BBC’s Global Ambitions; Acquisitions Possible

The Thompson-bluster, at its finest: the BBC director-general Mark Thompson says in an interview with FT that BBC is the only European media group capable of taking on internet and media giants such as Google and AOL (he’s not wrong there…just the cavalier attitude), and that’s what it intends to do.
He stressed the importance of the BBC’s international expansion, which is not being funded by the licence fee, but like any other media firm, mainly advertising and other revenues. It is exploring various acquisitions, such as VOD services and expansion of magazine publishing overseas. The division is planning to launch BBC.com, an ad-supported website accessible outside the UK, by the end of the year, as we have documented before here.
FT interview part 2: Thompson said he wanted to work with the private sector rather than against it. “We want a partnership with the private sector,” he said, adding that in controversial areas such as the BBC’s move into local TV, the corporation wanted to take in the concerns among local newspaper and radio groups.
For everything on BBC’s digital moves, read our dedicated section.

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