Marco Bassetti on why global entertainment still depends on local culture

Marco Bassetti’s comments tie the continuing global reach of the World Cup to one key idea: entertainment still depends on local culture. The CEO of Banijay Live, part of Banijay Entertainment, said global audiences have not “merged” into one culture, even as viewers bounce quickly between platforms like TikTok, Netflix and YouTube. Banijay Live is producing the tournament’s closing ceremony on July 19 at New York/New Jersey Stadium, and Bassetti argued that the hardest part is earning worldwide attention while keeping host-nation identity intact. He said local teams, creatives and performers are trusted to carry the cultural element, drawing on his start in Italy’s early commercial television era. The executive also linked intensifying platform competition to the difficulty of developing new “hit” formats.