BBC Worldwide Expands Australian Channels Business

the Australian pay-TV
channel UK.TV from its partners in the venture, FOXTEL and FremantleMedia, and
is gearing up to launch three new services in the territory.

Previously holding just 20
percent, BBC Worldwide will own 100 percent of the channel—which delivers
a range of British content to FOXTEL and Austar subscribers—as of July 1.

In addition, BBC Worldwide
has aligned with FOXTEL, which previously held 60 percent of UK.TV, to bring
three new BBC-branded channels to the Australian market. The first was BBC HD,
which launched on the FOXTEL HD+ service earlier this month. BBC Knowledge and
CBeebies will join the FOXTEL expanded lineup in mid 2009. These, combined with
BBC World News, already on offer on FOXTEL, complete BBC Worldwide’s
five-channel offering.

“The agreement
demonstrates our commitment to Australia and follows the ground-breaking launch
of the BBC HD service on FOXTEL—the channel's first launch outside the
U.K.,” said Darren Childs, the managing director of BBC Worldwide Channels. “The Australian
market is extremely important to BBC Worldwide; there is a strong affinity to
our content that has built up over many years. Having five channels will allow
us to showcase the breadth and depth of BBC programs, in many cases for the
first time, to Australian audiences. In addition, we will continue to seek new
opportunities for future growth in this region.”

—By Mansha Daswani