BBC Denies Ban on Secondary Sales to U.S. Streamers, Producers Body Vows to Fight Policy Change
variety.comBBC has denied it plans to ban the secondary sale of commissions to Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ in the U.K. for five years.But they have confirmed to Variety that the secondary sales process is under review. “The BBC is not introducing a ban, we are looking at our secondary sales policy in the U.K. – something we do on a periodic basis to ensure maximum value for licence fee payers,” a BBC spokesperson told Variety. “The SVoDs are and remain important partners to the BBC.” Under the current terms of trade the BBC gets an exclusive licence in the U.K.
for the duration of the licence period, which is usually five years, irrespective of its level of investment. However, after a program’s standard exclusive window has expired, which is most commonly 18 months from the BBC’s first use, the BBC program release policy means that the producer can ask for consent to exploit a program early via secondary television and/or SVOD in the U.K.
U.K. trade body Pact, which represents and supports independent production and distribution companies, has written to its members claiming the BBC plans to ban secondary sales to U.S.
streamers for five years. In its letter to members, Pact says the ban will come into effect from July 1.“The BBC has informed Pact that it will be changing the program release policy as of July 1, 2022,” the note reads. “The BBC will prohibit any exploitation in the U.K., during the BBC’s licence period, to specifically Netflix, Amazon and Disney+.
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