BBC Studios Gets Set For Major West Coast Push As CEO Tom Fussell Hails Record Results

Max Goldbart
·2 min read

BBC Studios has big plans for its activity on the West Coast, as CEO Tom Fussell hails record results, stating, “Our growth is coming from everywhere.”

Fussell was in a buoyant mood as he spoke with Deadline a few hours after the publication of the BBC Annual Report, which showed profits to have rocketed by 56% to £226M ($267M) in the latest financial year, with turnover increasing by 30% to £1.6B ($1.9B).

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He talked up activity on the West Coast to come, having recently met key partners in LA. BBC Studios is currently prepping natural history series Prehistoric Planet from Jon Favreau for Apple TV+.

“We’re growing very rapidly on the West Coast in terms of production,” said Fussell. “And there is a lot more growth coming, whether that be U.S. giants partnering with the BBC or us producing directly for the U.S. [without the BBC network involved].”

As he looks to build on a successful year, Fussell is also thinking about how to supercharge existing BBC Studios products outside of the UK, coming on the day that online education platform BBC Maestro launched in the U.S., along with looking at making money out of underlying IP such as Bluey.

Fussell put the strong returns down to “locked in growth coming from production” and revealed almost two-thirds of BBC Studios’ production and distribution revenue now comes from third parties, an increase from around 50% the prior year.

He talked up the breadth of international growth, pointing to the remake of Idris Elba-starring hit Luther in India and the success of CBS’ Ghosts, which originated on BBC One and is co-produced in the States by BBC Studios and Lionsgate.

“I’ve worked for production companies for many years and often you’re relying on one show or format but we’ve got growth coming from everywhere, and there’s more coming,” he added.

Fussell shrugged off the notion that the results are partly  due to a “Covid bounceback” and praised his production teams for managing costs throughout the Covid period.

M&A and talent deals are also on Fussell’s mind, with BBC Studios taking full ownership of prolific Sherwood producer House Productions late last year and striking a talent deal with Stath Lets Flats creator Jamie Demetriou last week.

“We are always looking to bring talent in and wouldn’t rule out looking at other [non-scripted] genres as well,” he explained. “We are always in negotiations with companies producing a variety of genres, so we’ll see.”

The exec became CEO last year, following an almost year-long search to replace his predecessor Tim Davie, who is now Director General of the BBC.

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