BBC WORLDWIDEJenna nicola

About Bbc worldwide is the main commercial arm and a wholly owned subsidiary of the British broadcasting corporation (bbc). In 2015/16, BBC World wide's headline sales were £1,029.4m and headline profitsIn the past seven years the company has invested over £1bn in the UK's creative sector making it a major supporter for this increasingly important part of the 'UK plc.

Tim davie ceo of bbc worldwide

History of BBC worldwideIn addition to broadcasting, the BBC has for much of its life also produced additional materials for sale, the profits of which would be returned to the corporation to aid in the financing of these services. The highest profile of these early products was the listings magazine radio times, but the net revenue gained from this in 1928 (£93,686, 10s, 1d) only equated to 10% of total BBC income.

Prior to 1979, several BBC departments dealt with the exploitation and sale of BBC brands and programmes. BBC Publications, which produced magazines, books and other supplementary materials, had expanded rapidly in the late 1960s but still had difficulties with finances: in 1974 the division made a loss of £14,000. This was rectified however as the economic situation eased and by 1982 BBC Publications had a trading profit of £4.7 million. BBC transcription services licensed BBC Radio material to overseas broadcasters.

The selling of television programmes was at first handled in 1958 with the establishment of a business manager post.This gradually expanded until the establishment of the Television Promotions (later renamed Television Enterprises) department in 1960 under a general manager.  In its first year, the department saw the sale of 550 programmes overseas with a turnover of £234,000, with a further 1,200 programmes sold the following year. Radio programmes were only exploited on the same level with the creation of the Radio Enterprises department in 1965. However, following the retirement of the Radio Enterprises general manager in 1969, the two departments were merged to form the BBC Enterprises department.

1995/1996

1996/1997

1997/1998

1998/1999

1999/2000

2000/2001

2001/2002

2002/2003

2003/2004

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2011/2012

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0

0.188

0.165 0.171 0.167

0.192

0.214

0.077

0.113

0.1370.128

0.102

0.135

0.162

0.0950.112

Bbc worldwide profits and sales

Headline Sales (2014) Profit (2014) Sales (Cash) Profit (Cash) Profit rate

Publications that BBC world wide manage■ Easy cook ■ Countryfile■ Gardeners' World■ Gardens illustrated■ Good Food■ Good Homes■ Homes & Antiques■ How to be better off■ Radio times■ BBC news