Doctor Who

Connects LogoEntertainment & the BBC Brand

One of our roles is to ensure consumers worldwide know what the BBC has to offer. In the UK the BBC brand is synonymous with great content that connects with a wide range of audiences. But around the world the level of awareness and connectivity varies widely. As part of our role in delivering the BBC's public purpose "Bringing the world to the UK and the UK to the world" we have set ourselves the goal of raising that awareness significantly over the next five years. We will do this by managing and promoting the BBC brand itself and also through its association with around 12 major international sub-brands - from our international TV channel BBC Entertainment to Doctor Who.

How we will develop direct connections with our consumers:

Engagement

  • Using Facebook, Twitter and other social media to build links and engage
    with consumers around our premium brands
  • Creating live events to support our global brands


Measurement

  • Focusing our marketing to ensure our premium brands get the best support
  • Brand tracking in key markets to drive new content and delivery channels


Delivery

  • Owning our own TV channels and websites
  • Ensuring our branding is consistently managed on a global basis
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Doctor Who regeneration

The sci-fi drama series Doctor Who attracts a broad family audience in the UK. Internationally the viewer profile is much more niche. A new Doctor, actor Matt Smith, presented an opportunity in April 2010 to widen consumer appeal in the key markets of the US, Canada and Australia.

Global Brands worked with the local teams to schedule near simultaneous transmission - only two weeks after the UK launch. Marketing and PR support was fully aligned and designed to ensure audiences knew this was a BBC series. Matt, his co-star Karen Gillan and writer Steven Moffat made personal appearances in the US, where it premiered on our own BBC America channel. On ABC (Australia) and Space (Canada) branding again flagged up the show's BBC origins. Social and mainstream media were used to full effect to boost awareness.

The launch episode delivered:

  • 1.5m viewers for BBC America, its biggest-ever audience
  • Number-one position on the Australian iTunes TV Episodes chart
  • The highest non-sports audience of the day (1m) on Canadian cable channel Space

* Throughout this Review, sales include Group revenue and the Group’s share of joint-ventures’ revenue, and profit refers to operating profit before specific items. Specific items are not defined under IFRS and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. Specific items are material items which are highlighted by virtue of their size or importance to enable a full understanding of BBC Worldwide’s performance. A full definition of specific items and a reconciliation to profit before tax is provided in Financials.

During the year, BBC Worldwide has voluntarily chosen to employ International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), as adopted by the European Union, as the basis for the preparation of its consolidated financial results. This is in line with best practice and to allow greater comparability with other organisations. Throughout this Review all results are extracted from BBC Worldwide’s financial statements and presented consistently under IFRS, unless otherwise stated.