BBC Studios is eyeing growth in the international streaming space and acquisitions could be incoming, its CEO said today.
Speaking to press at the BBC Studios Showcase, Tom Fussell spoke of “opportunities for inorganic growth” that could be incoming akin to its full acquisition of BritBox International from ITV two years back.
In a wide-ranging chat to press, Fussell and BBC Studios global content boss Zai Bennett also addressed the Netflix-Warner-Paramount deal, microdrama and the continued success of Bluey.
“There are opportunities for inorganic growth in streaming across genres,” said Fussell. “I think we have a right as the home of British streaming to grow that even further. You [the press] will be the first to read about it and get briefed on it when it does happen, although these opportunities do take time.”
Fussell pointed out that the BritBox buy was two years ago and the acquisition of channel group UKTV was a few years before that, hinting that now could be the time for the next one.
“We have a very good, high-powered board of directors who advise us on these things,” said Fussell, who praised BBC Studios chair Damon Buffini for providing experience in the M&A space, although Buffini’s term is about to end.
“The oppportunities are there, whether you can always find a willing buyer and willing seller at the same time, well that’s the trick,” said Fussell.
BBC Studios runs BritBox in North America and several other territories along with documentary streamer BBC Select. Streaming and direct-to-consumer has become a crucial cog in its machine as returns to the BBC public purse have become ever more important.
Fussell was asked for his view on the big M&A story of the year, Netflix-Warners. He said mega consolidation is reflective of how “market growth going forwards is not going to be anything like the five years prior to peak TV.”
“When you start seeing rumors upon rumors about takeovers and consolidation, that normally is testament to the fact there isn’t huge amounts of growth in the market, because everyone’s looking for synergies,” he added. “But we know where we want to be investing in the global expansion of our studio to increase the scale of our free streaming in the States, and to work with partners and develop more IP.”
Deficit financing from BBC Studios had been a vital part of the BBC’s attempt to overcome the co-pro crisis that hit scripted when Americans stopped funding British high-end drama after the labor strikes. Speaking to Deadline this morning, BBC drama boss Lindsay Salt said the corporation has now “weathered that storm” and Bennett concurred several hours later, saying there are “green shoots” leading to a “new normal” and pointing to more co-pro money from big American players like Paramount.
Fussell said this “new normal” comes at a crucial time, with new CEOs at Channel 4 and Paramount-owned Channel 5. “Public Service broadcasters are unique because they’re really venture capital for the UK,” he added. “They don’t own the rights. The producers own the rights. They can export those things and create jobs around the UK.”
Fussell called for improvements to tax credits, which many across the entertainment sector have been urging for the past couple of years.
Distribution on YouTube is a major talking point at the Showcase and London TV Screenings this week and the BBC just struck a landmark deal with the platform.
“Everyone needs a strategy to be on ad-funded platforms and YouTube is the biggest,” added Fussell. “We’re very clear with ours and the BBC group itself is now clear with what it wants to do.”
Fussell rejected the notion that putting more content on YouTube will be a turn-off for producers who want to exploit their rights.
“We’ve always been windowing content, geoblocking if we need to to respect rights holders,” he said. “So I think that’s in the DNA of this organization. You work out all those different windows and where things are best monetized.”
Fussell pointed out that BBC Studios has been leveraging YouTube for years and channels like Bluey, its most valuable property, now has more than 20 million followers across platforms.
Fussell was recently in Australia watching the Bluey movie shoot and he said the team wants to look at IP opportunities for BBC Studios’ other big properties or explore sub-licensing deals. He didn’t elaborate on which properties, but Bennett pointed to BBC Studios Kids & Family’s deal with Zog producer Magic Light Pictures last year, which has seen it take international distribution rights to Zog.
Fussell and Bennett were promoting BBC Studios content at the Showcase including Blue Planet III, Channel 4 thriller Deadpoint from Baby Reindeer maker Clerkenwell Films and new format Secret Genius.
Bennett is also interested in the microdrama space, which is a big focus of this week’s MIP London, running concurrently to the BBC Studios Showcase.
He said the BBC Studios continuing drama team, which makes the likes of EastEnders and Casualty, “are amazing at storytelling at a lower cost and higher volume,” which could lend itself to microdrama.
“We are definitely investigating,” he added. “And with AI we are looking at what we can do in terms of drama documentary reconstructions. We will be talking about microdramas in the coming months.”
Over the weekend, we explored why microdramas haven’t yet taken off with TV’s traditional sales houses.
