The BBC has updated its report, “The Economic Value of the BBC”, which shows BBC Worldwide has increased the amount of Gross Value Added (GVA) it generates for the UK economy to nearly £1billion. In 2011/12, GVA for BBC Worldwide was £947million, up 7% from £881million in 2009/10. This increase was due to a strong financial performance of BBC Worldwide last year (profits up by 8% and sales up 5%) and to the company’s support for the UK’s creative industries. BBC Worldwide plays a dual role in both increasing TV exports and encouraging inward investment into the UK independent production sector.

BBC Worldwide invested £99million in distribution rights in 2011/12, three-quarters of which was into BBC commissions, both BBC in-house productions and indie-produced. BBC partners with more than 200 UK indies on a range of output and distribution deals, and will be taking delivery of over 700 hours of programming from indies and returning £76million to them through upfront rights investment, profit share and royalties.

In addition to the money generated with and for the industry, BBC Worldwide is also supporting the creative and digital sectors through partnership and training schemes such as BBC Worldwide Labs and the Future Formats Scheme, which trains individuals looking for a career in TV. Together, BBC and BBC Worldwide also helped to attract £32million of co-production funding into the UK production sector from overseas broadcasters in 2011/12.