BBC Worldwide Channels today announced plans to introduce advertising for the first time on BBC Entertainment in Norway from March 01st 2013.
Click to tweet: #BBCEntertainment #Norway to launch ad sales for the first time on 01 March 2013 http://bbc.in/VsYhU8 via @BBCWpress
BBC Entertainment is available in Norway through major operators including Canal Digital, Get, Altibox and more recently RiksTV. Advertising for the channel will be sold locally through Fox International Channels alongside National Geographic and Fox Crime. Partnering with Norway’s Fox International Channels (FIC) enables BBC Worldwide to draw upon FIC’s local knowledge and expertise in the market, and falls in line with the partnerships of other BBC commercial channels around the globe.
BBC Entertainment brings Nordic viewers the very best of British talent and programming and is on course to deliver its best performance to date this year. Between January and November 2012, the channel delivered a 23% increase in audience share compared to the same period in 2011, and an increase of 121% on 2010[1]. This has been fuelled by comedy favourites in the schedule including QI and Alan Carr Chatty Man which airs exclusively on the channel just two weeks behind the UK. The unique global viewing event London Calling which aired this summer, united international viewers with synchronised broadcasts of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Thames Pageant, Jubilee Concert and Thanksgiving and Royal Procession, whilst the exclusive premiere of the globally acclaimed hit TV show Dragons’ Den continues to drive viewers to the channel this winter.
From 1st March 2013 advertisers will have the opportunity to target this growing and commercially attractive audience. Airtime will be represented by FIC and packaged as a portfolio alongside their other channels National Geographic and Fox Crime, in turn, offering advertisers a compelling combination of high quality audience reach and a premium advertising environment.
The revenues generated through advertising on BBC Entertainment will be invested into acquiring and commissioning even more high quality content for local audiences to enjoy.
Commenting on the news, Carolyn Gibson, Senior Vice President International Sales for BBC Worldwide Channels EMEA said: “We are hugely excited to announce this news as Norwegian viewers continue to flock to BBC Entertainment to watch the finest mix of British comedy, award-winning factual entertainment and the best of British crime drama. This provides a highly attractive, far reaching environment for advertisers, and makes speaking directly to an upscale diverse audience a reality. Having recently announced that RiksTV will feature BBC Entertainment from 01 November 2012, this significant distribution deal demonstrates our commitment to enable even more viewers to access quality BBC programmes from the BBC Worldwide original commission Richard Hammond’s Crash Course to Graham Norton and QI to name but a few”.
Bjorn Albrektson, Nordic Representative, BBC Worldwide Channels added: “Increased distribution in Norway as well as all over the Nordics has been our focus for some time now and we’re more than happy to see that BBC Entertainment, our flagship channel, is now available on all the big platforms. The launch of advertising sales is the next natural step in this development, and this certainly is a milestone for us here in Norway”.
Anders Borge, Commercial Director at Fox International Channels Nordic and Baltic also added: “It is a great honor to FIC to be able to offer BBC Entertainment in our channel portfolio to our Norwegian advertising partners. The BBC brand resonates very well in Norway, and compliments the strong brand values of our own channels, National Geographic Channel and Fox Crime. I am thrilled that FIC’s success in the Norwegian market has convinced the BBC that we are the best local partner for them. My team is eager to get started!”
For more information please contact:
BBC Worldwide:
Fox International Channels:
Notes to Editors:
About BBC Advertising
BBC Advertising sells advertising and sponsorship solutions on behalf of BBC Worldwide's commercial portfolio across broadcast, online and mobile platforms globally.
About FOX International Channels. FOX International Channels (FIC) is News Corporation’s international multi-media business. We develop, produce and distribute 300 wholly- and majority-owned entertainment, factual, sports and movie channels across Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa, in 44 languages. These networks and their related mobile, non-linear and high-definition extensions, reach over 1.3 billion viewers worldwide.
About BBC Worldwide Ltd. BBC Worldwide Limited is the main commercial arm and a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The company exists to exploit the value of the BBC’s assets for the benefit of the licence fee payer and invest in public service programming in return for rights. The company has five core businesses: Channels, Content & Production, Sales & Distribution, Consumer Products and Global Brands. In 2011/12, BBC Worldwide generated headline profits of £155 million on headline sales of £1085 million and returned £216 million to the BBC. For more detailed performance information please see our Annual Review website: http://www.bbcworldwide.com/annualreview
[1] Source: TNS Gallup Norway / Universe National / A21-50).
Having recently announced that RiksTV will feature BBC Entertainment from 01 November 2012, this significant distribution deal demonstrates our commitment to enable even more viewers to access quality BBC programmes from the BBC Worldwide original commission Richard Hammond’s Crash Course to Graham Norton and QI to name but a few”
