BBC take over Aussie UKTV channel

[Bob The Skutter]

I thought some of our Aussie poster might be interested in this.

With the recent rumours, I wonder if this is a prelude to them buying the UKTV Network in Britain too.

BBC Worldwide has taken full control of Australian channel UKTV ahead of a major expansion of the broadcaster's television offerings in the country.

The BBC's commercial arm has purchased the 80% of UKTV that it did not already own from Foxtel and FremantleMedia.

It plans to work closely with Foxtel, the Telstra-News Corporation-Consolidated Media joint venture that operates television channels and pay TV platforms, on the launch of BBC Knowledge and CBeebies in Australia. The two firms already worked together on the launch of BBC HD earlier this month, and BBC World News is already available on Foxtel's digital TV service.


...


"Having five channels will allow us to showcase the breadth and depth of BBC programmes, in many cases for the first time, to Australian audiences. In addition, we will continue to seek new opportunities for future growth in this region.

"We are delighted to be launching two new services in 2009 from our Australian base and believe BBC Knowledge and CBeebies will be as popular with the Australian viewing public as they have with our other global audiences. The channels reflect all that the BBC stands for in originality, quality and entertainment."

 

[Australis]

I like the sound of that. My day usually starts with BBC World News, and they would have such a huge archive to draw on, it's only good for us.

 

[The Squire of Gothos]

Good news for Ozzies then, I hope its something that will fund itself though.

With regards the British UKTV channels, one heck of an excuse for repeats, maybe it might clear out the primary channels for more original content.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

Good news for Ozzies then, I hope its something that will fund itself though.

With regards the British UKTV channels, one heck of an excuse for repeats, maybe it might clear out the primary channels for more original content.

Yeah, anything done by BBC Worldwide is commercial, and the profits are actually returned to the BBC, so it actually helps fund the BBC here.

BBC Worldwide already own 50% of the UKTV Network, they're just looking at taking over the other 50%, but their lending limit is making it look unlikely unless they can get some investors.

 

[Marc]

Could get BBC overload Foxtel is now carrying the BBC HD channel.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

Could get BBC overload Foxtel is now carrying the BBC HD channel.

I'm guessing UK.TV is just a showcase channel of Drama and comedy from any British channels, while BBC HD is like our version of BBC HD, which is sort of a "Best of" channel. While BBC Knowledge will be a documentary channel, and Cbeebies is a pre-school channel. So the only one that will really overlap in terms of content will be BBC HD?

 

[captcalhoun]

The UKTV network in Britain is co-owned by Virgin and BBC and they already broadcast tons of BBC re-runs (like incessant runs of Last of the Summer Wine, Question of Sport and As Time Goes By), there's not a lot more they CAN show...

 

[Bob The Skutter]

The UKTV network in Britain is co-owned by Virgin and BBC and they already broadcast tons of BBC re-runs (like incessant runs of Last of the Summer Wine, Question of Sport and As Time Goes By), there's not a lot more they CAN show...

Yeah, but they're starting a new premium channel, with original content later this year, and rebranding all the existing channels. UKTV Gold have a USTV Gold strand now, I guess they're looking to broaden their horizons.