BBC Strikes “Historic” Terms Of Trade Deal With Producers, Securing 12-Month Streaming Rights

The BBC and UK producer trade body Pact have signed a “historic” terms of trade deal, which will give the BBC rights to stream all new third-party commissions on iPlayer for 12 months.

The deal also gives the BBC the option to pay a fixed amount to keep shows on its streaming service for longer. In return, the broadcaster will reduce the share of revenue it is entitled to when producers sell their programs internationally.

The BBC has traditionally taken a 15% backend cut from global distribution revenue, but this will fall to 10%. Similarly, the BBC will only take 20% of the backend on UK sales, whereas previously this stood at 25%. The new terms will come into force from next week.

BBC director-general Tony Hall said: “This is an important deal for the BBC, the industry, and the wider public. Not only have we reaffirmed our commitment to supporting independent UK producers, we have also ensured license fee payers have access to the best content for at least a year on BBC iPlayer. Everybody wins.”

Pact CEO John McVay added: “Pact has worked hard over many months to ensure that the BBC understood that indies deserve to be paid fairly for their content to be used for additional periods on the iPlayer. The iPlayer has become even more important to viewers during this lockdown period, and it’s great that more compelling programs will be available for longer — and that all UK companies will benefit from success.”

The terms of trade agreement follows a decision last year by UK media regulator Ofcom to allow the BBC to increase the length of time it streams shows on iPlayer from 30 days to 12 months.