Click here to read the full article.
BBC Commercial increased EBITDA by 17% to £267 million ($357.1 million) in the 2025/26 financial year, returning £377 million ($504.2 million) to the BBC as direct-to-consumer services and consumer products, led by “Bluey,”
drove growth despite a challenging market.
Revenue remained flat at £2.2 billion ($2.94 billion), with growth in some areas offsetting decline in others. Statutory profit after tax rose 9% to £71 million ($95 million). The £377 million ($504.2 million) in returns – down from £391 million ($523 million) a year earlier – included dividends of £197 million ($263.5 million), up from £161 million ($215.3 million), and content investment of £154 million ($206 million), down from £200 million ($267.5 million). The company remains on track to meet its five-year target of £1.5 billion ($2.01 billion) in returns to the BBC.
Tom Fussell, CEO of BBC Commercial, said: “2025/26 has been a strong year for BBC Commercial. We have grown profits and delivered significant returns to the BBC despite ongoing market pressures, while continuing to deliver creative excellence recognized around the world. Our diversified portfolio continues to position us well, with growth in some areas helping to offset softer performance in others, underpinning our overall resilience.”
BBC Studios, the company’s largest subsidiary, delivered revenue of £2.13 billion ($2.85 billion) and EBITDA growth of 17% to £263 million ($351.8 million), aided by a higher-margin sales mix and cost savings from a new comprehensive cost review. The content studio posted stable revenue and a 42% EBITDA increase to £165 million ($220.7 million), with growth driven largely by “Bluey” partnerships and merchandise deals.
Storytelling and production work at BBC Studios earned 91 awards from 361 nominations across scripted and unscripted categories. “Death Valley” delivered the U.K.’s highest overnight audience for a new scripted comedy in five years and has sold to more than 100 markets internationally.
In the U.S., “Dancing with the Stars” drew its largest audience among adults 18 to 34 for any broadcast entertainment series since the “Friends” finale in 2004, with the show’s own finale pulling a 53% share in that demographic. “Bluey” was the most-streamed title in the U.S. for a second consecutive year, logging more than 45 billion minutes watched on Disney+, and remained the top pre-school toy brand in the U.S. market. Other key titles included “The Americas,” “The Ballad of Wallis Island,” “Crookhaven” and natural history series “Kingdom” and “Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age.” Social video revenue climbed 23% year over year as watch time on YouTube nearly doubled to 14.7 billion annual views, ahead of global streamers and U.K. broadcasters.
BBC Studios’ media and streaming arm posted EBITDA of £104 million ($139.1 million), up 3%, supported by continued direct-to-consumer and commercial news momentum. BritBox revenue in North America grew 20%, while BBC Select revenue rose 61%. In the U.K., UKTV achieved record viewing share and grew its U streaming platform, backed by a new multi-year carriage deal with Channel 4. BBC.com expanded to 149 million monthly users outside the U.K. and launched a paid U.S. subscription tier. The company’s FAST channel portfolio now spans 30 channel brands and more than 300 feeds globally.
BBC Studios also published its annual Pay Gap Report, disclosing for the first time data on deaf and neurodivergent employees alongside existing disability figures. The median gender pay gap fell 1.4 percentage points to 9.3%, with the ethnicity pay gap down to 5% and the LGBTQ+ pay gap down to 7.8%. At the individual Career Band level, 94% of employees in a given band showed a gender pay gap of less than 3%, or one in favor of women, while every Career Band recorded an ethnicity pay gap under 1.5%.
Fussell said: “The figures in today’s report are encouraging, but there remains more work to do. We are continuing to deliver on a series of initiatives to address areas of imbalance in our representation, which includes signing up to the ‘We Are Doc’ Women’s Gender Pledge; working with the TV Access Projects Spaces & Places Workstream; and committing to the TV Foundations Class Confident initiative to help address under representation of people from working-class backgrounds in the wider TV industry.”
BBC Commercial pointed to consolidation among industry players, reduced commissioning from traditional broadcasters and the ongoing shift from linear TV to on-demand viewing as continuing pressures, and said a supportive regulatory framework, as raised in the BBC’s response to the government’s Charter Review Green Paper, would be key to scaling further growth.
Upcoming titles include a new season of “Blue Planet,” along with “Sherwood,” “Deadpoint,” “Break Clause,” “Honey” and “Pride & Prejudice.”
