B Distributors Survey 20I3
British distributors have posted a stellar set of results in the 2013 Broadcast Distributors Survey. Seemingly immune to the fragile state of the global economy, they generated revenues of approximately £1.1bn, up almost 10% year on year. As in recent years, results were especially impressive at the top end. The biggest five companies accounted for £833.6m of the total, or threequarters; that’s 10% up on last year’s £757m. The biggest contributors to growth were Endemol Worldwide Distribution (EWD) and Shine International, whose revenues were up by 27.6% and 31.1% respectively. Shine’s growth surge takes it into the top five for the first time. In terms of headline figures, BBC Worldwide continues to dominate and has now smashed through the £300m mark. With revenues of £312.3m, it is comfortably bigger than combined revenues for the rest of table from Zodiak Rights (in sixth place) down. BBCW president, global markets, Paul Dempsey says this record-breaking performance is due mainly to the strength and quality of the company’s content pipeline, which consists of both BBC and indie shows (BBCW currently has 37 first-look or output deals with indies). “But the content doesn’t sell itself,” he says. “We are well-organised around the world and have great connections with our established customers. We’re also very good at finding new ways of distributing content to audiences.” Fremantle Media International, which replaces Fremantle Media Enterprises in our table, also had a landmark year: revenues were up by 9.7% to £209.4m. Like BBC Worldwide, FMI has just undergone a fundamental reorganisation in both structure and senior management, ssoo it will be interesting to see what difference that makes in 2014. ITV Studios S tudios Global Entertainment has already been through a corporate resstructure tructure and the benefits of that seem to be starting to show after a relatively soft performance in 2012. This year, ITVS GE revenues sstand tand at £136.5m, a rise of 6.8%. For managing director Maria Kyriacou, K yriacou, that’s an endorsement of the company’s aggressive investment in quality content: “We have a really strong slate of drama at a time when there seems to be more drama buyers than ever. And we’re also seeing continued demand for our entertainment and factual entertainment programming.” If anything, she continues, the situation should be even better The definitive report on the UK distribution sector