BBC Studios, Discovery Complete UKTV Split

BBC Studios and Discovery have announced the completion of the UKTV split, with Discovery taking full ownership of the venture’s lifestyle channels and BBC Studios controlling the entertainment channels.

Per the deal announced April 1, Really, Home and Good Food join the Discovery portfolio, while Alibi, Dave, Drama, Eden, Gold, W and Yesterday, the UKTV brand and UKTV Play sit under BBC Studios. BBC Studios paid £173 million ($220 million) to Discovery.

Marcus Arthur, president for the U.K. and Ireland at BBC Studios and new CEO of UKTV, said, “UKTV has always been an important part of the BBC Group, creating value for license fee payers and British program makers. UKTV’s award-winning brands, innovative commissions and premium acquisitions have delivered large and loyal audiences who love great TV. As a wholly-owned part of BBC Studios, we will support its future content ambitions, building on its history of success over many years.”

James Gibbons, executive VP and general manager for the U.K. and ANZ at Discovery, added, “Today marks an exciting milestone for Discovery, as we welcome UKTV’s lifestyle channels to our substantial U.K. portfolio. We are committed to deepening our position with viewers as the leader in real-life entertainment by building great brands that power people’s passions and deliver value to our partners.”

Announcing the UKTV split in April, Discovery and BBC Studios also inked a ten-year content partnership deal making Discovery the exclusive global SVOD home (excluding the U.K., Ireland and Greater China) of BBC landmark natural history programs. Discovery also acquired SVOD rights to hundreds of hours of BBC programming across factual genres.