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Flextech Television. The business is performing to plan and we are now seeing real dividends flowing from these ventures. In this coming year we plan to develop more alliances to expand into new territories, as well as looking at some niche opportunities in existing markets.
TV Sales
Our TV Sales business is world-class, and we are the number-one exporter of television programmes in Europe. We represent both BBC and independents via sales offices around the world and through our unique screening event, BBC Showcase. This year we sold ITV-commissioned programmes internationally for the first time, and other independent productions, such as Spooks from Kudos, have sold in around 40 countries. We want to continue to increase our portfolio in this way by offering independent rights owners the best sales force and a high degree of customer service, so we become the distributor of choice for the UK TV industry.
BBC Magazines
BBC Magazines is the third-largest consumer-magazine publisher in the UK. Research shows that one in four adults in the UK reads a BBC magazine, and we reach two in three parents of young children with our pre-school children’s titles. This year BBC |
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Magazines has continued to perform well and further improved margin through the closure of some loss-making titles, as well as ensuring greater cost-efficiency in others. To address perceived fair-trading concerns, we’ve stopped trails for magazines on BBC television and clarified our business remit to relate more to the programme output of the BBC. An example of this was the sale of the women’s magazine Eve. We’ve taken a major step this year towards our goal of expanding internationally via our joint venture in India.
Home Entertainment
In Home Entertainment our aims have changed, as we’ve moved away from in-house publishing to licensing models. A great example of this is 2|entertain, the successful new DVD/video joint venture with Woolworths Group plc, of which we own 60% and to which we now license rights. We also plan to form joint ventures for our books and learning businesses so they can grow and achieve greater profits. BBC Audiobooks, which is already the UK’s market leader, will remain wholly owned.
Children’s
The Children’s business has enormous strengths, particularly in pre-school brands. However, we have had a tough couple of years and, in a hit-driven market, some of our investments |
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