Television Sales and Formats

_
BBC Worldwide, Europe's largest TV distribution company, increased TV sales to £150m in 2000/01.

Export success
UK TV export figures released by the British Television Distributors' Association (BTDA) for 2000 showed a 5% increase in TV-related sales, whilst BBC Worldwide's comparable sales increased by 21%.

Key factors in its success have been: BBC Worldwide's extensive channel presence [see channels]; BBC-branded blocks of programming, sold to more than 30 broadcasters; and a number of global hits.

Format Licensing and Production
In 1999 BBC Worldwide developed a strategy with BBC Entertainment to invest more than £300,000 a year into the production of game show pilots. This has resulted in successes in the UK and internationally with shows like The Weakest Link, Friends Like These and Dog Eat Dog.

The Weakest Link is one of the hottest TV programmes in the world. Enormous media interest was generated when America's NBC Network commissioned a US version of the series, casting the BBC show's presenter Anne Robinson as host. The Australian version holds the number one slot and local versions are also on-air in Germany and The Netherlands. BBC Worldwide is working with BBC Entertainment on plans for versions in 40 countries.

New game show, Dog Eat Dog, is now in development with NBC and in Australia and France, while classic formats like Ready Steady Cook and Antiques Roadshow remain firm favourites in many territories.

Best-sellers
BBC Worldwide's own programme sales event, BBC Showcase 2001, worth more than £40m annually, was the most successful in its 26-year history. Strong sellers included Tweenies, Love in a Cold Climate, Walking with Beasts and new drama, The Lost World.

Around the world
EMEIA (Europe, Middle East, India and Africa) region beat aggressive budget targets and grew the business by 13% year on year, with particularly strong growth of 82% in Russia and 48% in India. A major first was a commission to produce Ji Mantriji, a Hindi version of the Yes Minister series, made in India for broadcast on Star TV.

BBC Worldwide Americas saw a record year for both co-production and TV sales, including factual programming with partner DCI such as How to Build a Human, The Ballad of Big Al and The Human Face. Drama co-productions include The Cazalets and Take a Girl Like You with WGBH for PBS.

Asia-Pacific achieved a very strong programme sales performance, with 32% year on year growth in Asia and Japan. A new subsidiary company, BBC Worldwide Japan, was established.

BBC Films
Three BBC films carrying BBC Worldwide investment were completed or released. Paul Pawlikowski's The Last Resort won seven awards at Edinburgh. Roddy Doyle's When Brendan Met Trudy was released in Ireland. Agreements were reached with USA Films and Downtown for the US and UK releases of Julien Temple's Pandaemonium.