Britains BBC and Discovery Channel of the United States agreed yesterday to a wide-ranging alliance to create global TV channels, including a BBC-owned cable network in the US.
The pact will combine the Discovery Channels financial muscle and distinctive science and nature programming with the BBCs production expertise and world-renowned television archives.
Under the deal, the Discovery Channel will invest more than $565 million in the alliance over the next decade, while the BBC will provide archives and programme-making experience through its commercial arm, BBC Worldwide.
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The marriage of the BBC and Discovery brands is truly a match made in media heaven, Discovery founder John Hendricks said in a statement. Our two organisations will greatly benefit due to our shared missions, mutual business goals and complementary expertise, he added.
For its part, the BBC said the commercial alliance would benefit British viewers by increasing investment in its factual programmes.
The BBC is publicly-funded by an annual 91.50 pound ($153) TV licence fee levied on all British households. This partnership will help the BBC become the worlds leading global broadcaster, BBC Director-General John Birt said, adding that British viewers would see more quality programmes on the broadcasters BBC1 and BBC2 channels.
The pact covers three main areas the co-production of BBC factual programmes, the creation of global TV channels, and the launch of BBC America in the US.
The BBC said it planned a full launch of the US cable channel on March 29, offering US subscribers British TV hits like Fawlty Towers, as well as cockney soap Eastenders and costume dramas like Middlemarch.
BBC America will be owned and operated by the BBC and distributed by Discovery, which is owned by Liberty Media Group part of U.S. cable giant Tele-Communications Inc as well as Cox Communications Inc, Advance/Newhouse Communications and Discovery founder John Hendricks.
Besides the US network, the alliance will create a joint venture to develop factual programming around the world, including Animal Planet, billed as an all-animal channel, and People and Arts, a culture channel.
Both channels have already been launched in Latin America in Spanish and will soon be available in Portuguese. Animal Planet is also available in the US. The channels created by the joint venture will be owned 50/50 by the BBC and Discovery, except for Animal Planet in the US.
BBC Worldwide had been in talks with Discovery since late 1996 about setting up subscription TV channels as part of its plan to broaden its commercial activities.
($ = 0.599 British Pounds)