BBC America

History

BBC America was launched on March 29, 1998, presenting a mixture of comedy, drama and lifestyle programs from BBC Television and other British television broadcasters including ITV and Channel 4. In the channel's early days, it focused on repeats of popular lifestyle shows such as Changing Rooms and Ground Force. BBC America's head of television programming later stated that it was important for the channel to establish a niche since non-UK viewers found the lifestyle shows appealing. Most of the newer programs appeared as part of BBC America's evening schedule.

The network removed the popular British soap opera EastEnders from its schedule in 2003 due to low ratings; however the program's removal from BBC America provoked complaints from viewers, which caught media attention.

After CEO Paul Lee was appointed president of ABC Family in 2009, the network appointed Bill Hilary from Comedy Central to serve as its chief executive officer. Hilary appointed Kathryn Mitchell to the new position of general manager. Under Hilary's tenure, BBC America was restructured; it moved its main offices to New York City and had its programming budget increase substantially. The channel was led by Garth Ancier, who served as the president of BBC Worldwide Americas from February 2007 until 2010, when he was succeeded by former MTV Networks executive Herb Scannell. Meanwhile, Perry Simon serves as general manager.

In 2014, AMC Networks acquired a 49.9% equity stake in BBC America for $200 million, and replaced Discovery Communications as its management partner. As part of the deal, AMC Networks also took on the responsibility of negotiating U.S. broadcast and advertising sales for the BBC World News channel. AMC Networks CEO Josh Sapan stated that the deal gave his company "a powerful collection of networks that are among the most critically acclaimed, with distinct dramas and other potent content that creates a deep connection with viewers", while BBC Worldwide CEO Tim Davie considered it "an opportunity to grow the creative quality and ambition from an already high base."

Current

Some of the programs on the channel are edited either for adult content or to allow for commercials. Occasionally comedy shows are run in specially formatted 40-minute blocks and a few first-run drama programs are broadcast in a longer block that allows them to run to their original broadcast length. Additional series which have been previously broadcast may periodically return to the schedule as part of the network's rotation of daytime programming.

Original programming and co-productions

In the mid-2000s, BBC America produced a few of its own shows along with some joint productions. These have included Sharpe's Challenge, part of the Sharpe series of made-for-television movies and co-produced with ITV; as well as The State Within and Jekyll, which were co-productions with the BBC. The first original series produced solely by the channel was Copper, which premiered in the summer of 2012.

BBC America has also branched into co-producing British series, including Robin Hood, The Musketeers, and, from its fourth series, the revival of Doctor Who. They also co-produce the Canadian series Orphan Black.

Newscasts

BBC America used to broadcast BBC World News each Monday through Friday morning from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. Eastern and Pacific Time. All news programs now air exclusively on the BBC World News channel, also distributed by AMC Networks in the United States.

The weekday morning (6:00–9:00 a.m. Eastern Time) simulcast used to include BBC World News bulletins, World Business Report, Sport Today, Asia Today, and a one-hour bulletin called World News Today. Most of these were removed from the schedule without any announcement on April 6, 2009. The weekend morning (6:00–6:30 a.m. ET) simulcast was also abruptly dropped on April 4, 2009. According to BBC America, the simulcast was dropped because of disappointing ratings.

From 2007 to 2011, BBC America broadcast BBC World News America, a live Washington, D.C.–based program anchored by Matt Frei. Katty Kay served as a Washington-based correspondent. On February 18, 2011, network management announced that BBC World News America would be dropped from BBC America and would instead be broadcasting only on the BBC World News channel and PBS member stations in the United States.

The network was in discussions to unveil a weekly news program fronted by Newsnight host Jeremy Paxman, who was to introduce a synopsis of Newsnight items with an international aspect and was expected to bring his brash interviewing style to bear on American politicians. An international edition of Newsnight debuted on February 29, 2008, in the 10 p.m. time slot. This program was canceled in November 2008, but the announcement of the program's cancellation was not made until April 2009.

During major breaking news events, the network will sometimes replace scheduled programs with coverage from BBC World News; the London bombings in July 2005 was one example. BBC World News itself is not currently widely available in the US as a separate channel (although it is carried on several cable systems throughout the United States, generally in lieu of BBC America; one previous example is New York City-based Cablevision, which did not carry BBC America until August 2011) or in a 30-minute telecast on public television stations daily.

Outside US

BBC America is available in Bermuda on both Bermuda CableVision's digital cable service, and the WOW (World on Wireless) service, as well as the Bahamas on REVTV, in Barbados on Multi-Choice TV's wireless service, in the Cayman Islands on Weststar TV, Grenada on Flow Digital Cable, Telbo MiTV in Bonaire, Flow Cable in Curaçao and on SXM Cable & Data in Sint Maarten. It is also available in the US territory of Guam on MCV Broadband and GTA Teleguam's IPTV service.