Multinationalism - Audio-Visual

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About BBC Worldwide Limited

BBC Worldwide Limited is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC which was formed out of restructuring of their predecessor BBC Enterprises in 1995. The company which exploits BBC brands, sells BBC and a lot of other British programming so that it can be broadcasted abroad with the aim of getting the income from the BBC through the licence fee.

History

The BBC has also produced additional material for sales as well as broadcasting. The profits would return to the corporation so that it can aide in the financing of these services. The highest profile of these early products were listed in the Radio Times Magazine, however the money they got in return only equated to 10% of the total BBC income.

Before 1979 there were several BBC departments which dealt with the exploitation of the sale of BBC brands and also their programmes. The BBC Publication which produced books, magazines and other materials expanded rapidly in the late 1960s but it also had some difficulties with the finances. In 1974 the division made a loss of £14,000. This was changed as the economic situation eased and by 1982 they made a profit of £4.7 million. The BBC Transcription Services also licences BBC Radio material to broadcasters overseas.

The exploit of television programmes were handled in 1958 with the business manager post. This then expanded gradually until the establishment of the Television Promotion (renamed later Television Enterprises) department in the 1930 under a general manager. During their first year the department saw the sale of 550 programmes overseas and a turnover of £234,000. and then a further 1,200 programmes which were sold the following year. There were radio programmes which were only exploited on the same level with the creation of the Radio Enterprises Department in 196s. The retirement of the Radio Enterprises general manager in 1969, the two department were then merged so that they can form BBC Enterprises department.

In 1991 BBC World Service Television became the first BBC show to be commercially funded after the Foreign Office refused to pay for it. BBC Enterprises Ltd was then subsequently reorganised in 1995 as BBC Worldwide Ltd. There was also a review of the BBC’s commercial activities which took place in 2004 and was then concluded so that they can sell of all of the BBC Worldwide assets which were not advantageous as the keeping of the business and driving them forward and harder. There were then some changes to its remit, focus, structure and governance that were made.

In 2004, BBC Video was merged with VCI so that they could form 2 Entertain which was then part owned with BBC Worldwide. The following year the company then sold Eve magazine to the Haymarket Group and then in 2006 BBC Books was then sold to the publisher Random House.

In January 2009 it was then announced that Ofcom put forward a recommendation that they will merge with either Channel 4, Five or BBC Worldwide. The prefered partnership with Channel 4 was then later confirmed with the Chief Executive Andy Duncan who then added "We're in discussions with BBC Worldwide at the moment and they're really very exciting."

In that same year the company were then awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in recognition of the companies success and growth.

In 2012 the company then began to reorganise their divisions from a product based system to a location based system which resulted in Jana Bennett leaving the company.

Operations

BBC Worldwide is responsible for a lot of commercial activities, which are primarily connected in some way or another to the output and the public purpose of the main BBC. At present the business is then divided into five operating business which then cover the entire operations of the company. These are:

• Channels
• Content and Productions
• Brands, Consumers and New Ventures
• Consumer Products
• Sales and Distributions
• The Channels Division was formed in 2005 and it is also the company’s largest generator of revenue and growth. It also operates the broadcasting of several international channels and domestic Networks. These include:
• BBC America
• BBC Canada – 20% with Shaw Media
• BBC Indonesia
• BBC Entertainment
• BBC HD
• BBC Kids – 20% with Knowledge Network Corporation
• BBC Knowledge
• BBC Lifestyle
• CBeebies
• British UKTV network of 10 channels – 50% with Scripps Networks Interactive
• BBC UKTV in Australia and New Zealand
• Distributes BBC World News

The Content and Production division was formed in 2006 and invests the company’s money into new productions by both the BBC and also other independent productions. It also exploits the formats of BBC programme and then change them so that they can be suitable for an international audience.  An example of this is Strictly Come Dancing became Dancing with the Stars which then maximized revenues by receiving a production fee from the local broadcaster as well as a sum from selling the initial re-versioning rights. The division also works alongside the Sales and Distribution division when then sells the broadcasting rights to the completed programmes which are made by the BBC and also other broadcasters. The two other divisions of the company deal with the individual programme bands. Global Brands focuses on the international identity and recognition of the brand and then Consumer Products division provide a variety of goods which are then based around these brands.

Assets and Brands

• Owns video publishing company 2 Entertain with products dual branded 2 Entertain and BBC.
• Owns Demon Music Group.
• Operates the BBC Shop.
• Operates the BBC Motion Gallery.
• 25% stake in production company Left Bank Pictures.
• 25% stake in Cliffhanger Productions independent production company.
• 25% stake in BBC Children's Books, an imprint of Penguin Group who hold a 75% stake.
• 15% stake in BBC Audiobooks, with other 85% owned by AudioGo. Published by AudioGo under the BBC Audiobooks or BBC Audio brands.
• Minority share in BBC Books, with Random House Group taking majority share. Books published using BBC Books brand.
• Minority stake in BBC Active, with Pearson PLC taking the majority share. The brand publishes educational material.

These activities allow BBC Worldwide to return profits and also dividends to the BBC and also reinvest in their broadcasting operations. In 2007/08 BBC Worldwide invested £75.1m in in-house and also independent programmes which were commissioned by the BBC. The BBC, however has often been criticised for the amount of money that they make from BBC Worldwide. There are also some commercial rivals protest at the advantage of the company which has been associated with and also been able to exploit the programme catalogue and the resources of the BBC so that they can provide their goods and services.

BBC Online

BBC Online is the name of and the home of the BBC’s UK online service. It is a large network of websites which includes very high profile sites such as BBC News and Sport. There is also an on-demand video and radio services which were co-branded BBC iPlayer, the pre-school site CBeebies and also learning services such as Bitesize. The BBC has also had an online presence in supporting their TV and radio programmes and web-only initiatives since 1994 but they didn’t launch officially until December 1997 when it gained government approval so that it can be funded by TV licence fee revenue as a service in their own right. Throughout their short history, the online plans of the BBC have been subject to harassment from their rivals which have resulted in many different public consultations and also government reviews so that they can investigate their claims that their large presence and also with public funding distorts the UK market.

The website has also gone through a lot of different branding changes since it was launched. It was originally called BBC Online and then it was rebranded as BBCi before then being renamed bbc.co.uk. It was then branded BBC Online again in 2008.

Multinationalism - EastEnders

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Task One

Eastenders is shown in UK, New Zealand, America, Holland, Africa, Canada and other various European countries. We found 79 countries in 10 minutes. We didn't expect to find this many countries, because we didn't realise that this many countries would be familiar with the British cultures. Yes, for example the vast amount of African nations, that may or may not use English as one of their national languages.

Task Two

We believe it is shown in other countries because it gives other nationalities an insight into our national values. The types of people that watch Eastenders tend to be at opposite ends of the cultural spectrum. They may find it interesting to see what different stereotypes and vocal messages the show puts across about the British culture.

Task Three

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It is watched on their national terrestrial television channels. It is watched on various international channels, such as ABC TV, TVNZ, VisionTV and Prime. It is available on websites in other countries for examples 4OD can be viewed internationally. You can watch it on your tv, computer, laptop, phone, mp4 and tablet. Yes because not all of the countries speak the English language.

Extension Activity

Britain is represented as a working class, politically influenced unstable country. From watching this you would know that the British like to socialize in specific meeting areas for example the pub (Queen Vic).

Areas to Consider

There is a wide majority of age groups ranging to newborns to the elderly people. There are a vast amount of religions represented in Eastenders due to the increase in multinational cultures migrating to the UK. There are a wide range of ethnicity and nationalities represented in Eastenders such as British Africans, British Asians and British Caribbean (Patrick Truman). There are wide ranges of jobs mainly lower class due to the Characters surroundings. The character’s happiness varies due to unfortunate events which happen in the programme. They go to the pub to socialize with friends.