not only maximising legacy IP but also prioritising the creation of a new pipeline of Originals.

Structured as a fully integrated studio business from the outset, Radar Studios has three core divisions.

  • Network – managing a range of owned and operated FAST and digital channels across all key platforms, some with major partners. Examples include Bondi Vet, Real Emergency and Untamed
  • Distribution – representing a wide range of owned and third-party content in the international marketplace
  • Content – acquiring third-party content, as well as funding, developing and creating new originals for the Channels and Distribution teams

Radar Studios will be led by Chief Commerical Officer Derek Dyson. As part of the merger and re-brand, some of the existing senior team will take on new roles and responsibilities, including Jamie I, who joined Fred Media earlier this year as APAC Sales Manager, who will become APAC Sales & Acquisitions Lead at Radar Studios. In addition, longtime consultant Kate Llewellyn-Jones will continue her remit to find, create and fund innovative new content and partnerships that deliver across the new Studios business.

Chief Commercial Officer Derek Dyson says: “Content supply is one of the major challenges in our business today, so we’ve developed Radar Studios to reduce potential risk and help provide a pipeline for a more sustainable model. We will continue to maximise the enviable legacy IP that we have in the business – most fully-owned by WTFN – and have also recently established a new fund to invest in and acquire high-quality third-party content.

“But I am most excited about our new Originals strategy and the chance to work closely with WTFN’s recently appointed Head of Development, Michael McDermott, and highly respected Chief Creative Officer, Steve Oemcke. Together, we will use data, trends and market intel that we gather to create new content for a range of global channels and platforms. And we’re thrilled that we already have some game-changing concepts in development.”

Derek Dyson concludes: “For a while, we have successfully operated with a Total Distribution strategy, aligning the Radar and Fred Media teams to ensure no rights were left on the shelf. However, creating Radar Studios brings full integration and simplifies that message to the market, removing any ambiguity over entry points to our business. We cannot wait to introduce Radar Studios to our existing and potential new partners in Cannes next month and are excited that this re-brand and re-structure puts the building blocks in place to help turbo-charge and support our ambitions for growth.”

About Radar Studios

Radar Studios was formed in September 2026 as a new business within leading Australian media group WTFN. At launch it brought together Fred Media – the largest independent content distributor operating in Australia, which had been operating for 13 years – and Radar, a rapidly growing digital business with full Multi-Channel Network status. Both businesses sat within the WTFN Group but have now been retired as standalone entities.

Radar Studios is a contemporary, end-to-end content business that develops, funds, acquires and creates content for placement on everything from traditional broadcast channels and streamers to FAST channels, YouTube and numerous other platforms and social channels. The business manages more than 2,200 hours of multi-genre, award-winning and ratings-generating programming and more than 30 owned and operated FAST and digital channels – including Bondi Vet, Real Emergency and Love Nature.

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