BBC Worldwide has announced that Amanda Hill has been appointed Chief Brands Officer. This new position has been created as part of BBC Worldwide’s restructure from divisional to geographic lines of management and will play a key role in building and developing the channel’s global brands, such as Top Gear, BBC Earth and Doctor Who. Hill will join the senior executive team and be responsible for developing an overall strategy for BBC Worldwide’s global brands across all … [Read more...] about BBC Worldwide appoints Amanda Hill as Chief Brands Officer
Top Gear
CEO of BBC Worldwide to Step Down
John Smith today announced that he has decided to step down after eight years as Chief Executive Officer of BBC Worldwide. Following Smith’s decision, BBC Director-General George Entwistle announced that Tim Davie, the BBC’s Director of Audio & Music, will succeed Smith as CEO of BBC Worldwide from December 1. Under Smith’s leadership, the BBC’s commercial arm has grown into a major global media company, doubling its revenue, growing profits four-fold, almost tripling … [Read more...] about CEO of BBC Worldwide to Step Down
BBC Worldwide reports growth in profits
BBC Worldwide has published its Annual Review for 2011/12 showing an eight percent rise in headline profit to £155m (2010/11: £144m). Profit before tax of £104m (2010/11: £92m excluding gains on disposals) is up 13% on a like for like basis. The company grew headline sales by 5% to £1,085m in the 12 months to 31 March 2012 (2010/11: £1,030m). These figures exclude the BBC Magazine titles sold and licensed in the year. Sales & Distribution is BBC … [Read more...] about BBC Worldwide reports growth in profits
BBC strikes deal with Hulu Japan
BBC Worldwide has become the first British distributor to license content to Hulu in Japan. The multiple year agreement will initially see around 600 hours of BBC Worldwide programming made available on the multi-device platform from February 17. The deal represents the largest volume of BBC Worldwide content on any platform in Japan, with titles licensed across drama, comedy, music, lifestyle and natural history including Doctor Who, Little Britain, Walking with Dinosaurs and Top Gear. … [Read more...] about BBC strikes deal with Hulu Japan
Content Kingdom
TVAPlus: Looking at sales and distribution firstly; how did last year fare compared to 2010 and how you are seeing content moving and what sort of content is moving in Asia Pacific currently? Steve: We’re certainly seeing more digital deals, particularly in China, Taiwan and also in Korea. Also other than digital, we have done a lot more formats in the past 12 months. Last year was also the first time we cracked Korea. On top of that, we have actually done a lot of work around our new … [Read more...] about Content Kingdom
Going for another spin
Singapore – Korean network XTM has recommissioned Top Gear Korea for two more series, both set to air next year. BBC Worldwide introduced Top Gear Korea to buyers at the Asia Television Forum (ATF) this year as one of its key focuses, alongside other programming highlights such as natural history title Frozen Planet. The format debuted on XTM in August and outperformed the network’s prime time average across all major demographics. To date, the original show has been licensed to 198 … [Read more...] about Going for another spin