BBC Studios Showcase 2019


TBI Weekly: Windowing battle brews for the BBC  

Senior producers and BBC Studios execs have spoken out about the public broadcaster’s plans to extend the 30-day iPlayer window into a full year, as BBC Two lags six months behind Amazon’s premiere date for big-budget co-production Good Omens. The future of the BBC’s catch-up service – where hit show Bodyguard racked up around 10.8m views […]

BBC Studios: Attenborough’s BBC ties “won’t change” amid SVOD threat

BBC Studios execs have assured that Sir David Attenborough has a “huge and deep relationship” with the corporation that “won’t change” despite an SVOD threat on the horizon. The comments to TBI come as the veteran presenter’s future at the public broadcaster has been called into question on the back of revelations that Attenborough is […]

BBC Showcase: Studios backs Luther commissioner’s drama prodco

BBC Studios has taken a minority stake in a new scripted prodco from Luther commissioner Elizabeth Kilgarriff and Craig Holleworth. Kilgarriff most recently served as senior commissioning editor for drama, while Holleworth was head of business. Their new outfit, Firebird Pictures, has agreed a distribution deal with BBC Studios in addition to the investment. Kilgarriff […]

UK Screenings: BBC Studios’ new chapter for Showcase

President of global markets Paul Dempsey tells TBI how the annual Showcase event has evolved, and how the merged producer-distributor is navigating the new content landscape This year’s Showcase is, in many ways, a landmark year for the UK’s public service broadcaster, which will, for the first time, welcome more than 700 buyers to Liverpool […]

BBC Studios Showcase: World of Wonder

Feel-good formats are still driving audiences, and BBC Studios’ formats team meets the demand with a playalong quiz show and warm, social issue-driven fact ent formats. Creative director of formats Sumi Connock tells TBI what to expect out of this year’s Showcase.  Warm and authentic fare continues to dominate the formats market, with audiences craving […]

BBC Studios Showcase: Going upstream for premium drama

The BBC Studios merger has allowed scripted execs to get closer to IP much earlier in the game – a strategy that is paying dividends across drama and comedy As a result of the BBC Studios merger, conversations for scripted programming are now further “upstream”, with the distributor coming in much earlier in the development […]

BBC Studios Showcase: Drone’s eye-view on natural history

Newly appointed unscripted portfolio director Mark Reynolds tells TBI the merged BBC Studios is “more focused on premium than ever” with a clear set of priorities across all genres, including natural history, science and history.  In recent years, some of the BBC’s most premium, global-facing content has emerged from natural history, with the likes of […]