| > River is represented by Endemol Shine International, the
sales and distribution arm of Endemol Shine Group. While the BBC may have broadcast River, Endemol Shine Group has the distribution rights, which is who Netflix would have paid. I don't know all the details, but unless River was a wholly internal BBC production, I'd suggest Endemol probably contributed to the production budget in return for the distribution rights. This happens with a lot of BBC programmes. The majority of the rights reside with BBC Worldwide, a wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the BBC. BBC Worldwide bids on distribution rights like any other TV sales and distribution company. Any profits from BBC Worldwide's activities are invested back in the public BBC, thus reducing licence fee rises to some extent. However, other companies like Endemol and All3Media also produce programmes broadcast on various BBC channels or work with independent production companies to fund productions, in return for distribution rights, regardless of where it is broadcast domestically. BBC Worldwide has also been investing in independent production companies in order to increase their distribution catalogue. Disclosure: I worked for BBC Worldwide for 9 years and then ran my own post-production company for a few more years. |