BBC Studios looking to increase investment in Australian content

BBC Studios is looking to significantly boost its investment in Australian-made content as it plans to double global revenue over the next five years.

BBC Studios is looking to significantly boost its investment in Australian-made content, identifying it as a “key growth area” in its plans to double global revenue over the next five years.

Tom Fussell, the chief executive officer of BBC Studios — the British broadcaster’s commercial global production and distribution arm — said Australian content “always had a resonance with UK consumers” and there is a “demand for more”.

“Australia is known for its great actors and writers, and the UK market likes working with Australia. We’re looking to grow both unscripted (documentaries, natural history, lifestyle) and scripted (drama and comedy),” Mr Fussell told The Australian.

“North America is our biggest market (outside the UK) but I want Australia to be the market that really grows.”

Over the past five years, BBC Studios has established a toehold in Australia, producing local versions of British shows such as Bake Off and Dancing With The Stars.

But its biggest global commercial hit in recent years is, in fact, is one of Australia’s hottest exports — Bluey.

The wildly popular ABC children’s program is owned and made by Brisbane animators Ludo Studios, with the global commercial rights belonging to BBC Studios, which co-commissioned the show with the ABC.

BBC Studioes chief executive Tom Fussell. Picture: Rachel Manns

In the first half of this year, Bluey was one of the most-streamed programs in the US, it was the most popular children’s show in New Zealand, Canada and France last year and it’s the most watched show in the history of broadcaster video on demand platforms in Australia.

Mr Fussell said Bluey was “one of those rare things — an unexpected hit”.

“We like working with amazing storytellers, and the makers of Bluey are just that. But that show just strikes your heart, it’s joyous,” he said.

The BBC Studios boss is bullish about the future of the streaming market, despite many media observers of the view that there are too many players.

“It’s an ever evolving situation. The market has boomed over the past five years with many new entrants. But the demand for premium content is still there,” Mr Fussell said. “We’re the biggest content-maker in the UK and the biggest exporter of content out of the UK. And while we have seen consumers’ taste changing … that just means the content has to be spot-on.

“Audiences will find you but the winners will be those who distribute things and aggregate things in a way that best helps consumers.”

Mr Fussell acknowledged the current worldwide advertising slump, but said great content was not necessarily subject to the vagaries of ad revenue.

“We have some economic headwinds like the rest of the market — in the UK we are experiencing an advertising decline of up to 10 per cent,” he said. “But we’ve doubled our revenue over the past five years (to $3bn) and we want to double it again over the next five years.

“I want to take creative risks, because when you come across the ‘right’ idea, you back the creatives and give them the time they need.”

Mr Fussell said BBC Studios might even invest in further channels.

BBC Studio’s five main TV channels — BBC First, CBeebies, BBC Earth, BBC World News and UKTV — screen in Australia on Foxtel, which is 65 per cent owned by News Corp (publisher of The Australian). BBC Studios also part-owns streaming service BritBox and BBC America.