Chief exec Tom Fussell talks up direct-to-consumer strategy as Showcase gets underway
BBC Studios is looking at acquisitions to expand its North American direct-to-consumer operations, as the organisation aims to become the “home of British streaming” globally.
That tagline was used by chief exec Tom Fussell this morning at the start of BBC Studios Showcase in London, where more than 750 buyers have assembled to view and buy shows from the organisation.
BBCS operates drama-skewing BritBox and documentary-focused BBC Select in the US, with both services recently being brought together under a premium tier costing $149.99 a month.
In response to a question from Broadcast International, Fussell said that the company was exploring opportunities to build on its offerings, adding that “becoming the home of British streaming and British content is exactly where we’re heading.”
Fussell noted the increasing “opportunities for inorganic growth” around streaming and said he believed BBCS “has a right as the home of British streaming to grow that even further,” describing DTC as “crucial” to the business.
He added that BBCS has “fantastic capabilities” in the region under Robert Schildhouse, recently upped to become chief exec of direct to consumer, pointing to the “incredible success” of taking full ownership of BritBox following a deal with former partner ITV Studios.
“I joined 10 years ago when the organisation was solely a distributor,” he continued.
“Since then we have completely transformed from being in the middle of the value chain to now having Zai [Bennett] running Global Content including an integrated distributor with a global footprint, and then the streaming services with some networks at the other end of the value chain.”
Bennett, who was promoted to become chief exec and chief creative officer at Global Content earlier this month, outlined his creative strategy to Broadcast earlier this month and said today that BBCS is also looking to expand its production capablities in EMEA.
Bennett said he was seeing “solid organic growth” across genres and added that there would be more “creative investment” coming in the form of deals such as the Brian Welsh deal, revealed by Broadcast earlier today.
“In terms of our global production footprint, we’re going to look at more growth and… look at where we’re slightly underweight in EMEA.
“We’re good in France, great in Germany, brilliant in Australia and LA, but we’re looking at the rest of EMEA and considering where we should expand that footprint. [Brutal Media in] Spain has done really well too.”
Microdrama future & US copro return
Bennett also touched on the booming vertical video market and suggested BBCS was exploring a move into the short-form genre.
“Our continuing drama producers are amazing at producing storytelling at a relatively lower cost and higher volume. With AI, we’re imagining what we can do with drama doc reconstructions and microdramas, we’re definitely thinking about them and what can we do there.
“We’ll be talking more about microdramas in the coming months, I’d have thought - we are certainly experimenting there.”
Bennett also said the US copro market was showing “green shoots of recovery” and pointed to buyers such as Paramount+ as being back in the market, despite ongoing M&A discussions with Warner Bros. Discovery.
But he cautioned against any sort of return to the big-spending activity of three or four years ago, adding: “We are seeing green shoots with scripted coproductions, but it’s not going to be hitting the heights of the last five years.
“That was previously an artificial height and there has been a correction - there is a new normal, or we’re getting towards one.”
Fussell made a similar judgment on the market, admitting that market growth “won’t be anything like the previous five years”.
“When we see rumour upon rumour on consolidaton, it is normally testament to the fact that there is not huge amounts of growth in the market because everyone wants synergies.”
During the far-reaching discussion with assembled press, the chief exec also said geoblocking would be used to ensure YouTube would not impact its broader sales business and referenced the impact of US tariffs on BBCS’s business, after the potential imposition of new charges made by Donald Trump last week.
Fussell said there had been “no impact” following Trump’s previous charges unveiled last year, adding that much of its US business such as production of Dancing with the Stars (aka Strictly Come Dancing) was “made in LA and for LA businesses.”
No comments yet