BBC Studios Set to Launch BBC SELECT
Ad-Free Subscription Streaming Channel to Launch Early 2021 in U.S. and Canada
“Antidote to the predictable” for “independent thinkers”
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New York, NY – BBC Studios – creator, producer, and distributor of world-renowned content – is set to launch a new, ad-free subscription streaming channel, BBC SELECT, in early 2021 on Amazon Prime Video Channels and the Apple TV app. BBC SELECT will offer a rich range of programs from the UK covering three main topics – culture, politics, and ideas. These programs will inspire fresh perspectives from diverse voices with a candid, unbiased, and sometimes playful lens. A significant portion of the programs are exclusive premieres for audiences in the U.S. and Canada. An antidote to the predictable, BBC SELECT will be the definitive streaming channel for independent thinkers.
BBC SELECT will feature a range of British talent and shows including Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry and his programs on class, masculinity, and identity, including his latest, Grayson Perry: Big American Road Trip; author and documentarian of social issues Stacey Dooley and her series Brainwashing Stacey; historian Professor Sir Simon Schama with his new series The Romantic Revolution; and film maker Louis Theroux and a large collection of his work, including Selling Sex, Surviving America’s Most Hated Family, and Talking to Anorexia.
Exclusives to the service include:
- Shock of the Nude, hosted by Professor of Classics Mary Beard, gives a personal and provocative take on the nude in western art, from ancient Greece to the present, and asks why artists and viewers seem so obsessed by nudity.
- Reggie Yates in China sees actor, DJ, and presenter Reggie Yates travel to four very different cities in China to discover the new fault-lines in society and how they affect a generation who have grown up with seemingly more freedom than that of any other in the last 70 years.
- In Search of Frida Kahlo follows musician Emeli Sandé – who was inspired by the paintings of Kahlo when writing her album – as she visits Mexico City to tell the story of one of Mexico’s most famous artists.
- Fall of an Icon explores the life of Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi, who after 15 years of house arrest was celebrated as an icon of democracy. But years on, she is now seen by many as an international pariah.
- Mystery of the Missing Princess tells the story of Princess Latifa, the daughter of Dubai’s ruler, who attempted to escape from torture and imprisonment at the hands of her father.
- Putin – A Russian Spy Story is the portrait of a politician who modelled himself on the Russian James Bond and whose presidency reads like a spy thriller.
- The Last Igloo follows a lone Inuit as he hunts, fishes, and constructs an igloo. It tells the story of skills that are disappearing and of how climate change is affecting the lives of Greenland’s indigenous people.
- BAFTA-winning documentarian Adam Curtis and his All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace argues that computers have failed to liberate humanity, and instead have “distorted and simplified our view of the world around us.”
“For nearly a century, the BBC has been synonymous with extraordinary television programs – full stop. Name any genre, the BBC is best in class at identifying talent and providing them a platform for expression,” said Rebecca Glashow, President, BBC Studios – Americas. “As we shift our business focus to engaging our fans direct, the digital space offers us the opportunity to bring audiences a portfolio of shows that bring new ideas and perspectives into the conversation. Our research has shown that audiences are looking for an alternative to what is already out there. BBC SELECT is it.”
“BBC SELECT is for those who crave knowledge, new perspectives, and programs that are not your standard fare,” said Louise la Grange, General Manager & Launch Director. “BBC SELECT will combine a rich line up of never-before-seen shows in the U.S. and Canada with a prized portfolio of thought-provoking, eye-opening programs that provide context and color to the world we all share – all in one place.”
A powerful addition to the existing streaming channels on offer, BBC SELECT will announce additional details including content line up, the full slate of launch platforms, special features, and price at launch.
@BBCSelect
Media Contact:
Amy Mulcair
amy.mulcair@bbc.com
646 404 0941
Christine Black
christine.black@bbc.com
917-402-9063
About BBC Studios
BBC Studios, a global content company with bold British creativity at its heart, is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC. Able to take an idea seamlessly from thought to screen and beyond, its activities span content financing, development, production, sales, branded services, and ancillaries across both its own productions, and programs and formats made by high-quality UK independents. Award-winning British programs made by the business are internationally recognized across a broad range of genres and specialisms, with brands like Dancing with the Stars/Strictly Come Dancing, Top Gear, Doctor Who and Bluey. BBC Studios has offices in 22 markets globally, including ten production bases in the UK and production bases or partnerships in a further nine countries around the world. The company, which ordinarily makes around 2,500 hours of content a year for both the BBC and third parties including Apple, Amazon and China Mobile, is a champion for British creativity around the world. It is also a committed partner for the UK’s independent sector through a mix of equity partnerships, content investment and international distribution for program titles. To the BBC, BBC Studios contributes both cash dividends and funds for program-making, supporting the license fee and enhancing programs for UK audiences.
In the Americas, BBC Studios – with team members across the region – manages joint venture relationships with AMC Networks for flagship channel BBC AMERICA (U.S.) – home of original series Killing Eve and global brands Seven Worlds: One Planet, Doctor Who, and Top Gear – and with ITV for SVoD service BritBox (U.S./Canada), as well as strategic partnerships in Canada with Blue Ant Media for BBC Earth Channel and Corus for BBC Canada. The company also operates a robust linear and digital content sales and co-productions operation, as well as a franchise management business. In addition, BBC Studios operates its major production unit in Los Angeles and is responsible for ratings juggernaut and Emmy®-nominated Dancing with the Stars and multi-award-winning Life Below Zero. In Brazil, through a production partnership with Endemol Shine, local production Dancing Brasil has become a breakout hit.
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BBC Select on the Apple TV app
BBC Select will be available through Apple TV channels on the Apple TV app on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod touch, Mac, select Samsung, LG, Sony and VIZIO smart TVs, Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices, and PlayStation and Xbox consoles. Subscribers through Apple TV channels can watch online or enjoy offline downloads of their favorite shows and movies on the Apple TV app. All of the content plays right in the Apple TV app, on-demand and ad-free, across devices, in the highest quality possible. Through Family Sharing, up to six family members can share subscriptions to Apple TV channels using their own Apple ID and password on their own devices.