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Channel Closure: WildEarth Will Stop Airing On DStv By The End Of April, Freeview And ROKU Might Follow Soon

WildEarth is an interactive wildlife channel which brings viewers closer to nature with live safaris within the hotspot of Africa. Founded i...

Showing posts with label BBC Earth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BBC Earth. Show all posts

Friday, September 15, 2023

Recap To The Week: New Logo For BBC Earth Repositions The Global Brand As A 'Window To The World'

New logo
The new creative refresh, developed by the award-winning BBC Studios Creative team, celebrates the premium and much-accoladed brand and features some of the hit content it has created and broadcast globally, including Blue Planet II, Frozen Planet II and The Green Planet, while looking ahead at future BBC landmark series Planet Earth III launching this autumn.

This suite of new logos and assets uses a circular device that captures spectacular content and amazing stories, representing the 'Window to the World' and transporting viewers out of their surroundings into realms of infinite wonder.

The new look will start to roll out globally across all platforms from 14 September. It is visually distinct and ownable, ensuring that the BBC Earth brand, like its programming, is both recognisable and unmissable.

Brand concept

"We wanted to elevate the heritage of the circular device within the current brand, to give it real purpose and dimension," explains Nick Meikle, executive creative director at BBC Studios Creative. "The core brand idea is a 'Window to the World': a circular window representing the Earth and the infinite wonder it has to offer."

"It is a visual mechanic that seeks to relentlessly discover immersive moments," he continues, "bringing spectacular stories into the homes of our audience, creating an emotional connection to our planet, and connecting them to the world at large.

"The brand refresh also allowed us to unify the visual language across all touch points from this central idea, as the brand has evolved significantly since its original TV launch over eight years ago."

Overall, it's a simple device that's been executed perfectly. By keeping the graphical elements to the minimum, it brilliantly achieves its goal of letting the colourful, high-definition imagery from its hit shows speak for themselves and tell their own story.

Wednesday, August 23, 2023

BBC Studios And MultiChoice Strengthen Long-Standing Partnership By Expanding Reach Of BBC Channels On DStv In South Africa

• BBC UKTV expands its potential audience by a further 2.7 million homes by joining DStv Compact.
• BBC Lifestyle joins DStv family for the first time
• The DStv catch-up window for BBC owned content on BBC Brit, BBC Lifestyle, BBC Earth, BBC UKTV and CBeebies will increase from 30 days to 60 days

BBC Studios’ multi-genre channel, BBC UKTV, will expand to DStv’s Compact package and Lifestyle channel, BBC Lifestyle, will join DStv Family from 1st September 2023. BBC Studios’ will also extend the DStv catch-up window on BBC owned content across channel portfolio from 30 days to 60 days from September, providing DStv audiences further access to the best of British content.

BBC Studios’ multi-genre channel, BBC UKTV (DStv channel 134), launched in December 2023 and has proven to be a channel of choice with subscribers to the DStv Family, Access and EasyView packages with its audience share increasing by 79% in its second quarter since launch. BBC UKTV will now also be available in DStv’s Compact package, providing around 8 million families in South Africa access to a variety of entertainment, natural history series, soaps, and children’s shows from BBC Studios’ award-winning catalogue. Shows coming to the channel in September include Shakespeare and Hathaway: Private Investigators, Father Brown Season 3 and Earth's Great Seasons Season 1.

Home to a variety of premium local and entertainment programming, including The Great South African Bake Off Season 4, Listing Jozi and Jamie Oliver Cooking for Less, BBC Lifestyle (channel 174) will be available on DStv Family subscribers for the first time since launch in 2015 in addition to its place in the DStv Compact package. DStv Family subscribers can look forward to Come Dine With Me South Africa Season 9 and Britain’s Most Expensive House Season 2.

BBC Studios’ suite of channels will continue to offer DStv audiences premium programming, now with an increased catch-up window for BBC owned content on DStv catch-up across BBC Brit, BBC Lifestyle, BBC Earth, BBC UKTV and CBeebies, from 30 days to 60 days. Shows include Death in Paradise, Green Planet, The Great British Bake-Off, Hey Duggee and many more.

Pierre Cloete, the Commercial Director at BBC Studios in Africa says “We have a long-standing relationship with Multichoice and are proud of our six incredible BBC channels on the DStv platform. Each channel offers something for everyone with broad genre, trusted quality and international and local talent. I’m so excited to showcase our commitment to going further, broadening the reach of BBC Lifestyle and BBC UKTV and increasing the catch-up window for BBC owned content across our portfolio. This will give even more people in South Africa access to the very best BBC content and I can’t wait for new audiences to find their new favourite shows.”

Arran Tindall, Chief Commercial Officer, EVP, EMEA Key Markets says “We are proud to extend the reach of our portfolio. Adding BBC Lifestyle to Family and BBC UKTV to Compact enables us to reach wider audiences utilizing the richness of the BBC’s content, providing more DStv subscribers access to award-winning shows.”

“We continue to strengthen our content offering, therefore, we are excited about broadening the content scope for our customers,” says Georginah Machiridza, Executive Head of General Entertainment Channels at MultiChoice Group.

Monday, April 10, 2023

Recap To The Month: BBC Brit And BBC Earth Merge To Form BBC Nordic, An Enhanced Linear Channel And On-Demand Service, Could This Be The Future Of The Brand In Africa?

This year's most entertaining Valentine's surprise comes with the announcement that BBC Studios will launch BBC Nordic and BBC Nordic+, an enhanced linear channel and dedicated on-demand service for Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish and Icelandic viewers from 17 April 2023.

Linear channel BBC Nordic brings together the very best of BBC BRIT and BBC Earth and will replace them in the current channel mix. BBC Nordic+, a new on-demand service will enable viewers to delve deeper into the BBC shows they enjoy from the linear channel and discover new favourites.

With a long-standing history in the five Nordic market, the new channel and on-demand service have been borne out of research into local audiences tastes and the content they most enjoy. They will offer a tailored line up of the brightest factual and feel-good entertainment series from the BBC, making it easier for Nordic audiences to find their favourite programmes and to discover new shows.

Spring will be even more interesting and colourful with expanded content mix on BBC Nordic. New series of much loved factual and factual entertainment programming that aired on BBC BRIT and BBC Earth such as QI, The Graham Norton Show and Life Below Zero, will be joined by new programmes for the channel such as The Great British Bake Off along with the return of Serengeti for a third season.

Among the programmes that will be available on BBC Nordic at launch is the latest series from the multi-award winning documentary maker Louis Theroux - Louis Theroux Interviews... which sees Louis get up close and personal with the UK's biggest stars such as singer Rita Ora and actress Dame Judi Dench in the way only he can. Serengeti III will transport viewers to the heart of Tanzania to get lost in the adventures and perils of the iconic wildlife trying the navigate a land on the brink of change.

Lifestyle and entertainment programming will also form an important part of the channel offering with iconic series The Great British Bake Off (S10) being new to the channel alongside feel-good shows such as The Great Pottery Throwdown, a battle of the clay which sees 12 home potters compete to become champion, and DIY SOS which follows friends, family and local trades transform the homes of deserving families across Britain. Viewers of BBC Nordic can also look forward to new episodes of popular entertainment series coming to the channel in the following months - Live at the Apollo, The Graham Norton Show, QI, Pointless and The Weakest Link.

Dedicated on-demand service BBC Nordic+ will enable viewers to delve deeper into the BBC content they enjoy from the BBC Nordic channel and discover new favourites at the touch of a button. New content has been curated around topics such as arts and culture, travel, history, documentaries and music. In April this will include pioneering documentary series from Public Enemy frontman Chuck D - Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World. In the new 4-part series Chuck D leads a cast of Hip Hop icons from Ice-T to Run DMC to Eminem to tell the definitive story of how hip hop emerged from the ashes of the Bronx in the 70s to become a global force for change today.

Last year, BBC Studios unveiled plans to become an online only service which led to the cutback of content spending and the folding of the BBC World News brand into BBC News. The idea of BBC Earth possibly folding under BBC Brit wouldn't be a far fetched idea particularly for African consumers.

BBC Brit and since last year BBC UKTV had supplied selected content from BBC Earth for sometime as the channel in question is currently viewed as a premium channel for which the consumer base had been struggling due to inflation and domination of streaming.

Taking to account that BBC Earth can only be viewable in South Africa, it wouldn't be far fetched if this was the first TV channel that BBC Studios opts to cease distribution in the market. As mentioned, the whole premium base of DStv is struggling same goes for most of the offering on that package.

On top of BBC undergoing a similar route as The Walt Disney Company in halting most if not all their linear operations seen globally.

Monday, January 16, 2023

BBC To Close Linear Channels And Move Into An Internet-Only Digital Future

The BBC is to have “fewer linear broadcast services” in the next decade as it “consolidates activity under one simple, single brand,” Director General Tim Davie has revealed, as he unveiled a blueprint for a digitally-led Public Service Broadcaster.

Davie didn’t elaborate during an RTS talk this morning but Deadline understands it could be several years until the move is enacted. The speech signalled the start of a shift to taking linear-channels online only that will start over the next decade, as Davie prepares for a digital future.

“The BBC will focus its effort on the digital world and over time this will mean fewer linear broadcast services and a more tailored joined up online offer,” said the DG. He stressed “live linear is here for the long term.”

Some of this has already started happening, added Davie, who pointed to the controversial move to combine the BBC News Channel with BBC World News. BBC Four, meanwhile, still exists but has stopped commissioning original programing. To many people’s surprise, youth-skewing BBC Three went in the opposite direction, relaunching as a linear channel earlier this year.

BBC:
- eAfrica Vs. BBC UKTV: Another Attempt To Auction Off Second Hand Goods
- BBC UKTV Vs. ITV Choice: Another Attempt At Boosting The BBC On DStv
- Acorn TV Closing Down By The End Of The Year In South Africa, Still No Clue If AMC+ Will Launch In The Market
- MultiChoice: "Why Premium Customers Might Lose Out On A Certain New Channel?"

Another way in which the BBC could “unite under a single brand” would be through combining iPlayer with Sport and podcast apps, for example, with more information on this activity due in the new year.

Davie, who has been in post two years now, stressed the need for more investment to lead the BBC into an internet-only digital future.

“Inevitably all this requires another choice and that is to actively, dare I say happily, invest in the BBC,” he added, in the speech to grandees, journalists and commentators in Central London. “Moving to digital is not the challenge in of itself, moving to digital while not losing most of your audience and burning millions of pounds unnecessarily is the challenge.”

His talk came a day after UK Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan said it is “impossible” for the license fee to remain the BBC’s funding model after 2027 and a review is currently taking place into the corporation’s future funding.

Beyond the increase of commercial outfit BBC Studios’ debt limit, more partnerships and loosened regulation, Davie struggled to put his finger on how the BBC will be able to attract the necessary capital for the transformation.

He said the BBC’s current £5.3B ($6.4B) annual income can just about keep the corporation afloat with prices soaring and the license fee frozen for the next two years.

“The bigger conversation here is whether we are OK to get into the 2030s to protect PSB,” he added. “If you look across the world, [media companies] are struggling to raise revenue. There will be a massive strain but we believe we can maintain universality and scale in UK.”

His blueprint for a thriving digitally-led PSB is four-pronged: “owning a move to an internet-only future with greater urgency,” “transforming the BBC faster,” “proactively investing in the BBC brand” and “moving faster to regulate for future success.”

By this method, Davie said the pubcaster will avoid “simply drifting to the point where the emergence of vast U.S. and Chinese players marginalize us while we put on a very British brave face as they do so.”

Part of the push involves owning more IP, an area that Davie stressed is far more important than having studio space.

“We need to own IP and find the writers who own them,” he declared. “This is a bigger question than who is operating the most effective shed [studio space]. Those sheds are brilliant at skills and apprenticeships but they are not going to underpin the future – that’s about IP and ownership.”

DStv:
- kykNET Lekker Opened To More DStv Customers For A Limited Time
- What Consumers Should Be Concerned About Regarding SABC's Yet To Be Launched Channels On DStv?
- Press Release: DStv Welcomes The Launch Of Quincy Jones’ QWEST TV Onto Screens This Month
- New Channel Alert: WildEarth To Launch In The UK Later In The Year

Speech: Leading The UK Into Digital By The Director-General Of The BBC, Tim Davie, At The Royal Television Society

Good morning. Today, 100 years and 23 days after the first BBC broadcast, I want to talk about choices. Choices for us all.

Choices that have profound consequences for our society; its economic success, its cultural life, its democratic health. Our UK and its essence. Of what we hand to the next generation. Of growth.

Choices that concern not just the role of the BBC, but something bigger. About whether we want to leave a legacy of a thriving, world leading UK media market or accept, on our watch, a slow decline. 

Are we simply going to drift to the point where the emergence of vast US and Chinese players marginalise us, while we put on a very British brave face as they do so? Resigned to the fact that our culture and creative economy will inevitably be shaped by polarised platforms and overseas content. Or are we proactively going to take the steps to ensure that we tell our own stories, and remain the envy of the world?

Today I want make a simple case.  A case for growth, and the choices, as the UK, to own it.   

Too much of this debate is painfully “small”. In BBC terms, we understandably fret about domestic issues, political spats and latest headlines. And, because people care, we keep busy on a joyous treadmill of flare-ups and debates.  

One of my favourite quotes of Lord Reith is “the BBC will never broadcast anything controversial, and has no plans to do so.” If only.

But beyond the day-to-day, we urgently need to spend more time agreeing what we want to create that best serves our audiences, the economy and society.

Today I want to set out some of the choices that we need to make, and make the case for ambition.  

This will require the BBC, regulators, politicians – all of us - to work together and make clear decisions. To invest capital and set policy, deliberately, not simply live on hope and good intent.  To create a bigger creative sector supported by strong public service media and a thriving BBC. 

In short, we have reached a defining decade for the future of this incredible sector and this wonderful country.   

But first, a quick look back. This year has shone a light on a venture, a 100 years old, that has delivered outstanding shareholder returns: the BBC.  It has not come about accidentally. It is a triumph of smart invention and intervention. An inspired choice by those early pioneers as they reflected on what really mattered in life after the scars of war. They decided, amazingly, that broadcasting was not simply about money, it was  more important than that.  

It has led to immense returns to the UK public: economic growth, societal growth, personal growth. Value for all.   

It’s easy to forget what a remarkable story of success it is. And how much of it we take as given. Of course, the BBC is not perfect, we make mistakes, we struggle, we commit acts of self-harm, and our funding mechanic, the Licence Fee, is positively described by some as the least worst option. But step back a bit from the noise and look at our legacy.

There’s the creative health of the nation.

Ever since those early days in 1922 when 2LO crackled into life, we have backed our culture, through an enlightened blend of smart public interventions, brilliant commercial companies, and inspirational individuals.

At the heart of that ecosystem is the BBC. 

Critically, our universal brief means we do not simply look to maximise global efficiency and monetise a core audience. We support creativity in every part of the UK and its Nations. Our work helps us understand each other and find communal stories that underpin our national life.

9 in 10 people say it’s important for our media to reflect the lives of different people in the UK to each other. 

Then there’s our creative industries, a world leading economic powerhouse. 

£109bn in annual GVA – that’s bigger than the life sciences, aerospace, automotive, oil and gas sectors combined.

If we get it right, we have the potential to more than double that by 2030 growing way ahead of the wider economy, and delivering jobs across the UK.

The BBC as a catalyst for growth is proven. 

We support over 50,000 jobs – more than half outside London. We work with 14,000 suppliers.  

In Salford, the number of creative businesses has grown by 70% since we moved there in 2010.  In Cardiff, the creative sector has grown by over 50% since we opened Roath Lock Studios in 2011. 

New analysis from PwC shows that increasing the BBC’s footprint in an area by just 15%, doubles the creative cluster growth rate.  By 2028, the BBC’s ‘Across the UK’ plans can create more than 4,500 new creative businesses outside London, along with 45,000 jobs. 

But the BBC’s legacy is also about our democracy.

We face a growing assault on truth and free reporting. Recent data on our watch is stark and shocking.

In February, Freedom House in the US found that 60 countries suffered democratic decline in 2021, while only 25 improved. 

Only around 20% of people now live in what are considered free countries – that’s halved in 10 years. Journalism is now completely or partly blocked in 73% of countries.

The social psychologist Jonathan Haidt argues there are three forces that bind successful democracies: social capital; strong institutions; and shared stories.  Not a bad list if you are in my job.

But he also believes that social media, while having many benefits, has weakened all three. It weakens political systems which are based on compromise and it fuels mob dynamics that restrict a constructive process of dissent and debate.

Our own research shows that’s happening here, too. Over 40% of people are now worried about sharing views with those who have a different view.

Research by the European Broadcasting Union shows that well-funded public service broadcasters goes hand-in-hand with democratic health. The greater their audience, the more citizens tend to trust each other.

That is why the UK’s strong global voice is so precious. 

Today the BBC reaches nearly half a billion people weekly, a number that has been growing. We are the best known British cultural export – quite something when you consider the competition, from music to monarchy.

In India, our services reach 70 million people in 9 local languages. In the US, the BBC is now the most trusted news brand.

When our Russia Editor, Steve Rosenberg, interviewed Foreign Minister Lavrov, a must watch by the way, it got over 7 million views inside Russia.

So I think that if Reith were sitting here today, apart from giving me that withering stare, I think he would be amazed by what we have created, together.  

These successes are the result of deliberate decision-making and difficult choices. 

There was the birth of TV in the 30s, and the reshaping of radio in the 60s – when we said goodbye to the Home Service, the Light Programme, and the Third Programme.

The launch of BBC Online in the 90s. The launch of iPlayer in 2007 – a moment that, in the words of Reed Hastings, “blazed the trail” for global streamers.

Alongside these BBC moves, we have acted successfully as an industry. Freeview, Freesat, digital TV switchover, DAB, Radioplayer, Youview, all successful in developing our media sector, fostering competition but also enhancing public service broadcasting.

All these moments required a choice, a will, an optimism, and a generosity of vision. A desire to see the big picture.  

There are cautionary tales too. The infamous blocking of Project Kangaroo back in 2009, when the UK PSBs wanted to set up a streaming service.  

But, overall, there is so much to be proud of in what we have created together.  

However, today, I believe we are in a period of real jeopardy. A life-threatening challenge to our local media, and the cultural and the social benefit they provide. This is not an immediate crisis for audiences.  The choice of high-quality TV and audio has never been better. The threat is not about if there is choice, it is about the scope of future choice and what factors shape it.  

Do we want a US-style media market or do we want to fight to grow something different based on our vision? 

I sometimes read that the BBC needs to clock that the world has changed. I can assure you that we do not need convincing.  

The internet has stripped away the historical distribution advantage of having half of the TV channels or FM frequencies. In this world relevance, like trust, has to be earned.  

Industry analysts predict that we have probably seen the last year in the UK when broadcasters make up the majority of video viewing. Five years ago broadcast TV reached nearly 80% of young adults a week. Today it’s around 50%, and radical changes are happening across all ages. Tik Tok is now bigger than the BBC in video for 16-24s in the UK.

So today is the right time to ask the question, are we happy to let the global market simply take its course or are we going to intervene to shape the UK market?

Now, before looking to the future, let me just give a quick update on how the BBC is doing. 

We have been working on transformation rather than just managing decline. Despite market changes and cuts, we have coped well by focusing entirely on providing value to all. Not simply saying we are a good thing but being used.  

Our Value For All strategy is clear: ensuring we are impartial, delivering must-watch UK content and developing a world-class online offer. Supported by ambitious commercial plans. 

Nearly 90% of adults, and 75% of 16-34s came to the BBC every week, and every month nearly every adult uses us in the UK. These reach numbers have held up well. Over 30 million browses in the UK used the BBC online yesterday, the only online UK brand to really mix it with global players.  

When it comes to hours of video watched in the UK, the BBC remains bigger than Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney Plus, combined. 

Editorially we have wind in our sails.  Award-winning shows from Time to Motherland.  9 million watched the launch of Frozen Planet II, a peak audience of 17 million watching the Women’s Euros final, 42 million streams of Glastonbury.  And the coverage of the Queen’s funeral showed what only the BBC can do.

More recently, in its first seven days since launch, episode one of SAS Rogue Heroes had an audience of 6.5 million, compared with 3 million for episode one of the latest season of The Crown.  

We’ve grown BBC Sounds to over 1.5 billion listens. 

And, in the midst of culture war storms and Twitter rage, the numbers of people saying we offer impartial news has held firm.

Commercially, BBC Studios has grown rapidly in the last 5 years delivering a stretching target of over £1.2bn in returns and growing profits 70%.

We also drove the UK economy. Our Across the UK plans are well underway and mean we’re on target for £700m of additional spend outside London by 2027/28.  For example, we’ve announced £25m investment in the North East, a new Birmingham base in Digbeth, and we’ve moved news teams. We relocated 8 Radio 3 titles yesterday in Salford. And we continue to invest in unique and strong content in the Nations and Regions. 

At the same time we’ve stepped up our commitment to a highly efficient BBC, fit to deliver maximum possible value. We’ve reduced our overhead rate to within 5% of our total costs. We cut over 1,000 public service roles last year.  All our senior managers are assessed and we are stripping away bureaucracy as we create a world-class culture.

Overall our progress over the last 2 years has been good. In many ways, thanks to the exceptional talent in the BBC, it has been gravity defying. But looking to 2030, it is not enough.

So now let’s look to that future. Imagine a world that is internet only, where broadcast TV and radio are being switched off and choice is infinite. There’s still a lot of live linear viewing but it is all been delivered online. 

Far from decline, could we harness the possibilities of this interactive digital landscape to increase public value and stimulate the UK media market? What would it actually take to deliver that? 

I think there are four choices that we need to make to give us a real chance of achieving success for the UK. They need urgent action. Namely: 

- Should we, as the UK, own a move to an internet future with greater urgency?
- Should we transform the BBC faster to have a clear, market leading role in the digital age?
- Should we proactively invest in the BBC brand as a global leader? 
- Should  we move faster in regulating for future success? 

Of course the answer to these choices is yes. 

I don’t intend to answer every question in detail today but let me outline some thoughts.

Firstly, we must work together to ensure that everyone is connected, and can get their TV and radio via the internet. This isn’t something to resist. A fully connected UK has very significant benefits for society and our economy. It would unleash huge opportunities for innovation.

For the BBC, internet-only distribution is an opportunity to connect more deeply with our audiences and to provide them with better services and choice than broadcast allows. It provides a significant editorial opportunities. A switch off of broadcast will and should happen over time, and we should be active in planning for it. 

Of course, there’s a bad way it could happen. Where access to content is no longer universal. Or is unaffordable for too many. Where the gateway to content is owned by well capitalised overseas companies. 

So, we must close gaps and guarantee accessibility for all. Forecasts suggest that by 2030, about 2million homes will still not be using fixed-line broadband and even in a few years 5% of the UK landmass may not be covered by 5G or 4G to provide content on the move.  Now I know that there is a renewed effort to drive this coverage by Government and the DCMS; this is critical.

While the BBC cannot fund the build-out it can collaborate with others to make a move to online attractive to all, and play a big part in educating people about  the transition. We will become more active as part of a coalition to make this happen. 

Let’s all work to plan it flawlessly and leave no-one behind, and ensure that UK businesses and audiences get maximum benefit.

In this new world, the next choice we need make is to champion a clear, market leading role for the BBC. How will we inform, educate and entertain in 2030?

The answer must be to differentiate and not copy.  

The BBC will focus its effort on the following in the digital world:

- Nurturing an informed society through impartial, trusted news and information
- Inspiring and supporting people of all ages with trusted knowledge and training
- Engaging audiences with high-quality local British creativity from across the UK

Over time this will mean fewer linear broadcast services and a more tailored joined up online offer. As examples, we will double down on the latest work in News on disinformation, or accelerate the drive to ensure that Network drama is sourced from across the UK which differentiates us from others.

We believe that if we drive this transition successfully we can deliver universality despite a world of intense competition. We will achieve this not by creating derivative or niche content but ensuring maximum relevance of our core output.  To be clear, by universality we mean three things, which global players do not do. Namely:

- Access: making sure all audiences in the UK can get to the BBC
- Relevance: making content that aims to appeal to all UK audiences not just monetizable groups
- Engagement: reaching and being used by the vast majority of UK audiences

In the future we will need to transform the BBC faster to deliver a compelling online offer.

We are working on how an IP BBC could be the best version of the BBC shaped around people’s interests and needs. A daily partner to your life, bringing the BBC together in a single offer with personalised combinations.  A world in which local news, areas of interest and hidden gems can be found more easily.  

Digital offers a huge opportunity to unlock more audience value but it requires big organisational change: a radical overhaul of how we use data, a heavyweight world-class tech team, new operating models, new creative solutions and ideas. Imagine news re-imagined for the iPlayer or increased functionality when watching the game online. 

We will be world-leading pioneers in this. No-one in the world has created a digitally led public service media company of scale and the global opportunity for us is there for the taking. 

Within the BBC this means significant change. We will have fewer brands overall, and consolidate more activity behind a simple, single brand in the UK: the BBC. And you’ll see this globally as well. We will also simplify sub-brands such as BBC News. You can see a first step in our bringing together of the BBC News Channel and BBC World News as one brand: BBC News. 

We will share more plans in this area in the coming months. 

Inevitably all this requires another choice and that is to actively, dare I say happily, invest in the BBC. 

Any transition of a legacy, broadcast organisation to a digital future needs capital. As the owner of even the biggest companies are finding out, it is not for the faint hearted. Moving to digital is not the challenge in of itself, moving to digital while not losing most of your audience and burning millions of pounds unnecessarily is the challenge.   

In the BBC we are privileged to have the Licence Fee until 27/28 but if you take the period 2010 to 2028, we forecast that core funding for the BBC  has been cut by a whopping 30%. Now my key metric is providing great audience value for that fee. But others have been driving up pricing and driving up media costs reducing the BBC’s ability to deliver great value. As we look to the 2030s, we are open minded about future funding mechanics. But we are clear that it is critical that we need a universal solution that fuels UK public service growth not stifles it while offering  audiences outstanding value for money.

Of course, the latest settlement did include the increased debt facility for BBC Studios which was welcome, and we are ambitious about its prospects. Alongside commercial plans, we will keep cutting costs to invest and attract more partner investment as well such as the latest deal we announced with Disney on Doctor Who.  But under the most ambitious scenarios, this will not change the need for serious public service investment.

And in the short term we will need more money to support the World Service to avoid further cuts and we will be discussing this with the FCDO. The Russians and Chinese are investing hundreds of millions in state backed services. We have a choice to make.

We will of course complement this world service growth with ambitious plans for BBC Studios.

The BBC is one of the most powerful and well recognised brands on the planet and we should be backing it. It’s as simple as that.

Lastly, we need to regulate for success at speed.

This is not a new theme. It’s no secret to anyone here that our legal and regulatory environment has not kept pace with the market. 

The Digital Markets Act, Online Safety Bill, the Data and Digital Identity Bill, and the Media Bill planned for this Parliament are essential. We need rules for the prominence, availability and inclusion of PSB content in new platforms, in video and audio. Organisations providing content need the detailed data that will be the lifeblood of success in the new world.  

But it cannot be right that we have to wait years for legislation to recognise change in our sector.  

So we need a regulatory framework that is proactive. It must be agile – able to respond without endless consultation and process. I am pleased that Ofcom is working in this area.  

Part of this is allowing the commercial arm to thrive and a regime that is ex post, not ex ante, responding to obvious harm when it occurs, not defining every possible negative outcome in advance and restricting UK innovation as a result.

So, in summary, four choices for our future. 

Move to an internet future with greater urgency

- Transform the BBC faster to have a clear, market leading role in the digital age
- Proactively invest in the BBC brand as a global leader
- Move faster in regulating for future success urgently
- Shaping the online future of the UK to work for all of us. To lead not to follow.  To grow.

Thank you.

Friday, June 3, 2022

Digital First: What's Next For BBC Brit, BBC Lifestyle And BBC Earth?

Last month, BBC Studios Director General Tim Dave unveiled plans to become a digital first service (as seen in Asia) with terminations of BBC World News and BBC Kids on the cards. Questions rise regarding the fate of the remaining stations BBC Lifestyle, BBC Earth and already discussed CBeebies.

BBC Lifestyle (alongside BBC World News to some extent) happen to be one of the longest running channels from BBC Studios. BBC Lifestyle served up food, home & design, fashion, health and personal development.

The channel became one of the top brands in South Africa for shows like Come Dine With Me, MasterChef, First Dates, Blackpool and Great British Bake Off.

 

Even after trading places with BBC Knowledge, Earth continues its road to stardom with natural history and wildlife with award winning documentaries like Planet Earth, Blue Planet, Horizon, Uprising and Life.

Unfortunately, not all channels from BBC Studios have something to look back on or feel accomplished by.

BBC Brit has been active in Africa for as long as BBC Earth when it launched as a replacement to BBC Entertainment's reality offering as BBC First handled scripted programming. Shows made available included Top Gear, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and The Graham Norton Show.

 

Over the years, BBC Brit had struggled to surpass its successor BBC Entertainment that even BBC Studios opted to scrap production of original content for the channel and put most of its efforts in sourcing mostly already seen content from other BBC stations.

Compared to the three, there's actually more reasons to boot BBC Brit but from what we've seen with BBC First. There's more reasons to believe BBC Lifestyle or Earth to go overboard.

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

BBC Upfront + Other Rumored Developments For DStv


BBC held a virtual upfront today to discuss details relating to the new agreement they had with MultiChoice and also unveil a bunch of programming for their channels. Here's the scoop (part of it mentioned earlier):
- MultiChoice made the decision to remove BBC First (they didn't mention it but it gave it away) and BBC is trying to get viewers hooked onto BBC Brit which will be the new hub for content that was available on First.
- BBC Brit will broadcast the new anthology miniseries, Small Axe this summer in South Africa. The 5-episode Small Axe drama series revolves around stories focused on the experience of black people in Britain, with the cast that includes John Boyega.
- Production of the latest 6th season of Come Dine with Me South Africa produced by Rapid Blue TV on BBC Lifestyle shut down because of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic but will restart soon for the last few episodes of the season that will then be shown.
- BBC Earth will broadcast Perfect Planet, with Sir David Attenborough as the narrator. Two new series filmed in Africa, will be Work On the Wild Side, and Waterhole: Africa's Animal Oasis. Other upcoming series include: Age of Nature and Ades Climate Pioneers.
- CBeebies which was available only on Premium and Compact+ will now be available on DStv Compact, Family and Access presumably around the time Disney XD stops airing on the platform.
- BBC Lifestyle will be available in high definition.

Rumored developments that have nothing to do with BBC:
- More channels are rumored to get pulled off these include regional channels.
- Nickelodeon will be open for a limited time to celebrate the launch of Danger Force.
Packages: Access, Family and Compact
- fliekNET will be available for 3 days in October.
Packages: Compact+
- M-Net Movies 2 will be open from 6:00-18:00
Packages: All packages
- EVA and National Geographic will be opened for a limited time
Packages: Access
- Telemundo will be added onto DStv Easyview from 19 October (with the deduction of new telenovelas it wouldn't shock me if it dropped from three to just two current telenovelas)
- SABC Education will be added soon you just need to wait on SABC to provide those details.
Packages: All packages
- There's been rumours that MultiChoice changed the availability for the 4 remaining channels before you'd need Compact to watch all 5 new channels now that's been adjusted in some markets. There's also been talks of expanding current channels.

Read Also:
- Limpopo launches first commercial channel
- KIX, the ultimate destination for action movies
- Is MultiChoice planning to remove EVA as well
Discovery EMEA streamlining channels
Zoomoo kiddies lineup
Scrapped channels on DStv - their status is still unknown

Tuesday, September 8, 2020

New Details Emerge About MultiChoice Deal With BBC + October Highlights

Following all the cancellations and pop-up channels over the year with MultiChoice. There's new details regarding the deal formed with BBC Studios:

1.The first fact is that BBC First stops airing on DStv and several programs will move onto M-Net and BBC Brit.

2. CBeebies which was available only on Premium and Compact+ will now be available on Compact, Family and Access. This comes at a time where viewers are losing Disney XD.

3. BBC Lifestyle will soon be available in HD

4. The deal involves additional Catch Up rights so more shows will be available on Catch Up, some as seasonal box sets.

No dates have been confirmed for these yet.
This from their statement about it:
The agreement sees the continuation of a number of the BBC’s award-winning British shows, including Strictly Come Dancing, Top Gear, EastEnders, Peaky Blinders and much more.
There’s also fresh content in the form of a brand-new seasons of Our Girl, Come Dine with Me South Africa, The Mallorca Files, Jamie Oliver’s Keep Cooking and Carry On, and The Graham Norton Show.
Viewers who are wildlife and nature enthusiasts can look forward to more landmark titles such as A Perfect Planet and The Waterhole: Africa’s Animal Oasis on BBC Earth.
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OCTOBER 2020 WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS
MasterChef series 16 (24 episodes)
Weekdays from Monday 5th October at 18:00 on BBC Lifestyle
More images available on request
One of BBC Lifestyle’s most popular cooking competitions is back with John and Greg ready to see who the next MasterChef will be…
Out of the thousands who applied, 60 hopeful amateur cooks have made it through to compete over five weeks of Heats. This year they will have to cook not only for their place in the competition but also the right to wear a coveted MasterChef apron. With six contestants in each Heat and only four aprons up for grabs, the battle is fierce from the offset.
The contestants get their first chance to win an apron by cooking their Signature Dish – a plate that tells John and Gregg about who they are as a cook and how good they can become. After tasting all six dishes, John and Gregg will pick their two favourites and those cooks will earn themselves not only a MasterChef apron, but also a place in the next round.

Return to the Wild series 2 (6 episodes)
From Monday 5th October at 19.00 on BBC Earth
Adventurer Ben Fogle revisits people who turned their backs on the rat-race to set up home in some of Earth’s most remote locations.
How have things panned out for the former war correspondent who became a grizzly bear guide in the Canadian wilderness? Or the former city fat cat turned jungle Tarzan in the swamplands of Georgia, USA? And what about the man whose tragic accident prompted a move to Australia’s notorious Tornado Alley? Ben finds out what’s changed for these compelling characters as he learns about the challenges they’ve faced since he first spent time with them. Is life in the wild still their ultimate dream?

Pointless series 23 (55 episodes)
Weekdays from Monday 5th October at 19.00 on BBC Brit
The brainy quiz returns for a twenty second series in which contestants try to score as few points as possible by plumbing the depths of their general knowledge to come up with the answers no-one else could think of. Presented by Alexander Armstrong and Co Host Richard Osman.

Eight Go Rallying (4 episodes)
From Wednesday 7th October at 20.00 on BBC Brit
Four celebrity duos are joining a group of intrepid classic car enthusiasts on the Endurance Rally Association’s ‘Road to Saigon’, travelling over 3000 km from Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand through Cambodia and Vietnam. The series follows them over three countries and over 3000 km as they endure crashes and break downs as well as experiencing the sights and sounds of three fascinating countries.
Each pair has been given their own rally-prepped classic car, with no sat nav, no air-conditioning and no in car entertainment. Together, they must take on some of the most challenging roads in the world, spending hours together in stifling 40 degree heat. What will they make of their first taste of endurance rallying? Will their relationships survive this formidable test?
Motoring enthusiast Noel Edmonds and wife make-up artist Liz Edmonds are in a classic MGB GT. Spandau Ballet pop star- turned-actor Martin Kemp and wife, Wham! backing singer Shirlie have a 1972 Mini. Mother-and-daughter team cookery expert Andi Oliver and TV presenting daughter Miquita Oliver have the oldest car - a 1959 Morris Minor, and grime star Tinchy Stryder and Rizzle Kicks rapper Jordan Stephens have been given a sky blue Hillman Imp.
Have they got what it takes to make it all the way to the finish line?

Crusades (3 episodes)
From Friday 9th October at 19:00 on BBC Earth
Bloody and brutal, the Crusades were meant to be the religious wars to end all others. Except they didn’t, and in modern times, their history has been hijacked by politics and religious fervour, with both Muslim and Western worlds misunderstanding the truth. This series sets out to shed new light on these legendary wars, and re-analyse the romanticised, idealised history to find out what really happened eight centuries ago, through detailed archaeology, and fresh scrutiny of ancient sites and long discarded eyewitness testimony.

The School That Tried End Racism (2 episodes)
From Tuesday 13th October at 19:00 on BBC Earth
This gripping documentary series follows a British school which helps its students uncover and eradicate racial biases. The two-part programme explores how these hidden differences can affect us all and as well as what we can do to tackle them. In the first episode, the students are tested for unconscious racial bias, with two best friends receiving surprising results. Elsewhere, the classmates explore white privilege and a white British student is shocked to hear her black classmates’ experiences of racism.

Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond The Lobby series 3 set 1 (3 episodes)
From Thursday 15th October at 20:00 on BBC Lifestyle
Check into more of the world’s most awe-inspiring hotels as this fun, aspirational hit series returns. These fantastic locations represent the zenith of luxury and the ultimate in customer care.
Fancy a visit to a Macau hotel with one of the world’s largest indoor gardens? Or an opulent palace magically set in an Indian lake? Presenters Giles Coren and Monica Galetti roll up their sleeves and learn how hard the staff work in these incredible locations.

Jamie Oliver Keep Cooking and Carry On (20 episodes)
From Monday 19th October at 20:00 on BBC Lifestyle
In these unprecedented times, Jamie sets out to help, sharing some incredible recipes that make the most of your kitchen staples.  With ingenious ideas on what to do with those panicked pantry purchases and forgotten frozen food, he’ll offer us new ideas on what to cook with the simple ingredients you’ve got to hand and what to swap out if you haven’t.

Friday, June 19, 2020

August 2020 On BBC Africa | Warrior Woman | We Hunt Together | Agatha Raisin | Flirting Dancing | More

As the UK's leading international television broadcaster, BBC Studios operates a diverse portfolio of channels around the world, bringing the best British factual, entertainment, children's and lifestyle programming this August.

·       Channels are as follows: BBC Brit 119, BBC Lifestyle 174, BBC Earth 184, BBC First 119

W/c 3rd August

Warrior Woman With Lupita Nyong'o

Monday 3rd August at 19:00 on BBC Earth (1 episode)

Lupita Nyong’o is about to discover the Warrior Women’s incredible secrets.

In this immersive and epic TV documentary, with extraordinary and unique access, Oscar®-winning actress, author, and producer Lupita Nyong’o journeys across Benin, West Africa to uncover the remarkable truth behind the women who helped to inspire the Dora Milaje of Marvel’s film Black Panther.

She discovers that an army of African female fighters actually existed in West Africa and are still remembered there as the ‘Agoji’—or as Europeans labelled them, the ‘Amazons’. As she exclusively reveals in a powerful, emotional, and epic road trip, these real-life warrior women, in armies 4,000 strong, fought African and European powers alike from the 17th to the 19th centuries in the Kingdom of Dahomey, centred in the modern-day country of Benin.

Beautifully shot, this is a searing story of both the past and the present.

We Hunt Together – not confirmed yet

From Wednesday 5th August at 20.00 on BBC First (6 episodes)

We Hunt Together is an audacious new drama about what happens when two profoundly damaged people collide and finally speak the unspoken, giving each other permission and reason to act out their most violent compulsions. A brave new take on a classic cat and mouse story, We Hunt Together explores the intoxication of sexual attraction, the dangerous power of emotional manipulation and how finding a volatile form of solace in another can have dire consequences for those who dare to get in the way.

Freddy (Hermione Corfield) is magnetic, highly intelligent, disarmingly charming…and she might just be a psychopath. Baba (Dipo Ola), on the other hand, is vulnerable, compassionate yet damaged former child soldier, whose chance encounter with Freddy turns his world upside down. He’s desperate to suppress his predisposition for extreme violence, but the pair’s lust for each other takes over and creates a truly deadly duo. Meanwhile, DS Lola Franks (Eve Myles) and DI Jackson Mendy (Babou Ceesay) face their own unconventional relationship, as the pair get thrown together to work on a high-profile murder case and try to catch the killers. Jackson and Lola’s differing opinions cause conflict during their investigation, as does Lola’s inability to deal with her own demons which have the potential to push them both to breaking point.

A psychological thriller and a romance, it explores the dangerous power of desire, what happens when two profoundly damaged people meet and reawaken their latent capacity for violence, and finally, what happens when the honeymoon period is over.

The Persians: A History of Iran

From Friday 7th August at 19.00 on BBC Earth (3 episodes)

Discover the complex and fascinating history of Persia, the world’s first empire.

This series reveals historical and cultural sites across Iran that few westerners have ever seen. Learn about the Shahnameh, one of the most important books in Iran’s history, used by kings as propaganda, but also modern-day Iranians as a way of connecting with their Persian heritage. And see the ancient Zoroastrian fire temple, home to a fire said to have been burning for over 1,500 years. Welcome to a world of kings and invaders, epic poets, and exceptional artists.

Agatha Raisin (Season 3)

From Friday 7th August at 20.00 on BBC First (8 episodes)

Starring Emmy®-nominated actress Ashley Jensen (Catastrophe, Extras, Ugly Betty) and based on MC Beaton’s best-selling novels, season three once again follows a London PR whizz turned amateur sleuth, who becomes entangled in mischief, mayhem, and murder when she opts for early retirement in a small village in the Cotswolds. Drawn into various mysteries, Agatha attempts to solve the crimes… often in rather unorthodox and amusing ways.

Flirty Dancing (Season 2)

From Sunday 9th August at 20.00 on BBC Lifestyle (6 episodes)

Ashley Banjo returns to front the innovative and feel-good hit that puts old school romance back into modern dating as he attempts to plays cupid with a raft of hopeless romantics looking to find love on the dancefloor. Each episode will see him match two couples and choreograph bespoke dance dates that allow them to get to know each other in a totally unique way. They won’t talk, they just dance, and when the music stops they’ll walk away without saying a word. Based purely on the chemistry they feel in the dance, they must then decide if there’s enough of a spark to want to see each other again.

W/c 10th August

Simon Reeve’s Sacred Rivers

From Monday 10th August at 20.00 on BBC Earth (3 episodes)

History, adventure and travelogue combine as Simon Reeve explores three of the world’s major rivers: the Nile, Yangtze and Ganges.

Through the stories of the people who live alongside these great waterways, he uncovers their vast influence, and reveals how they unite, and divide, some of the most extraordinary parts of the world. Travel from the twin temples of Abu Simbel to the Nile delta; down the Yangtze from the giant Buddha of Leshen to the Three Gorges Dam and on to Shanghai; and along the great mother Ganges in a world caught between ancient traditions and astonishing modernity. Full of wonder and breathtaking, magisterial landscapes, Simon Reeve’s Sacred Rivers is a potent mix of revelation and hands-on adventure - a riot of colour, extraordinary spectacle and unexpected encounters.

The Great Pottery Throw Down (Season 3)

From Monday 10th August at 20.00 on BBC Lifestyle (8 episodes)

Melanie Sykes is at the potter’s wheel as the new host, as 12 passionate home potters compete to be crowned the nation’s best.

Master potter Keith Brymer Jones returns as judge, alongside award-winning ceramicist Sue Pryke. Each week the potters face two potting challenges to impress the resident judging duo, as well as guest experts from the world of pottery. The potters tackle everything from homeware to toilets before the judges ultimately decide who becomes Potter of the Week, and who must be sent home. Inspired by and inspiring a new craze for creativity, The Great Pottery Throw Down delights in showing ordinary people creating extraordinary things.

Reggie Yates Meets World

From Thursday 13th August at 20:00 on BBC Brit (4 episodes)

Young people, facing uncertain futures, are being tempted with new ways to better their lives. In this series Reggie Yates enters these worlds to see if they deliver on their promises, or if they have a darker side.

Episode 1: Reggie meets SPAC Nation

With knife crime at all-time high, a new London church is offering young people in gangs a way out of crime. And they don’t hide from controversy, as Reggie Yates finds out during his week with SPAC Nation.

Episode 2: Reggie Meets Pro-Gamers

Playing computer games has moved out of teenage bedrooms and into vast arenas where gamers battle it out for fame and fortune. But with young players devoting their lives to gaming and so many hoping to go professional, Reggie heads to Dallas find out the reality of living and chasing the ESPORTS dream.

Episode 3: Reggie Meets Nollywood

Reggie Yates travels to Lagos, Nigeria to see for himself how the burgeoning film industry, Nollywood, is seen as a way out of poverty in a country with the biggest wealth divide in the world.

Episode 4: Reggie Meets The Influencers

Social media influencers are the new Celebrity and with this fame comes the pressure to keep up. Reggie Yates spends a week in LA to find out how willing influencers are to go under the knife in search of the beauty perfection.

Around the World by Train (season 2)

From Thursday 13 August at 19.00 on BBC Earth (6 episodes)

Tony Robinson is back for whole new epic railway adventure.

He is re-joining the rails and heading around the world again but this time in the opposite direction and through new counties for an eye opening experience. He’ll be heading off the beaten track to see cities and places around globe in his own style. Forget your typical tourist trail, Tony will be doing this his way and stopping to experience things that grab his attention.

He’ll be immersing himself in wonderful local cultures and getting to know the fascinating people he encounters, from French cowboys and Mexican wrestlers to Argentine tango dancers and American Hip Hop clowns. He’ll be doing all this while riding the most luxurious, unusual and spectacular rail routes on earth and stopping off at breath taking places like Machu Picchu. Whether it’s Europe like you’ve never seen it before or a fascinating journey through South America, he’ll be travelling the globe to bring Mexico, USA to Canada and Russia right to your living room.

Primates

From Sunday 16th August at 16.00 on BBC Earth (3 episodes)

From the makers of Planet Earth II and Blue Planet II…

Monkeys, lemurs, lorises, bush babies and, of course, the great apes. Countless faces, one remarkable animal family.

Captured with BBC Studios Natural History Unit’s signature style, with immersive cinematography, emotional storytelling and new insight into the animals we thought we knew, Primates combines celebration with revelation. We meet familiar primates with new stories and new species  rarely seen on screen.

Chris Packham narrates the definitive series about our closest relatives.

At the heart of this ground-breaking series is incredible animal behaviour. New technology has captured primates on their level and in their world, whether that’s in the treetops of a flooded forest, or the tangled undergrowth of the Sri Lankan night.

Semi-Detached

From Friday 21st August at 20.40 on BBC Brit (6 episodes)

Real-time sitcom following the hapless Stuart (Lee Mack) as he struggles through the worst half hour of his life.

When his new girlfriend April (Ellie White) goes into labour, Stuart quickly finds himself having to rely on his ex-wife Kate (Sam Spiro) to get her to hospital. As Stuart thinks he’s getting a handle on the situation, he is forced to deal with a sexually promiscuous father (Clive Russell), a daughter with a newly-shaved head (Sarah Hoare) and the surprise return of his errant brother (Neil Fitzmaurice), who is on the run from some very unsavoury types. And that’s before Stuart has to enlist the help of one tipsy neighbour (Geoff McGivern) to help with another neighbour (Patrick Baladi), who he finds naked and the victim of a DIY circular saw accident.

Saturday, November 11, 2017

BBC Worldwide To Stop Commissioning Original Content For BBC Earth And BBC Brit

BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, is reportedly ending the commissioning of original content for its set of international BBC channels like BBC Earth and BBC Brit seen on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform in South Africa and Africa.

Deadline on Tuesday first reported about BBC Worldwide's overhauled channel strategy for its BBC channels that includes a cutback on the commissioning on original content for channels like BBC Earth (DStv 184) and BBC Brit (DStv 120).

While in 2017 BBC Brit and BBC Earth for instance broadcast over 50 hours of originally commissioned content, that is now going to be completely eliminated.

BBC Worldwide's channels will now be filled with existing programming that's already being distributed by BBC Worldwide, like Planet Earth II for instance.

A BBC Worldwide spokesperson said in a statement that "our global network of
branded services has grown and evolved since 2014 - with their commissioning strategies also adapting to best fit their content needs."
"As a result, much of the resource put into delivering global factual entertainment has been redirected towards meeting a growing demand for formats and factual entertainment that can be localized".

BBC Earth is available in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Canada and India.

BBC Brit is available in Africa, Eastern Europe and the Nordic territories.