Biggest ever BBC Worldwide Showcase brings Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular and a host of stars to Liverpool

Posted on March 1, 2013
BBC Worldwide Showcase 2013 at the ACC Liverpool

BBC Worldwide Showcase 2013 at the ACC Liverpool

So it’s a wrap for 2013’s BBC Worldwide Showcase in Liverpool.  But while the red carpet is rolled up and the digibooths are packed away for another year, our enviable job of exporting the best of British content around the globe continues. And, as we’ve demonstrated once more, BBC Worldwide proudly does this with some gusto.

Each year we amplify our efforts to boost British exports through an ever-increasing number of programme sales, and Showcase is going from strength to strength since moving to Liverpool.  The city is preparing to host another major event next year – the International Festival for Business (IFB) – as a global showcase for British brands and industry.  I agree with Sir Terry Leahy, who talked about the event earlier this week, when he said the IFB will “show the world that Britain and its business brands are back in the game” and that it “has the capacity to reignite our export culture.” Continue reading →

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The economic value of BBC Worldwide

Posted on January 15, 2013

Today the BBC has published an update to its ‘The Economic Value of the BBC’ report, 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 both to the 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, which happens in a number of ways.

BBC Worldwide plays a dual role in both increasing TV exports and encouraging inward investment into the UK independent production sector.

We’re in a place to do this because BBC Worldwide is the largest distributor of TV programmes outside the major US studios, and a significant exporter of the best UK TV formats. BBC Worldwide Showcase – the biggest TV sales event in the world held by a single distributor – provides a launch pad for UK programmes to reach much wider audiences across the globe, and generate international sales revenue for the sector.

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

And we help bring other international investors to the table too – together the BBC and BBC Worldwide helped to attract £32million of co-production funding into the UK production sector from overseas broadcasters in 2011/12.

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.

BBC Worldwide is absolutely committed to showcasing the best of the UK’s creative content around the world and I’m very pleased that in doing so, we continue to play our part in bringing value back to the UK economy.

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Russia’s version of Life on Mars is a huge hit

Posted on December 28, 2012
Pavel Derevyanko as Mikhail Soloviev

Pavel Derevyanko as Mikhail Soloviev

It was great to see the Russian version of Life on Mars become such a massive hit when it launched last month.  Dark Side of the Moon was the top-rated show in its time slot on Channel One.  The Life on Mars format is well suited to Russia, as producer Alexander Tsekalo points out: “If you go back thirty years in the UK, social attitudes have changed. So you meet a character like Gene, who’s an unreconstructed bigot. But when we go back thirty years, we’re in a completely different country – the communist Soviet Union, during the Cold War.” Continue reading →

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