17.02.03
BBC
Worldwide and Opus Arte sign £10 million deal to champion
classical music DVD market
BBC
Worldwide, the commercial consumer arm of the BBC, and Opus Arte,
the Anglo-Dutch multimedia company and a leading player in the classical
music, opera and ballet DVD market, have announced a major new nine-year
agreement for investment, production and distribution of classical
music, dance and selected arts programming covering international
TV, DVD and video sales.
The
joint venture represents a strategic early move for BBC Worldwide
in anticipation of continued major growth in the classical music
DVD market, which grew by 182% between 2001 and 2002. As part of
the agreement, BBC Worldwide will become a shareholder in Opus Arte,
acquiring a minority equity stake, while Opus Arte will make a £10m
investment over nine years into new classical programming, as well
as licensing recent classical music programmes from BBC Worldwide.
With
UK music retailers' sales of DVDs accounting for an ever-increasing
share of overall sales, BBC Worldwide and Opus Arte's innovative
combination of classical music television and DVD is well placed
to secure a leading position in the burgeoning overall music DVD
market, which demonstrated 112% year-on-year growth in 2002.
The
number of UK households owning DVD players is expected to rise from
25% in 2002 to nearly 60% by 2004, while a 150% increase in consumer
spending on DVD software is predicted in Western Europe by 2006,
so an expansion into this relatively new area of DVD - classical
music - is a timely move by BBC Worldwide, and builds on the record
performances of its light entertainment DVDs: 'The Office', for
example, was the fastest-ever selling non-film DVD and the first
non-film DVD to pass the half million unit sales mark.
The
joint venture cements the existing arrangement that the two companies
have had since March 2001 and reflects the success of the relationship
so far, which has resulted in 25 new classical music productions
and 26 DVDs, including Party at the Palace, which recently received
a gold disc. Future projects include Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping
Beauty from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and The Cunning
Little Vixen, a new animation based on Janácek's opera.
Rupert
Gavin, Chief Executive, BBC Worldwide, commented: "This new
agreement is a natural extension of our relationship with Opus Arte
and is designed to bring about a close integration of classical
music television and DVD production and distribution. Our joint
objective is that the BBC's leading classical music television productions,
including operas and ballets from the Royal Opera House and Glyndebourne,
will be almost simultaneously available on DVD, creating a one-stop
shop for classical music lovers."
Hans
Petri, Managing Director, Opus Arte, added: "This is a welcome
extension to our partnership with BBC Worldwide that will allow
us to jointly exploit on DVD the full range of BBC Music programmes
and talent, as well as to produce a wealth of ground-breaking new
classical music programmes and events."
BBC
Worldwide will distribute the joint venture TV programmes through
its global sales force, which has been strengthened by specialist
music sales managers to ensure that programmes resulting from the
joint venture receive dedicated international sales and marketing
support.
As
with all programmes, moneys generated from BBC Worldwide are returned
to the BBC for reinvestment into new programmes and services.
* Figures
quoted are taken from 'Understanding and Solutions' survey, January
2003; 'European Video': Market assessment & forecast, 2002;
Official UK Charts
Note to editors:
BBC Worldwide Limited is the commercial consumer arm, and a wholly
owned subsidiary, of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
The company was formed in 1994 to develop a co-ordinated approach
to the BBC's commercial activities: television, publishing, product
licensing, Internet and interactive. BBC Worldwide exists to maximise
the value of the BBC's programme and publishing assets for the benefit
of the licence payer, and re-invest in public service programming.
Turnover in the last financial year (2001/2002) was £660 million
and £106 million was returned to the BBC.
BBC
Music forms part of BBC Worldwide's Global Marketing and Brand Development
(GMBD) Division. GMBD develops key BBC properties with genuine cross
media as global brands across Children's, Music and Learning. GMBD
works closely with the other divisions of BBC Worldwide and BBC
Television.
Opus
Arte is a multi-media company in Arts and Classical Music. The company
creates high-quality audio-visual productions for television, video
and DVD, working within an extensive media matrix that includes
digital cinema, radio and television broadcasters in more than 60
countries. Opus Arte is financed by shareholders and has a supervisory
board that includes industry figures, leading players from the financial
world and a BBC Worldwide representative. Its management team is
led by Managing Director and shareholder, Hans Petri.
Opus
Arte is an Anglo-Dutch company established by Hans Petri and the
late Dirk-Jan Bijker. It entered a new phase in 2000 when the centre
of operations moved to its UK base where there are currently about
a 15 employees. At this time, the company also forged a new long-term
relationship with BBC Worldwide to form the BBC Opus Arte label
on which it's classical music titles are released.
To
date, this relationship has resulted in 26 BBC Opus Arte DVDs: Party
and Prom at the Palace, which have sold over 220,000 units worldwide;
6 Royal Opera House titles, Carmen from Glyndebourne, Monteverdi's
L'Orfeo with Jordi Savall; Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti etc. Future
releases include Janácek's The Cunning Little Vixen, an animation
film by Geoff Dunbar; Merry Widow from San Francisco Opera; Tosca
with Angela Georgiu and Roberto Alagna; The Magic Flute, Madame
Butterfly; Sleeping Beauty from Royal Opera House.
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