Tom Fussell, CEO of BBC Studios, and Zay Bennett, CEO and creative director of BBC Studios Productions, discuss US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and mega-mergers, including the Netflix-Warner Bros. deal. Discovery’s planned development, the growth of the company’s US streaming business, and the new deal. bluish film.
They spoke to the press on the first day of the 50th annual BBC Studios Exhibition in London. BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC, is known for such successful franchises as strong animation bluishNetflix Reindeer babyLegal drama Division And the upcoming spin-off DivisionAnd such natural sciences set an example Walking with dinosaursIt recently unveiled new displays to mark broadcaster and naturalist David Attenborough’s 100th birthday on May 8.
“We haven’t seen any impact” from Trump’s tariff talk, Fussell said when asked about any potential fallout, and also praised the continuing popularity of BBC News in the US. He did not discuss Trump’s lawsuit against BBC News, but simply touted the resilience of the BBC brand and said, “We don’t see any changes.”
Asked about Netflix-WBD, he said, “We are well diversified, and obviously you can only control what you can control, so you focus on your priorities, and our priority is to implement transformation and growth in the areas that we have.” He stressed, however, that “there is no doubt… people talked about difficult markets and the rest, and our view going forward is that market growth will not be the same as it was last year.” [past] “Five years.”
Fussell continued, “And when you start seeing rumor after rumor about acquisitions and mergers, that’s usually a testament to the fact that there isn’t massive amounts of growth in the market, because everyone is looking for…synergies. But we know what we’re doing. We know where we want to invest in our global expansion of our studio.”
In this context, he also highlighted that BBC Studios was “a growing company undergoing transformation”, with its revenues rising by 55.7 percent over the past four years.
After the TV market’s challenges, Bennett noted Monday that “there are definitely green shoots of recovery,” explaining that “Paramount is back in the market, spending money,” among other things. But he reiterated that it is “certainly not expected” that things will return to the highest levels of the past five years, but will move into a “new normal” range.
However, Fussell noted that he felt the company would “talk about pursuit again,” from scripted programming to unscripted programming and, most importantly, children’s programming.
Pointing to BBC Studios’ 2019 deal with what was then known as Discovery for full control of UKTV’s entertainment channels, including Dave, Gold and Drama, as well as a 2024 deal with ITV that gave the company full control of broadcaster BritBox International, Fussell also noted that BBC Studios could also make more acquisitions of its own. He said it “will continue to invest organically and perhaps inorganically.”
Likewise, Bennett, who starts his role in late 2024, noted that BBC Productions Studios is seeing “strong organic growth and investment” and is “looking at inorganic growth in some regions,” pointing to the rest of Europe, the Middle East and Africa as one potential region for deals.
Fussell added that there are “opportunities for inorganic growth in streaming across genres”, adding: “I think we have the right, as the home of British streaming, to grow that further.” But he stressed that “these opportunities take time,” and concluded by saying: “We are very cautious regarding how we spend this investment.”
Fussell on Monday also praised the success of streaming services BritBox and BBC Select, which focus on documentaries, in North America. “Last week was BBC Select’s fifth birthday, and BBC Select is now the third largest true SVOD channel in the US, and we’re really proud of that,” he said. He also touted BritBox’s growth and launch of the premium tier.
Among content trends, Bennett was asked about the growth of smaller dramas, saying “we’re looking at that now.” “We are definitely experimenting,” he added.
When asked about audience and buyer appetite, Bennett said he sees escapist content versus programs that deal with the world’s cultural and political divisions, as BBC Studios Productions looks at the needs of the market and is “leaning towards exclusivity and Britishness” more than anything else.
Current and old favorites also raised questions for reporters on Monday. Cars can appear Top Gear Returning to UK screens? “Never say never,” Bennett replied.
Of course, coming Bluey: The Movie It was also a talking point. Fussell shared that he had just visited creator Joe Brumm at his studio in Brisbane, described the experience as “an absolute joy”, and said work on the film was going well. “I can’t say anything more,” he stressed. “We’ve seen parts of it, and it looks amazing,” Bennett shared.
