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BBC

BBC puts programme archives on sale in massive e-commerce drive – but promises it won’t affect Netflix ties

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By Jennifer Faull, Deputy Editor

November 5, 2015 | 5 min read

The BBC is quicking efforts to keep pace with the likes of Amazon, Apple and Netflix in the VOD rush with the full roll out of a new service to allow people to permanently download programmes from its archives.

Under increasing pressure to better monetise its services, the BBC has been working on the Store launch for the past 12 months in a bid to wrangle more commercial income to supplement the licence fee. The result is a service that will make it really easy for people to buy, keep and watch digital copies of BBC shows.

After registering on bbcstore.com, users can buy from a selection of recently broadcast shows and older programmes from its archives as well as exclusive content that hasn’t been made available elsewhere.

It has also been integrated with BBC iPlayer, with content older than 30 days or related to something someone has searched appearing with the option to buy directly within the site. Any purchases will be stored in the new ‘My Programmes’ section.

This initially raised eyebrows, with the argument posed that licence fee payers have already “paid” for the content. However the BBC’s has paid attention to the labelling and comms to cement the idea that a download is akin to buying a DVD.

At launch, over 7,000 hours of content across its most popular genres (drama, factual and children’s entertainment) had been curated into themed hubs with a view to adding half as much again in the next year. The service will use its audience on Facebook and Twitter to gauge which programmes to prioritise.

“This is the start of a journey not just to open up the BBC’s archives but to create new revenues for the creative industry. There’s been less than 10 per cent of the BBC’s archive available to buy,” said Marcus Arthur, managing director of BBC Worldwide.

“BBC Worldwide is probably the second or third biggest DVD supplier in the UK but we know that business has halved in the past two years, so this gives the opportunity to update that.”

The move pulls the BBC further into competing with Amazon and iTunes as well as streaming services like Netflix which already carry many of its most popular titles. While it might be reasonable to think that the BBC would look to remove content from potential rivals to encourage people to buy through its store, Arthur said that it will continue to work with streaming services and retailers. It will however look to “stay competitive” on pricing and match deals on titles that people will find elsewhere.

“We believe BBC Store will grow the overall ownership market with three things; this is the most comprehensive archive available, we’re making it easy for heavy DVD users to switch to this service, and we’ll be putting exclusive content on there. We believe these three things will grow the download-to-own marketplace.”

"So no, I will not take down content already on streaming services like Amazon and Netflix. People may use both, people might prefer one. But for us they are two seperate marketplaces. This is not about s-vod. This is about download and ownership.”

Revenue targets

It comes after figures released earlier this year suggested that BBC Worldwide would increase its returns to the BBC by “more than 15 per cent” over the next five years.

Its branded content division and internal studio are among the pioneering projects to achieve the £1.2bn goal and, although he declined to go into detail, Arthur said the e-commerce division will go some way to boosting its returns.

This will be limited however as the Store will only be available to UK audiences. Arthur stressed that there are no plans to roll out internationally as it instead looks to create a streaming service to target its large viewer base in the US, although a launch date is still unknown.

Driving Awareness

The marketing drive will run with the tagline ‘the unmissable, now ownable’ tagline and will see the corporation invest in social media in order to generate awareness. A video featuring some of the broadcaster's most popular faces – such as Doctor Who star Peter Capaldi – talking about the why they like it and what shows they would download is set to run across its major media platforms.

A two-week promotion offering people 25 per cent off their first order aims to do much of the heavy lifting in the early stages.

Readying itself for the Christmas season, consumers can also buy a Gift Card to which can be pre-loaded and redeemed against dowloads. It will be sold through major high-street retailers including Asda, Sainsbury's and WHSmith.

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