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BBC Worldwide chief outlines new strategy for content investment, new channel brands and doubling online reach to 500m people

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By Stephen Lepitak, -

October 18, 2013 | 4 min read

BBC Worldwide is to grow its content investment by £200m as it begins a new strategy of to build the BBC’s brands and audiences, as well as its commercial successes, around the world, while also introducing three new brands and striving for greater digital innovation.

Tim Davie, CEO of BBC Worldwide outlined his vision for the organisation, stating that BBC Worldwide has “a good track record” of developing British content and selling it to an international audience, but that it was time for “ a step-change” to reflect development in its markets.

“We will invest more into the unique content that powers everything we do, and realise the full potential of the BBC brand with audiences around the world,” he explained.

The increase will be by £30m a year and will see the organisation also aim to work closer with BBC Productions, independent producers and its own production base, by including more ‘first-look’ deals and funded commissions for its own channels, as well as turning to co-productions and non-linear channel content development.

Having recently announced that it would become a principal co-production partner for the Natural History Unit, BBC Worldwide will also invest in a new drama series commissioned by BBC America and BBC Worldwide Productions, called Intruders.

“Significantly higher content investment will underpin BBC Worldwide’s third party sales, as well as our own BBC branded services. As part of our ambition to take high quality BBC and British content to the widest possible audience, we also intend to expand and upgrade our successful flagship annual global sales event. BBC Showcase 2014 will be bigger and better than ever, with record buyer numbers,” Davie continued.

Another element of the new strategy will see the introduction of three new genre brands within BBC Worldwide’s portfolio, which will be introduced through non-linear digital service launches and re-brands from next year in order to open up new consumer connections, although BBC America and other channel brands in overseas markets will be maintained.

The company’s premium factual content brand will be known as BBC Earth, while BBC First will provide premium drama and programming, debuting on Australian platform Foxtel from next August, while one more brand aimed at a mail audience will be announced in the coming months.

Over the next three years, the corporation’s international website, BBC.com, will be ‘transformed’ to support the goal of doubling the BBC’s reach to 500 million people by 2022, with more focus on video content and bringing all commercial online platforms together.

A long-form video player will be introduced, while the current iPlayer app trial across 16 countries will not be extended into any new markets, with the platform being integrated into the new website in time.

“The plans outlined today for the next phase of BBC Worldwide’s development will underpin our success over the next three years and beyond. They combine an increased commitment to content investment with new BBC content brands alongside a more powerful and unified digital engine. Taken together, these three investment priorities will serve to grow the BBC’s footprint across the world, both via our own services and our important third party sales, resulting in greater access by audiences to BBC and British content and sustainable cash flows back to the BBC,” Davie continued.

Earlier this month, the BBC’s new director general, Lord Tony Hall outlined his vision for the BBC, with the iPlayer proving central to his digital ambitions. In September, the BBC announced that iPlayer had grown to reach 234 million monthly requests.

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