MUMBAI: BBC Worldwide president Worldwide Networks and global BBC iPlayer Jana Bennett has announced plans to launch BBC branded channels in Thailand early next year.

In her first appearance at Casbaa since joining BBC Worldwide in February this year, Bennett officially unveiled new channel launches in Taiwan and Indonesia.

BBC Worldwide will launch BBC Knowledge, BBC Entertainment, BBC Lifestyle and CBeebies in Thailand in January 2012.

In Taiwan, BBC Worldwide Channels has concluded a deal with Chung Hwa Telecom to launch BBC Knowledge, BBC Lifestyle and BBC Entertainment on MoD, the company?s IPTV platform. This is the first appearance for the channels in Taiwan, and they will be unveiled to press in Taipei on 23rd November.

Growing the portfolio in existing markets: In Indonesia, BBC Lifestyle is now available on NexMedia, joining BBC Knowledge and CBeebies in that market.

Serving audiences with the best content: 1 November sees the launch of Lonely Planet on BBC Knowledge, the ultimate destination of travel-related programming. Arctic with Bruce Parry will launch the new block and Free Rein - an original commission for BBC Knowledge from Lonely Planet?s production arm - will premiere in December.

Starting with season 18 which begins early next year, ?Top Gear? will air on BBC Knowledge within two weeks of going out in the UK.

MUMBAI: There are almost one million young adults unemployed in the UK today and many more in stop-gap jobs. It is getting continually harder to get your foot in the door and interview skills and knowledge of the job market are becoming increasingly important.

UK pubcaster The BBC has announced that in a television first, a new BBC Three series hosted by Richard Bacon and Tina Daheley, Up for Hire Live, is devoting a whole week of primetime to the most important issue facing young people in Britain today: how to get a job. The series takes on the issue of unemployment head on by offering paid work placements via the BBC Three website.

There‘s a range of 23 opportunities being offered by seven companies who are supporting the Up for Hire Live initiative ? Argos, Greggs, Hilton Worldwide, ScottishPower, Starbucks, Timpson and Virgin Media have roles throughout the UK.

Each placement lasts for a minimum of three months and all are paid. It‘s a way for people to get their foot in the door and hopefully kick-start their career.

Working alongside BBC Learning and BBC Radio 1, Up For Hire Live is an ambitious series which will explore the issues faced by young unemployed people as well as offering viewers guidance through the challenging, complex world of work.

Business leaders and celebrity guests will be taking part to share their stories and highlight the reality of the world of work. The series will give an insight into the recruitment process and give viewers tips on applying for a job.

BBC Three commissioning editor Harry Lansdown said, "Obviously a TV series can‘t solve the problem of unemployment but we aim to shine a light on it and offer practical help on how to improve your chances of getting a job. The series will be interactive and have access to business experts and a wide range of companies both in the studio and via social media."

The BBC Three programme will be broadcast live each evening from 17 October. Presenters Richard and Tina can respond to questions asked by viewers immediately and the series will be as current and topical as possible. Radio 1‘s Breakfast Show will also be running an Up For Hire theme and will be focusing on youth unemployment.
 

MUMBAI: AXN will kick off the music-based reality show X Factor on 22 September.

The show will air Thursday - Friday at 7 pm to catch the youth audiences. The repeat at 10 pm the same day is to draw in the channel?s regular viewers.

Said AXN India senior VP Rohit Bhandari, "The aim is to broaden the appeal of the channel and attract an older audience as well."

Simon Cowell, who used to judge American Idol, will be the judge of this show. The panel also includes Paula Abdul, Nicole Scherinzger and Antonio ?L.A.? Reid.

The victor, who could be a single artist, a band or a troupe, gets a $5 million contract with Syco/Sony Music.

The contestants with their vocal ability, charisma and stage presence have the task of not only spellbinding the panel but also engaging fans.

The format originated in the UK.

MUMBAI: BBC Worldwide is taking nine new formats to the television trade event Mipcom 2011 in Cannes next month.

They include scripted format ?Misfits?, comedy panel game show ?Epic Win?, reality format ?Hot Like Us? and talent contest ?Show Me the Funny: Stand-up Showdown?.

The other formats available to buyers for the first time at this year?s event are Project Parent, Daddy Daycare, Home Is Where The Heart Is, Chick Fix and Young, Bad and Barking.

BBC Worldwide VP format licensing Europe, Middle East and Africa Elin Thomas said, ?We?re incredibly proud of our colourful Mipcom slate, there?s a real sense that we?ve got something for everyone. ?Misfits? which has sold to over 90 territories, will be available for the first time as a scripted format. Featuring five unruly teenagers forced to do community service as payback for their crimes who turn into superheroes with powers they didn?t choose or want, the UK series has already won over international audiences."

?Epic Win?, which made its UK debut this summer, is a format that fuses panel show comedy with talent show entertainment. The show sees handpicked eccentrics with unusual talents taking on bespoke challenges, in front of a panel of comedians and other famous faces.

Also new to the international market is ?Hot Like Us?, a reality format in which a group of model couples live together and compete in modelling assignments and tasks that test their relationships, with the winners receiving a modelling contract at a top agency.

?Show Me The Funny: Stand-up Showdown?, another new format that made its bow in UK primetime this summer, tracks comedians as they perform in a new location each week, completing themed tasks and performing fresh material in front of a panel of judges.

There are two new family-based formats on the BBC Worldwide slate in the form of ?Project Parent? and ?Daddy Daycare?. ? Project Parent?, aimed at children, gives kids control over their single parents, who are put to the test in quirky challenges as they attempt to change their image and find love.

?Daddy Daycare? sends three men on a parenting crash course. The participants ? who have very little experience of caring for children? try to disprove gender stereotypes by looking after dozens of kids in a busy nursery.

Meanwhile ?Home Is Where The Heart Is?, follows a group of celebrities as they mentor homeless people for two weeks, taking them into their homes in an effort to turn their lives around.

Atomized?s Chick Fix is a feel-good spin on the traditional ?makeover show?. Each episode sees four successful women confront different problems with the help of each other and resident experts.

Completing the line-up of new formats is ?Young, Bad and Barking?. In this series, dog owners with attitude problems are sent to live with families who depend on dogs for their livelihood, with the aim of re-evaluating their lives and improving their relationships with their own dogs.

BBC Worldwide titles returning to Cannes include ?Junior Doctors ? Your Life in Their Hands? and the entertainment format ?Tonight?s the Night?, which were both introduced to buyers at MipTV 2011.

MUMBAI: BBC Worldwide?s future strategy will see it build on its contribution to growth in the UK creative sector. It will continue to focus on BBC intellectual property and increasingly on international growth while, wherever possible, help other high quality UK content reach global markets.

In the UK, BBC Worldwide will play a significant role investing in the best of UK content from the BBC and independent producers, while exiting non core businesses like non-BBC branded magazines. BBC Worldwide will expand its existing international TV channel portfolio and launch the Global iPlayer.

The BBC recently published a report on ?Helping Drive Growth in the UK Creative Economy?. It describes how the pubcaster helps create the right conditions for growth in the creative sector. The BBC?s primary purpose is to inform, educate and entertain but, like other public institutions, it can make a positive contribution to growth. The BBC does this in two ways: by enhancing the productive potential - ?supply-side? - of the creative sector, and by stimulating the demand for services, products and exports.

BBC director of policy and strategy John Tate said that BBC Worldwide continues to grow, doing business in 200 countries and territories. "It works with over 300 indies and turns the best UK content into global brands. Turnover increased 7.8 per cent to ?1,158 million last year; it now accounts for nearly 10 per cent of UK creative industry exports; and helped attract ?59 million of inward investment in 2009/10 from overseas broadcasters."

Consistent with its public purposes, the BBC is committed to thinking harder about how the licence fee can be spent in ways that better support creative businesses, and about new partnerships that can create increased value both for the BBC and for others.

As well as enhancing its positive contribution to creative sector growth, the BBC must also operate in ways that minimise negative effects on the market. It can do this by placing clearer and more predictable limits on its activity particularly in areas of market sensitivity.

BBC must be sensitive to how its actions affect others. In addition to the BBC Trust?s regulatory obligations to consider the BBC?s market impact (for instance, during Public Value Tests), the BBC?s Fair Trading rules are a key feature of this regime and incorporate?amongst other guidelines?an explicit obligation on the BBC to have regard to its competitive impact. This is given effect through the implementation of the Competitive Impact Principle (CIP). The CIP is a critical factor for public service activity and involves consideration of how an activity fulfils the BBC?s public purposes, its impact on competition on the wider market in which it operates and how any negative impacts can be minimised.

The BBC Trust has recently announced that it will improve the transparency of the processes it uses to assess proposals from the BBC for new services or activities. In particular, it will make greater use of Ofcom?s market expertise and understanding in assessing the impact of proposals.

Tate added, "The BBC?s future strategy will focus on core editorial priorities, setting the highest standards and increasing the proportion of its investment on UK content.1 But the BBC must deliver this strategy ? in common with almost every other public institution ? within a new, more constrained funding settlement. The BBC has produced this report to identify those of its activities that have a positive growth impact and to examine how it can help better position the UK creative sector to expand and prosper. Consistent with its public purposes, the BBC is committed to thinking harder about how the licence fee can be spent in ways that better support creative businesses, and about new partnerships that can deliver increased value both for the BBC and for others."

Economic growth in the creative sector, as in others, is driven ultimately by commercial companies who have the capital and incentive to build their businesses and employ more people. However, the right policy framework and interventions ? for example, in education and skills - help create the conditions conducive to growth.

Sustainable growth is most likely to be found in those sectors which are characterised by competitive markets, product innovation, and a skilled talent base. The success of the UK broadcast sector has been based on competition for quality between a range of public and private providers with access to different sources of funding and with different institutional models.

The BBC?s mission is to provide high quality programmes and services that inform, educate and entertain and fulfil its public purposes. It acts as a quality benchmark and ensures an uninterrupted flow of investment into UK content and into the development of the best UK talent. In fulfilling this mission, the BBC also adds significant value to the UK economy overall and the creative sector in particular. Licence fee funding ensures over ?2.5billion is spent on content annually with over ?1.1billion of that invested outside the BBC. Across all its activities, the BBC added over ?8 billion of value to the UK economy in 2009/10 generating over two pounds of economic value for every pound of the licence fee.

As importantly, the BBC?s scale and judicious use of public funding help create the right conditions for the UK creative sector, and for private firms within the sector to grow. First, it enhances the productive potential the supply side of the creative sector by enhancing its key productive inputs, through, for example, investing in skills and technology innovations. Second, it stimulates the demand-side through, for example, the scale and scope of its commissioning of content from the independent production sector and the support it provides for exports of UK content.

The overall effect of the BBC?s activity is to support the rebalancing of the UK economy towards investment in high tech, knowledge based sectors and greater exports. The shift in the physical gravity of the BBC ? with strong production bases in Glasgow, Cardiff and the North of England ? will help to ensure the benefits of growth in the creative sector be shared across the UK, thereby rebalancing the economy geographically.

Tate adds that last year the BBC invested over ?30 million in training the creative sector, and supplied over 3,800 days of training to more than 2,400 non-BBC staff. The talent nurtured benefits the wider industry, with many presenters, writers and performers moving between the BBC and commercial broadcasters and independent producers.

"Investing over ?50m in Research & Development activity: Because the BBC is committed to open platforms and technologies, we enable other companies to create their own value on the back of them. Just think how many set top boxes, flat-screen TVs and digital radios have been sold as a result of the BBC?s work on Freeview, Freeview HD, FreeSat,
NICAM and many other innovations."

In terms of the UK content sector he said that the BBC?s ?1 billion investment, combined with healthy competition for commissions between in-house and independent suppliers, has helped underpin a vibrant commercial UK production sector. Without this role, the sector could lose over a quarter of its income.

"BBC Online - now the fifth-most popular web destination for UK users - gave many people a reason to go online for the first time. Likewise, BBC iPlayer has helped expand the audience for online audiovisual content to the benefit of other providers. Our work to support RadioPlayer has bought around 300 commercial radio stations together in one place."

In the creative cluster section, he said that by focussing our
expertise geographically such as Natural History in Bristol and Drama in Cardiff, the BBC has created sustainable production centres, helping the UK to have a more balanced economy. Many thousands of people will directly benefit from employment, training, business or partnership opportunities from MediaCityUK in Salford.

The BBC can only benefit the creative industries in these ways because of its scale, international reach, stable funding and commitment to the highest levels of quality.

"At a time when more and more public institutions are being challenged to make a contribution to growth as well as to fulfil their public functions, the BBC has hopefully shown a lead," Tate said.