Mediagenix WHATS'ON Review: Scheduling and Rights for European Broadcasters

TL;DR

Mediagenix WHATS’ON is a broadcaster’s rights + scheduling platform with deep European penetration. It starts from the scheduling problem and extends into rights management, which is the right order for linear-heavy broadcasters. Best for European broadcasters and public-service media where scheduling-driven rights queries and multi-channel linear operations are the core workflow.

What it is

Mediagenix (Brussels, founded 1994) is a Belgian media-technology company. WHATS’ON is their flagship platform — a broadcaster scheduling system with integrated rights management. Customers include BBC, ARD, ZDF, RTÉ, VRT, NRK, and most major European public broadcasters, plus commercial networks across the continent.

What it does well

1. Scheduling-first architecture. WHATS’ON’s primary workflow is the schedule grid — rights and avails are queried from within scheduling, not as a separate process. For broadcasters, this is the right mental model.
2. Multi-channel linear handling. Multiple channels, regional variants, simulcasts, time-shifted feeds — all handled cleanly.
3. Public-broadcaster fit. Supports the specific workflows of public service media (editorial quotas, language requirements, accessibility metadata).
4. Rights metadata that matters for TV. Run-limit tracking, play counts, episode-level rights, catch-up windows — modeled as primary entities, not afterthoughts.
5. European market presence. Mediagenix is the default in many European markets. Local support, time zones, and domain expertise are a given.

Where it falls short

1. North American market penetration. Less common in US broadcasters, so institutional knowledge is thinner among US talent pools.
2. Film distributor fit. WHATS’ON is broadcaster software. Indie film distributors selling to SVOD will find the product oriented away from their workflows.
3. Participations / royalty depth. Integrates with accounting but not a participations platform in itself. For talent back-end, look at Vistex.
4. Cloud maturity. Traditionally deployed on-premise or in private cloud. SaaS offerings exist but are less mature than newer cloud-native competitors.
5. UI. Functional, dense, built for power users. Not elegant.

Pricing

Not publicly disclosed. Expect six-figure annual subscription range for typical broadcaster deployments. Pricing scales with channel count, user count, and module selection. Implementation services typically multi-year for full-suite rollouts.

Who it’s for

• European broadcasters, especially public-service media.
• Multi-channel linear operations where scheduling is the primary workflow.
• Organizations already using European broadcast technology stacks.
• Broadcasters with 10+ channels and significant rights metadata volume.

Who it isn’t for

• North American indie film distributors.
• SVOD-native businesses without linear TV operations (Whip Media fits better).
• Operations prioritizing participations accounting (Vistex).
• Teams that want contract-first rather than schedule-first workflows (Rightsline).

Alternatives

• RSG Media — direct competitor, stronger in North America.
• Rightsline — contracts-first alternative.
• Filmtrack — indie film distributor focus.
• Whip Media — SVOD-era analytics platform.
• Vistex Counterpoint — for participations.
• How to Choose Rights Management Software — decision framework.

Sources

• Mediagenix vendor website: mediagenix.tv
• Public broadcaster case studies (BBC, ARD, VRT)
• Industry trade press coverage and European broadcast technology community 2022–2025