 "Helen Jackson")
BBC Worldwide, BBC's over £1-billion commercial arm, is the biggest distributor of TV content outside of the US studios. Sherlock, Top Gear and Dr Who among its other shows and its natural history programming are bought by hundreds of broadcasters and over-the-top (OTT) platforms across the world. Helen Jackson, the chief content officer for BBC Worldwide spoke to Vanita Kohli-Khandekar on a recent visit to India. Edited excerpts:
How is the India market for you?
India is a very active market for us; we sell a lot here (syndicated content). For example to Colors Infinity (It has bought and aired The Musketeers and Citizen Khan, among others). But, somehow the perception is that US shows are more popular. [In the year ended March 2016, BBC Worldwide India produced 270 hours of content and syndicated approximately 1,000 hours, all for the India market. Syndication brings in roughly one-third of BBC Worldwide's India revenue]
Globally what trends do you see in programming? Is high-end drama still profitable?
There is still an incredible appetite for drama. War & Peace has done huge business for us (sold to 184 countries, including Australia, China, Denmark and India). A lot more high-budget dramas are coming up. And, we are getting into a lot of co-production. We are doing a fair amount with Netflix and Amazon. (In December 2015, BBC Worldwide and Amazon Prime Video greenlit period fashion drama, The Collection, an eight-part series set in the world of French haute couture, just after the second World War.)
Within drama, though, there is greater interest in stories around true crime and miscarriages of justice, (Netflix's) Making of a Murderer, for instance. Fifty per cent of our revenues come from drama now, against 25-30 per cent five years back, so it has grown. It is profitable because it sells across the world. And, also because drama lends itself to co-production, so you are sharing the costs. Budgets have increased more than 50 per cent in the past few years. But earlier, there was no tax-break, now there is. So far, there is value in drama sales.
Is non-fiction losing steam?
The growth of non-fiction depends on individual market abilities to localise like we have with Jhalak Dikhhla Ja. (BBC's locally produced version of Strictly Come Dancing is a hit in several Indian languages) or Luther in Russia. We would love to do more of that, more partnering with local producers. Doctor Foster, Luther, both can be adapted to India. Also, don't forget our natural history programming, we released Planet Earth II this year.
How much difference does ownership of intellectual property (IP) by the producer make to the quality of content?
In 2004, the trade rules in the UK were changed to mandate that IP would be retained by producers. Till then, broadcasters were used to paying a price and acquiring everything. But now, they can only acquire a short licence. It changed the industry. Overnight, the production sector became bankable and backable. We started investing in production firms. It revolutionised the market in the UK. [The country is now the world's second largest exporter of TV programmes after the US]. It is why Americans want to buy UK Indies (independent studios).
