UK: BBC Worldwide integrates vertically with BBC Studios

The BBC announced Wednesday, November 29, that it will merge its commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, with its production arm, BBC Studios, into a single operation under the name BBC Studios.

The move will make the BBC’s organizational structure match more closely the vertically integrated model of other major players in the British entertainment industry, such as rival broadcaster ITV and Endemol Shine Group, the BBC said. The new BBC Studios will follow a single business plan and be headed by Tim Davie, currently the chief of BBC Worldwide. Mark Linsey, boss of the current BBC Studios, will become the combined company’s chief creative officer.

“At a time of an increasingly competitive and global market for production and distribution, this new organizational structure will bring the BBC into line with the rest of the industry, integrating program production, sales and distribution in a single entity,” the public service broadcaster said in a statement. “It will ensure the BBC is best placed to succeed both creatively and commercially and will better serve license-fee payers.”

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