Mr. J. Watmough
c/o [FOI #4328 email]
9 December 2008
Dear Mr Watmough
RFI20081320 - Freedom of Information request Thank you for your email of 23rd November 2008 requesting information about
‘how much money
the BBC makes annually from the sale of it's (licence payers) programmes to UKTV Gold’. The reference
number for your request is RFI20081320.
The information you requested is held by BBC Worldwide Limited (‘BBC Worldwide’). As one of
the BBC’s commercial subsidiaries, BBC Worldwide is not covered by the Freedom of lnformation
Act (Section 6(1)(b)(ii)) for information other than that which it holds on behalf of the BBC. The
information you requested is not held by BBC Worldwide on behalf of the BBC.
However, by way of background, BBC Worldwide exists to maximize the BBC’s assets for the
benefit of the licence fee payer. BBC Worldwide’s profits are delivered back to the BBC,
supplementing the Corporation’s licence fee funding. For further information please refer to the
Annual Review for BBC Worldwide for the year ended 31 March 2008. The Annual Review can
be found on the BBC Worldwide website at http://www.bbcworldwide.com/ and hard copies are
also available to any member of the public on request. This shows that in 2007/08, BBC
Worldwide made sales of £916.3m overall, delivering almost £118m profit back to the BBC to be
spent on new programming.
In addition, the BBC Worldwide statutory accounts are filed at Companies House in Cardiff and
are available to the public.
Please also note that the TV Licence is a legal permission to install or use television receiving
equipment to watch or record television programmes, as they are being shown on TV. The
licence fee is not a payment for BBC services, although licence fee revenue is used to fund the
BBC.
Appeal Rights
The BBC does not offer an internal review when the information requested is not covered by the
Act. If you disagree with our decision you can appeal to the Information Commissioner. Contact
details are: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire,
SK9 5AF telephone 01625 545 700. http://www.ico.gov.uk/
Yours sincerely,
Lorraine Blair
Assistant Company Secretary
BBC Worldwide Limited
