大象传媒

Results for 12 months to 31st March 2007:
profits up 24% to 拢111.1m

Further investment to develop the
world鈥檚 premier content network

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大象传媒 Worldwide Ltd, the commercial arm and wholly owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (大象传媒), today published its Annual Review for 2006/07.

The full-year results show in the twelve months to 31st March 2007, record pre-tax profits of 拢111.1m including exceptional items (2005/06: 拢89.4m), on sales of 拢810.4m including 大象传媒 Worldwide鈥檚 share of joint ventures (2005/06: 拢785.1m). The proportion of sales to outside the UK was up by 5% year on year to 46%. Investment in 大象传媒-commissioned programmes was also up at 拢96.3m from 拢89.0m in 2005/06, with total programme investment at 拢103.6m.

Highlights of the year include continued strong profits growth, very strong international sales of hit shows and formats around the world, the refreshing of the company鈥檚 wholly owned channel portfolio and laying the foundations for strong digital revenue growth.

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Following a strategic review and re-organisation three years ago, 大象传媒 Worldwide is now focused on profit and growth. It operates six businesses: Global Channels, Global TV Sales, Content & Production, Magazines, Home Entertainment and Digital Media. Both through its own operations and via partnerships and joint ventures, 大象传媒 Worldwide seeks to drive commercial benefit from rights and content on behalf of the 大象传媒 and other UK rights holders. In the UK its products and services help to extend audiences鈥� appreciation of 大象传媒 programmes. Internationally the company promotes the best of British talent and culture across a wide range of media.

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John Smith, Chief Executive of 大象传媒 Worldwide, said: 鈥湸笙蟠� Worldwide has achieved a three-fold increase in profits in the last three years. We have exceeded expectations in most of our businesses over the past 12 months, reflecting healthy returns from our new Channels business, strong TV catalogue sales and growing demand internationally for 大象传媒 formats. We are now investing to build our digital offering and strengthen our position in markets such as the US, China, India and Australia, creating one of the world鈥檚 premier content networks.鈥�

Etienne de Villiers, Non-executive Chairman, 大象传媒 Worldwide, said: 鈥湸笙蟠� Worldwide has reached a watershed. It has proven capable of delivering against a demanding business plan with commercial efficiency; it now is poised to grow significantly with new product lines and in exciting markets.鈥�

Mark Thompson, Director-General of the 大象传媒, commented: "大象传媒 Worldwide continues to听deliver excellent returns for licence payers from the content they help fund us to make.听Its success is听increasingly critical to our ability to invest in original creative programming for audiences in the UK, and the company is playing major part in taking those programmes out to the rest of the world."

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For more information, please contact:

大象传媒 Worldwide
Ali Jeremy, Director of Communications, 大象传媒 Worldwide
Tel: + 44 (0) 208 433 3995
Mobile: + 44 (0) 7736 480228
Email: alison.jeremy@bbc.co.uk

Jennie Allen, Director of Corporate Affairs, 大象传媒 Worldwide
Tel: +44 (0) 20 8433 2973
Mobile: +44 (0) 7720 731735
Email: jennie.allen.01@bbc.co.uk
大象传媒 Press Office: +44 (0) 20 8576 1865

Brunswick
Tim Burt
+44 (0) 20 7404 5959

Images
Images available from: www.bbcworldwide.com/annualreview/pressimages


Notes to Editors:

FACTS AND STATS

Global Channels sales 拢169.0m (拢166.1m); profit 拢20.9m (拢6.9m)

• 28 channels available in 259m+ homes around the world, broadcasting in 15 different languages.
• New 大象传媒-branded channel portfolio developed: 大象传媒 Entertainment, 大象传媒 Knowledge, 大象传媒 Lifestyle, CBeebies and 大象传媒 HD.
• 大象传媒 Entertainment replaced 大象传媒 Prime in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Malaysia and launched post-year end in India together with the pre-school brand, CBeebies.
• Global Channels joined forces with the distribution and advertising sales teams from 大象传媒 World 鈥� the 大象传媒鈥檚 commercially funded, global, 24-hour news and information channel 鈥� allowing the teams to present a single face to market for all six 大象传媒-branded channels.
• UKTV (joint venture with Virgin Media) had a good year with its Sky carriage deal being renewed, commercial audiences growing by 18% and an ad sales performance above the market average.

Global TV Sales 拢216.4m (拢188.9m); profit 拢40.2m (拢33.7m)

• Enhanced position as No 1 exporter of UK television programmes, providing a global showcase for great British talent.
• 大象传媒WW TV Sales and Content & Production revenue broadly accounted for 38% of total UK TV exports last year (compared to 32% the previous year).
• The year鈥檚 most successful new titles included Doctor Who, Robin Hood, Torchwood, Life on Mars, 9/11 鈥� The Twin Towers and Planet Earth, the latter being viewed in 95 countries and territories and grossing in excess of 拢22m in global sales to date.
• Sales to Europe (ex-UK) were up by 23% from 拢46.5m to 拢57.1m, aided by a country by country analysis of market tastes and tailored sales strategy.
• Sales to the Americas were up by 17.2% but profits were impacted by a high proportion of co-production deals (on which 大象传媒 Worldwide makes lower margins) and the US dollar weakening against sterling.
• In the Rest of the World profits were up 26.9% although the strong pound had some impact on results. The 大象传媒鈥橲 first ever co-production with China was secured 鈥� Wild China with CCTV. In Australia drama was a particularly powerful revenue driver.
• Key event of the year remains 大象传媒 Showcase, the world鈥檚 largest trade event hosted by a single distributor. In February 2007, the event boasted 600 hours of new content and attracted over 550 buyers from all over the world.
• 大象传媒 Worldwide鈥檚 catalogue now includes 2000 hours of programming available for digital distribution and over 220 hours of High Definition content.
• 大象传媒 Worldwide鈥檚 FM radio joint venture with Mid Day Multimedia Ltd saw the re-launch of the radio station in Mumbai, plus new stations launching in Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore.

Content and Production sales 拢52.9m (拢36.1m); profit 拢9.5m (拢3.2m)

• Growth driven by the success of Dancing with the Stars, a hit in over 41 countries.
• Existing formats continued to deliver, such as Weakest Link in France, Friends Like These and The Generation Game in South Africa, and It Takes Two and Honey We鈥檙e Killing the Kids in Australia and New Zealand.
• Just the Two of Us became the first 大象传媒 entertainment format to be licensed to a Chinese broadcaster (Hunan TV). In Australia, where it plays as It Takes Two, a second series launched in 2007. The format has also been licensed in Belgium, the Netherlands, Turkey, Russia, Croatia and the Ukraine.
• Joint venture deal announced with Australian independent producer, the Freehand Group.
• Worldwide network of local production offices planned.
• Developing loveearth.com, a natural history portal to support the launch of Earth the movie in autumn 2007/08.

Magazines sales 拢171.3m (拢171.8m); profit 拢20.0m (拢19.5m)

• 大象传媒 Magazines performed well in a flat market, growing its circulation revenues and increasing its share of advertising revenues.
• One in four UK adults reads a 大象传媒 title every month.
• The year鈥檚 best-performing magazines were Top Gear, Good Food, Doctor Who Adventures and CBeebies Weekly in terms of circulation growth.
• Subscriptions across portfolio now up to 650,000.
• International licences up to 33 across 57 territories.
• Worldwide Media (jv with the Times of India) secured licence to publish Hello! in India in May 2007.
• Magazine websites bbcgoodfood.com and radiotimes.com were improved and relaunched.
• Countryfile magazine to be launched later in 2007.

Home Entertainment sales 拢186.9m (拢208.9m); profit 拢24.4m (拢27.7m)

• 2 entertain (jv with Woolworths plc) consolidated its position as the leading UK-owned DVD / video publisher. Unit sales of Planet Earth over 600k and Doctor Who over 1.9 million worldwide.
• Losses in Children鈥檚 (previously a stand-alone business) continued and the business was moved into Home Entertainment where it can benefit from the combined management expertise in publishing and licensing.
• Sales from merchandising licences grew to almost 拢9m (highest level for five years); Doctor Who was the fastest-growing licence in the UK children鈥檚 market in 2006.
• Live Entertainment had its most profitable year, with successful shows on four continents;
• Creation of two joint ventures with Ragdoll Ltd to manage Ragdoll鈥檚 existing properties and also develop new content such as In The Night Garden.
• 大象传媒 Worldwide sold a majority stake in 大象传媒 Books to Random House. 大象传媒 Books continued to perform strongly as part of Random House鈥檚 Ebury Publishing business.
• 大象传媒 Audiobooks鈥� lead title was Alan Bennett鈥檚 The History Boys.
• Planet Earth and Coast were two of the UK鈥檚 best-selling Christmas books with sales of 拢232,000 and 122,000 units respectively.
• Live Lounge CD licensed by 大象传媒W to Sony BMG went double platinum, selling more than 730,000 units.

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Digital Media sales 拢13.9m (拢13.3m); profits 拢(3.9)m (拢(1.6)m)

• Digital Media concluded a series of video on demand (VOD), web distribution and mobile deals around the world. New VOD customers included Netflix in the US and Telstra Big Pond in Australia.
• Investment went into key propositions bbc.com and the commercial media player.
• Digital Media is now responsible for the delivery of new websites or the re-launches of existing sites across all areas of 大象传媒 Worldwide.
• Global content agreement announced with YouTube in March 2007; four million videos were viewed on the 大象传媒W channel on YouTube in its first month of operation. (Revenues will be reported from 2007/08.)
• New mobile clients included mobile operators including TU Media in Asia, Vodafone鈥檚 New Zealand network and the 3 network in Ireland.
• 大象传媒 Motion Gallery, Worldwide鈥檚 TV clip sales business, announced a clip distribution deal with China鈥檚 state broadcaster, CCTV.

Strengthened management team

• Garth Ancier appointed President, 大象传媒 Worldwide Americas, to build growth across all US operations in February 2007.
• David Abraham appointed CEO of UKTV in April 2007.
• Steve Macallister joins as MD, Global TV Sales, in July 2007.
• Appointment of Non-executive Board Directors: Simon Clift, Global Chief Marketing Officer with Unilever, and Thomas Geitner, former Board Director of Vodafone.

Top Five Sellers for 大象传媒 Worldwide 2006/07

TV sales 鈥� top titles by revenue
Doctor Who series two
Planet Earth
Robin Hood 2006
Primeval
Extras series two

DVD releases 鈥� top 5 by volume
(UK Charts online to week 13 of 2007)
Planet Earth
Clarkson: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
Little Britain Live
Little Britain series three
Doctor Who series two

Magazines circulation (ABC figures Jul-Dec 2006)
Radio Times = 1,082,338
大象传媒 Good Food = 350,391
大象传媒 Gardener鈥檚 World = 236,207
大象传媒 Top Gear = 190,032
大象传媒 Good Homes = 127,024

Books 鈥� top 5 by volume (Nielsen Bookscan)
Planet Earth - Alastair Fothergill
Coast: The Journey Continues 鈥� Christopher Somerville
The Power of Art - Simon Schama
Strictly Come Dancing 鈥� Rupert Smith
The Feel-Good Cookbook 鈥� Ainsley Harriott

Audiobooks 鈥� top 5 by volume (Nielsen Bookscan)
The History Boys 鈥� Alan Bennett
Untold Stories 鈥� Alan Bennett
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid 鈥� Bill Bryson
Paul Temple and the Sullivan Mystery 鈥� Francis Durbridge
The Mighty Boosh

Audiobooks 鈥� top 5 by no. of downloads
The Mighty Boosh
A Short History of Nearly Everything 鈥� Bill Bryson
The Time Traveller鈥檚 Wife 鈥� Audrey Niffenberger
Blackadder Goes Forth
The Adventure of English 鈥� Melvyn Bragg

ENDS

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大象传媒 WORLDWIDE