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BBCW hands sales team £5m There’s value to be driven and we’re putting our money into the sales force so they’re able to extract that value
BY peter white
BBC Worldwide has made a £5m investment in its international sales force as it bids to beef up its global distribution business. The BBC’s commercial arm has freed up the cash following its company-wide restructure, in which more power was handed to its regional teams. Speaking at Broadcast’s Inter national TV Forum last week, BBC Worldwide president of global markets Paul Dempsey said: “We’re investing more than we’ve ever done in any single year, boosting the effectiveness of our sales force.” The pot of money, which will be allocated over the BBC’s 2014/15 financial year, will be spent on new internal systems, marketing, customer relationship management tools and data and research facilities for its teams in more than 20 countries around the world. “I’m talking about investing in the capabilities of our distribution force,” Dempsey said. “There’s real value to be driven and we’re putting our money into the sales force so they can extract it.”
Paul Dempsey, BBC Worldwide
Dempsey: bolstering distribution business with investment in sales force
The BBCW sales boss was speaking at the event, held at Bafta, alongside execs from ITV Studios, Endemol Worldwide Distribution, Shine International, Zodiak Rights and All3Media International – the first time these distributors had shared such a platform. Zodiak Rights recently set up its first insight team, headed by former All3Media digital exec Gary Woolf. Chief executive Steve Macallister, who was previously BBCW’s president and managing
director of sales and distribution, said: “One of the first things I did when I joined was put in place an insight team. You absolutely need to understand consumer patterns and this is accelerating with the fragmentation of media.” Nadine Nohr, chief executive of Shine International, which distributes series such as Broadchurch and MasterChef, agreed that the world has become more complex and it is essential to perform “careful choreography”.
“It’s about sweating the asset. It’s about making as much as you can from what you’ve got, not necessarily about volume,” she added. All of the companies agreed that while competition for UK rights is aggressive, there is enough content to go around. Endemol’s European executive director Mark Lawrence said it was vital to make UK producers feel special when distributing their series. “We’ve tried to allay fears with UK producers that big doesn’t necessarily mean bad – you’re not going to get sucked into the sausage machine and get lost,” he said. “British distri butors are as good as, and sometimes better than, the American studios.”
Broadcasters welcome year-round US orders BY alex farber
Major British broadcasters have welcomed US networks’ move towards year-round commissioning, but have downplayed plans to launch all their imports on the same day as their US TX. American networks have significantly increased the number of shows they order straight to series – such as Vince Gilligan-penned Battle Creek and ancient Egyptian thriller Hieroglyph – meaning their May commissioning streak is becoming more fragmented. Having recently returned from the LA Screenings, Catherine Mackin, director of programme acquisitions at UKTV, said the move has helped British buyers pick up the best shows. www.broadcastnow.co.uk
At least you know you don’t have to wait until the following May to find your next show Catherine Mackin, UKTV
“The move to year-round scheduling means at least you know other things are coming out and you don’t have to wait until the following May to find your next show,” she said. However, acquisition chiefs for Sky, Channel 5 and Fox agreed that launching acquisitions on the same day as their US transmission only worked for major serialised shows, such as Game Of Thrones and 24. “UK audiences are not familiar with a show being scheduled for five consecutive weeks, then it taking a two-week break before returning for another three,” said C5 head of acquisitions Katie Keenan. Keenan said she wanted to build on the recent acquisition of Australian drama Wentworth by
picking up more shows outside of the Hollywood studio system. “The success of BBC4 and More 4 makes me feel there is the space to do foreign-language drama – and [C5 director of programming] Ben Frow would like us to do more – so we are increasingly looking around the world,” she said. Sky Atlantic, meanwhile, is still looking for star-studded shows outside of its HBO output deal. “We have the ability to buy round the edge, just to add a slightly different flavour,” said head of acquisitions Sarah Wright. Fox UK head of programming Toby Etheridge added that marketing its US acquisitions was more important than ever. “You can’t put on the poster: ‘It really gets going in episode four’,” he joked. 13 June 2014 | Broadcast | 13