euro news_news 26/02/2014 18:18 Page 6
BBC WW: Channels business
under-exploited
n overhauled
channels business
and an effective BBC
Store giving UK consumers
the chance to buy, watch and
keep a selection of BBC
programmes, are at the heart
of the strategy for BBC
Worldwide – the main
commercial arm of the BBC
– according to the unit’s CEO
Tim Davie.
According to Davie, BBC
Worldwide was a bit more
complicated than being typified as
just the sales and distribution
arm of the BBC. “Worldwide sits
across the broadcast value chain,”
he explained. Highlighting BBC
Worldwide’s American activities,
Davie said that it had “a small big
business.” Although very
successful, in terms of scale, it
needed to grow, and in general,
Davie conceded that the channels
business was under-exploited.
BBC Worldwide’s strategy was
not to acquire other trademarks,
it was focused on BBC Intellectual
Property (IP). “The thing that
drives this business more than
anything else is content,” he
stated, confirming that BBC
Worldwide would continue
investing in content.
“Strategically, what we’re
deploying is not
dependent on any
platform or payment
mechanic,” he said, adding
that his long-term vision
was that BBC
Worldwide would
be driven by
consumer needs,
i.e., whether the
consumer wanted to acquire the
content via SVoD or Download To
Own.
A further priority was to
overhaul BBC Worldwide’s
channels business. “The big
question for BBC Worldwide is
whether it can begin to grow scale
..if you’ve got consumer brands
and you can move this from a
B2B company to a B2C company
in channels … we can see that
TDF creates Arkena
media service company
better address the evolving
needs of content-centric
companies.
Accrording to TDG, with its
strong experience in the
broadcast world, multiplatform content
management and delivery and
a powerful network and
systems infrastructure,
Arkena provides marketleading solutions along with
outstanding professional
services. Arkena now covers
the entire media services
value chain: from Playout to
Head-End services, from
Content Delivery to
Transcoding and Storage,
from OTT Content
Publication to Content
Delivery Network.
“For decades,
Arkena’s individual
companies have been
A
Broadcast and telecoms
infrastructure specialist TDF
has rebranded the
subsidiaries of its Media
Services Division; CognacqJay Image, PSN, Qbrick and
SmartJog, as ‘Arkena’ under a
single entity, creating one of
Europe’s largest media
services companies.
It says that by merging a
wide range of complementary
products, services and
expertise, Arkena is fully
embracing the concept of
providing global solutions to
14 EUROMEDIA
globally transforming or certainly
improving our chances.”
He said that BBC Worldwide
also needed to make some choices
around strategy around digital
platforms and digital innovation.
In terms of the BBC’s channels
strategy internationally,
Davie said there would be
a focus on areas of
outstanding strength.
“It’s a classic ‘play to your
advantages’ strategy,” he
admitted. Channels would
be piloted in a number
of lead markets. One
such channel, BBC
First, would be
offered in Australia in
conjunction with
pay-TV partner Foxtel, and
primarily feature drama. BBC
Earth, already a branded block on
BBC America, was the subject of a
shared ambition between BBC
Worldwide and BBC Television to
be brought to life on both
bbc.co.uk and bbc.com. A third
brand under development was
what Davie suggested was a
factual entertainment, maleskewed channel – BBC Brit.
serving the media and
telecom industries, by
providing specialised
technical services to manage
their video content, adapt it
to multiple formats and
deliver it to all screens. By
bringing all our services and
expertise under the Arkena
brand and organisation we
are ideally positioned to help
the media industry adapt to
constantly evolving market
requirements by offering the
most relevant solutions,”
commented Julien Seligmann,
CEO of Arkena.
Appeal Court orders
BSkyB sports rights
review
Britain’s Court of Appeal has
ruled that a lower court
The roll-out of the new brands
will take place on a market-bymarket basis, with all three
expected to launch in the coming
financial year. Having announced
in October 2013 that the existing
trial of the global iPlayer app,
testing in 16 countries, would not
be extended to any new markets.
The annual subscription offer for
BBC Global iPlayer had come to
an end, signalling the start of
plans to incorporate the BBC’s
long-form video player into
bbc.com over time. This may need
approval from the BBC Trust.
Davie also confirmed that BBC
Worldwide was to be the
commercial operator of BBC
Store, on behalf of the BBC, if
plans for its launch were
approved, and that it was
currently testing the consumer
proposition. BBC Store would
offer UK consumers the
oppo