Technological savvy and profit motivation are concepts quite remote from a public-funded body, but the BBC has managed to inject those ideas into its various commercial spinoffs. BBC World, the BBC's global commercial 24-hour news channel, is tapping into the new market for mobile-phone TV through collaborations with telecom munications operators from Finland and France to Hong Kong, Malaysia and Australia. It has also partnered PCCW's NOW Broadband to explore a new interactive internet portal TV service. Jeff Hazell, director of sales and distribution at BBC World, said the company's aim was to transform the BBC World brand from linear television to an interactive BBC World on Demand model. Originally set up in 1991 under the name BBC World Service Television, in December 2002 the channel was transformed into a commercial entity under the banner BBC World. Anne Barnard, BBC World's chief operating officer, has estimated the channel will break even ahead of a 2009 schedule. The biggest profit-making arm of the BBC conglomerate is BBC Worldwide, which generated total sales of GBP706 million ($9.65 billion) in 2004/05, nearly a quarter of the GBP2.94 billion receipts from TV licence fees. BBC Worldwide achieved record profits of GBP55 million in the year, up 50 per cent from 2003/04. Its products include international programming distribution, magazines, books, videos, English-language teaching products, videos for education and training, interactive telephony and co-production, among others. Mark Young, managing director of global television sales, said the US remained its biggest market, with 5 to 8 per cent growth. For eastern Europe, India, Africa and Asia, the company is targeting growth for next year of 12 to 15 per cent. China sales are forecast to grow by 15 per cent. Like BBC World, profits from BBC Worldwide will be channelled to the BBC.
