Steve Macallister

April 2008

BBC Worldwide is a leading European distributor of TV programs and accounts for nearly half of the U.K.’s total television exports. With some 40,000 hours of programming sold in the last year, the company’s diverse catalogue includes drama, comedy, factual, entertainment and children’s. Steve Macallister joined BBC Worldwide last year from Disney-ABC International Television, where he managed the distribution business in the Asia-Pacific region. In his current role as the managing director of global TV sales, Macallister is keen on extending BBC Worldwide’s reach even further by focusing intently on customers’ needs and by creating global franchises.

WS: When you joined BBC Worldwide, what were the challenges of dealing with such a massive catalogue?

MACALLISTER: Part of the challenge was knowing where to start. It’s the most diverse television catalogue there is. We have programs from Planet Earth, which is groundbreaking and has redefined the whole natural-history genre, right through to another program that is redefining its genre, which is In the Night Garden from the producers of Teletubbies, and everything in between. There is huge diversity, but it’s a great position to be in because it means we have something for everybody.

WS: What are some of the differences between selling U.S. network fare and selling BBC product?

MACALLISTER: The U.S. has dominated the international television program market. The U.S. studios are very franchise focused. They are very accomplished at building global properties. That is an upside we can focus on: building franchises on a global basis, like In the Night Garden. Top Gear is one of our big successes—that sold in more than 100 countries. Planet Earth sold in 95 markets. One of my objectives is to see us take a greater slice of the global television-sales market.

WS: What kind of relationship do you have with the BBC Global Channels group, and how do you work out windowing product between them and terrestrial broadcasters?

MACALLISTER: Windowing is absolutely key. We have a super relationship with our channels. We have an arms-length relationship with them and it’s vital that they pay the market rate for programs. Ultimately it’s our responsibility that we get the best terms for the rights holders. So it really does come down to windowing. We have 1,000 active clients around the world, and it is essential that our clients have access to those programs, but we manage our own channels like one of our clients.

WS: What territories are you concentrating on in particular right now?

MACALLISTER: BBC Worldwide stated that the U.S., Australia and India are the core strategic markets, and that goes for the television-sales business as well. But clearly we also see that there is a lot of growth in the emerging territories—Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. But also we’ve got very established businesses and relationships, in Western Europe in particular. Those are key strategic markets, like Germany and France, where we do a lot of co-productions.

WS: Beyond the sales of finished product, how much of your business involves presales?

MACALLISTER: I would say a significant amount of our revenue comes from presales and co-productions. In our co-productions, we have traditional partners in the U.S. and Germany and France, where we have on-going relationships. Presales vary by region. Mainly we do a lot of presales in developed markets and chiefly on lead titles. Some of the growth in co-productions is coming from emerging markets like Russia and China. And a great example of that is Wild China, which is the next big natural-history title. We think it will be absolutely huge in 2008.

WS: What kind of demand have you seen for HD

programming?

MACALLISTER: Quite a lot, and it’s certainly in-creasing. Planet Earth is a genre-defining piece of television for HD. On the natural-history side, we’ve got more content like that, such as Earth’s Great Events and Wild China. There is so much demand for content like that and drama. We’ve done many hours of contemporary drama, like Hotel Babylon.

WS: How do you decide which shows you will highlight at a given market?

MACALLISTER: Like everyone, we prioritize, but I think something we are focused on more at BBC Worldwide is looking at our super brands, such as Top Gear, Planet Earth and In the Night Garden. I recently hired a global head of research and am in the process of hiring a head of strategic marketing. Part of my strategy is to really be customer obsessive and be focused on what the client wants and also be ready to exploit the next big global franchise. We’ve got 700 hours of new programming. Life in Cold Blood, David Attenborough’s latest epic. Moon Shot is an incredible piece of television on the moon landing. Ashes to Ashes is the follow-up to Life on Mars. Then we have Mistresses—the list is endless. I think it’s going to be a very big year for us.

WS: What does BBC Worldwide stand for in the eyes of a buyer?

MACALLISTER: The best of British television.