House of Lords report calls for partial BBC Worldwide sell-off

A committee of the UK upper house, the House of Lords, has called for BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the British public broadcaster, to be part privatised and has suggested that the government should introduce a new tax credit to boost the production of kids TV in the UK.

The calls have been as part of the House of Lords Select Committee on Communications’ latest report – The British film and television industries: decline or opportunity?

It has recommended that the BBC should agree to sell part of BBC Worldwide to create a public private company. “This would enable it to become a global distributor of UK content on a much greater scale, producing additional profits, employment and opportunities for British production companies, which they can use to fund UK content,” the report noted.