International BBC television channels
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The BBC is forbidden under its charter to directly undertake any commercial operations on-air within the United Kingdom, however no such restriction applies to operations in other countries. Therefore the BBC exploits its massive television archive by operating a number of commercial television channels outside the UK through its BBC Worldwide subsidiary.
These services carry advertising and have regular commercial breaks because the licence fee collected in the UK is not allowed to be spent on non-UK focussed activities.
Some channels are wholly owned by BBC Worldwide, others are operated as joint ventures with other broadcasters.
Contents |
[edit] Wholly owned channels
- BBC America - entertainment channel available in US
- BBC Prime - entertainment channel available in Europe, Africa, Middle East, and Asia
- BBC World - formerly World Service Television's news and information
- BBC Entertainment - entertainment channel available in Asia
- BBC Food - Southern Africa/Scandinavia
BBC Japan, an entertainment channel available in Japan ceased broadcasting in 2006, owing to the closure of its local distributor.
In October 2006, BBC Entertainment replaced BBC Prime in Asian markets, and will replace it in other territories during 2007. Other channels planned will include BBC Knowledge and BBC Lifestyle
[edit] Joint Ventures
[edit] With Alliance Atlantis
In Canada, channels are required by the regulator to have a certain quota of original Canadian content. The following BBC channels are operated in conjunction with Alliance Atlantis.
- BBC Canada - entertainment channel available in Canada
- BBC Kids - children's channel available in Canada
[edit] With Discovery Channel
The following BBC channels are operated in conjunction with Discovery Channel.
- Animal Planet - Natural History documentaries (also available in the UK)
- People+Arts - Lifestyle and reality programming broadcast in Latin America, Spain and Portugal
[edit] With Foxtel and RTL
BBC Worldwide operates the following channels in a joint venture with Foxtel and RTL
- UK.TV - General Entertainment channel in Australia and New Zealand.
[edit] Other
BBC Worldwide also operate the UKTV network in the United Kingdom with Virgin Media Television
