BBC to launch BBC First

Seems BBC Worldwide are tweaking their international channels once again with the launch of BBC First next year on FOXTEL in Australia following the end of their deal with ABC.

http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2013/10/bbc-first-channel-to-launch-on-foxtel-in-august.html

Not sure what this means for UKTV in Australia and whether BBC Entertainment will be rebranded worldwide.

Seems like only five minutes since BBC Entertainment appeared. It was suspiciously absent from today's announcement so I'm guessing the third channel will be something else, and that name will be dropped. A nice opportunity for something grand for the BBC First idents.

The idea of consolidating all the websites into BBC.com makes a lot of sense, and is long overdue.

And fair play to hold their hands up and say global iPlayer won't work. I'd be surprised if the brand didn't appear somewhere though.

http://www.c21media.net/bbcww-to-scrap-global-iplayer/



I guess BBC Knowledge could be on it's way out too though. BBC Earth makes sense considering their strength in that area and although "Knowledge" offers a broader spectrum I do think the niche for a natural history channel is probably stronger than for a generic documentary channel.

Surprised though with Australia they've never just launched "BBC Australia". They couldn't go down the "BBC America" route in every country but I'd have thought it would be justified in Australia considering it's quite an important market for the BBC.

They could save some money and use the same idents on BBC One and BBC America as well.

They're knackered at this stage. Perhaps that's just my perception though.

I dont understand what you're saying, because isn't that what UKTV is in all but name? Don't forget they've not long fully owned it, so they probably never got round to it.

Don't forget unlike in the US and even Canada, in Australia big BBC shows will often also get bought by ABC and the Networks, so there is less of a need for that kind of channel anyway.

As far as I know, BBC Knowledge is safe. Just this year they started showing new episodes of Top Gear within a week of the UK premiere, with Channel Nine showing the episodes on free-to-air at least three months afterward.

UKTV has a lot of repeat content. QI is everywhere.

If that was replying to me, yes, my point was that BBC One's idents are due for replacement and BBC America uses the same set - so make new ones for One, use them on America and First as well, and it saves money. After all, neither the US or UK will have a BBC First channel.


Jon, UKTV in Australia has already changed it's idents twice since the BBC took over full ownership.

I think that's unlikely and would be a poor decision (for BBC One).

Not really, if it was made with BBC One in mind and WW channels as an after thought.

It's probably unlikely though with BBC First being a new channel, they'll probably want to tailor the branding to that market.