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World Content LogoEntertainment to the World

In 2006/07, when we launched our current growth strategy, 46% of our revenue came from international markets. Given the relatively small size of our share of major English-speaking markets - that is, the USA and Australia, plus the fast rate of growth in BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China), there were clear gains to be had from focusing hard on territories outside our domestic market. We therefore set ourselves the target of generating two-thirds of our revenues from outside the UK by 2012. The chart below shows our progress.


Growth % of revenues from
international markets

Growth in percentage of our sales from international markets

How we will increase our international returns:

Channels

  • Continuing our roll-out of BBC-branded channels in overseas markets
  • Investing in locally produced content for our channels to build audiences


Local production

  • Establishing BBC production bases in key markets
  • Integrating these with a wider network of production partnerships
    around the world


Digital

  • Driving advertising revenues from BBC.com
  • Licensing content to on-demand services around the world such as Xbox, iTunes and Netflix - we already have a presence in all six iTunes markets
TOP

Fast growth in Australia

In 2006/07 our market share in Australia was 0.3%, with the majority coming from TV sales. Given the cultural affinities with the UK, lack of language barrier and our established customer base, we saw a clear opportunity for growth. We are aiming to increase our market share to 1.6% by 2013 - and by 2010 we have already reached 1.0%, a trebling since we started.

A number of factors have helped us deliver this rapid growth:

  • Buying the 80% that we did not own of entertainment channel UKTV from our partners FOXTEL and FremantleMedia
  • Launching three BBC-branded channels (BBC Knowledge, BBC HD and CBeebies). BBC HD was then replaced by UKTV HD.
  • Setting up a TV production joint venture with local indie Freehand, which now makes local versions of Dancing with the Stars (Seven) and Top Gear (Nine)
  • Forming a magazine joint venture with ACP Magazines - so far we've launched three BBC titles
  • Maintaining the market-leading position of Lonely Planet in Australia
  • Setting up a dedicated ad sales team for BBC.com
  • Building our DVD partnership with ABC Commercial and Roadshow Entertainment
  • Bringing a number of teams together in a new headquarters


From 2010, we are applying the same focus across all business areas to the US market.

* 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.