MUMBAI: Scandal-hit British pubcaster BBC has appointed Paul Dempsey as the interim Chief Executive Officer of BBC Worldwide from December until incoming CEO Tim Davie?s arrival next year.

Paul, currently Managing Director for Consumer Products at BBC Worldwide, will oversee the BBC?s commercial arm from December 1 until Tim Davie hands over his duties as Acting Director-General to Director-General Designate Tony Hall in March.

BBC Worldwide?s current CEO John Smith announced his decision to step down after eight years in charge of the company last month and will leave the business in December.

The appointment was made by Tim Davie as Acting Director-General.

Paul Dempsey said, "I am proud and privileged to have been asked by Tim to take on these responsibilities as an interim measure until he arrives early next year. BBC Worldwide is a dynamic company with exciting times ahead of it. My immediate priority will be to provide the company with leadership and direction so it can keep on delivering great returns to the BBC."

Tim Davie said, "Paul has a great track record at BBC Worldwide and a sound understanding of the commercial imperatives that have made it an international success. I have every faith that he is the right person to lead BBC Worldwide over the coming months and make sure it carries on supporting the BBC brand around the world."

In his current role, Paul oversees Consumer Products, a global producer and distributor of TV entertainment packaged media, including DVD, Blu-ray, DTO, licensed product, music, BBC Shop and book publishing partnerships.

Paul joined BBC Worldwide in 1998 as UK Sales Director and became Managing Director of BBC Audio books in 2002. He was appointed Director of BBC Worldwide?s Audio & Music business when it was established in 2006. Prior to joining BBC Worldwide, Paul?s background in sales and marketing included eight years at Mars Confectionery followed by two years as Sales Director of Frontline Ltd, BBC Worldwide?s magazine joint venture business.

As a result of the move, Marcus Arthur, Managing Director for Global Brands, will take over Paul?s current responsibilities as Acting Managing Director for Consumer Products, in addition to his current role.

The BBC has been battling allegations of sex-scandal surrounding Jimmy Savile, the late BBC television star now alleged to have been a prolific child sex offender. The scandal saw the resignation of BBC?s Director General George Entwistle in the wake of Newsnight report on North Wales child abuse. The report wrongly implicated a politician in child sex abuse.

MUMBAI: UK pubcaster The BBC?s commercial arm BBC Worldwide has enhanced its deal with Middle East broadcaster Al Jazeera Children?s Channel (JCC).

The enhanced deal involves JCC buying 180 hours of programming from BBC, all of which will be dubbed into Arabic.

BBC Worldwide Territory Manager Middle East, Africa Natasha Hussain said, "This deal further builds on the strong relationship we have with Al Jazeera Children?s Channel. We have a real breadth of engaging and informative programming in our Children?s catalogue so it?s great to see some of our exciting live-action drama and documentary content such as MI High and Deadly 60 licensed by the channel for the first time."

Al Jazeera Children?s Channel acting director of sales and media rights Rashed Al Qurese said, "Both JCC and BBC have a strong tradition of providing quality entertainment to their audiences. This new selection of creative and intelligent series will expand on our schedule of programming that children will love and parents will trust."

MUMBAI: After trying to get its channels off the ground for the past five years, BBC Worldwide Channels has decided to stop airing its two entertainment channels in the country - BBC Entertainment India and CBeebies.

The channels will stop airing by the end of the month. BBC World News will, however, continue to air.

The news has come as a surprise to some given that in 2010 the channel had appointed Deepak Shourie as its director for South Asia and refreshed BBC Entertainment in 2011 with a focus on entertainment, infotainment and factual content. BBC Worldwide Channels was trying to make a serious push on the distribution front.

BBC Worldwide Channels Asia senior VP, GM Mark Whitehead said, "The decision to withdraw BBC Entertainment and CBeebies has not been an easy one; India is a dynamic and fast growing media market but remains uniquely challenging for pay TV channels. Specifically, delays in digitisation and the need for channel operators to pay cable platforms for carriage makes the economics of running channels very challenging at this time."

A rival broadcaster on condition of anonymity says that the numbers must not have added up. "It might make sense for them to return in 2015 if the digitisation process is complete. Right now placement costs are not going down. These costs will go down only by the end of next year when the second phase of digitisation is over. Also remember that Cbeebies does not carry ads. So to pay carriage fees on that is a losing proposition."

He adds that British content is more niche than American content. "A few shows had gotten traction like ?Sherlock?, ?Top Gear?. But when they did their annual review and looked at the markets that they operate in, the decision must have been that India for now does not make sense."

Whitehead adds that despite this, BBC Worldwide remains committed to India. "BBC World News ? the BBC?s international news and current affairs television channel ? continues to be available across the market, along with the bbc.com and bbchindi.com websites, BBC Hindi radio and Global India, a new primetime programme produced by BBC Hindi TV which will launch on five ETV channels later this week.

"In addition, BBC Worldwide operates a TV production business, a content syndication business and Lonely Planet in India. The company is also evaluating the potential for a number of digital initiatives which have been successfully developed in other markets. BBC programmes will also continue to be available on other channels in India, both terrestrial and cable, as well as digitally on our YouTube channel."

In the coming weeks, BBC Worldwide will be ensuring a smooth transition for its staff affected by this decision.

MUMBAI: BBC Worldwide Productions and Quality Transmedia have announced that they will be producing a historical fantasy motion comic series based on the best-selling comic book Peter Panzerfaust.

The companies have secured rights to the title and will initially be producing the series for digital release, while concurrently working to develop "Panzerfaust" as a live action scripted series. The project will be executive produced by BBC Worldwide Productions? senior VP of scripted, Julie Gardner (Da Vinci?s Demons, Doctor Who, Torchwood), BBC Worldwide Productions? Vice President of Digital, Dan Tischler (Gigi: Almost American; Torchwood: Web of Lies) and Quality Transmedia?s Jeff Krelitz.

?Panzerfaust?, by Kurtis J. Weibe and Tyler Jenkins, is a contemporary reimagining of the classic J.M. Barrie tale, "Peter Pan". The ongoing comic book series, published by Image Comics, premiered last spring. In ?Panzerfaust?, Peter is an American freedom fighter in Nazi-occupied Europe at the outset of World War II. He partners with the Lost Boys, a ragtag group of orphans, to combat the Nazi threat, led by SS Captain Haken (aka Captain Hook).

BBC Worldwide Productions VP digital Dan Tischler said, "Panzerfaust was instantly appealing our team with its unique mixture of real historical elements combined with classic Peter Pan mythology. This clever take on such an iconic story offers us an opportunity to take a comprehensive cross-platform approach to development, with the motion comic series being the ideal entry point to bring the concept to life."

Quality Transmedia head, Jeff Krelitz said, "When I read the material, I immediately knew the innovative and creative sensibilities of BBC Worldwide Productions would make them the perfect partner for this project. This represents a fresh and smart way to explore the material and I?m looking forward to bringing Peter Panzerfaust to audiences through a variety of mediums."

The motion comic format combines elements of comic book art, animation and voice over narration to bring the static comic book pages to life on screen. The format the company says has gained popularity in recent years as an alternative to traditional animation with a distinct storytelling aesthetic of its own. This is the second collaboration for Jeff Krelitz and BBC Worldwide Productions, who previously worked together on ?Torchwood: Web of Lies?, a companion prequel to ?Torchwood: Miracle Day?.

MUMBAI: UK pubcaster the BC‘s commercial arm BBC Worldwide has announced sales of its children‘s titles ahead of the television trade event MIPJunior which takes place in Cannes, France from 6-7 October 2012. Animated series ‘Baby Jake‘ has been picked up by Norwegian broadcaster NRK.

Other new sales include ‘The Adventures of Abney and Teal‘ to ABC4Kids (Australia), and Starz Kids and Family in the US has licensed teen comedies ‘Wingin‘ It‘ and ‘Sadie J‘.

BBC Worldwide children‘s genre manager, sales and distribution Nathan Waddington said, "We have really bolstered our children‘s titles right across the age range, so it‘s brilliant to see series from pre-school animations to teen titles being snapped up by broadcasters all over the globe."

BBC Worldwide is launching a new children‘s title at MIPJunior - ‘Sarah and Duck‘, a quirky animation about a seven-year-old and her manic but endearing best friend Duck. Also on the slate is the second season of ‘Leonardo‘ following the further adventures of the teenage Leonardo Da Vinci.

‘Baby Jake‘ follows the toddler‘s adventures into space, to tropical forests, and under the ocean. The series uses a mixture of live action, 2D animations and photorealism to create a truly distinctive style. Baby Jake been picked up by Kazakhstan TV, RTP2 (Portugal), RAI (Italy) and TVB (Hong Kong).

Ragdoll Productions‘ ‘The Adventures of Abney and Teal‘ features two rag dolls who live in a park, and is based on stories created by established children‘s author and illustrator, Joel Stewart. Teen comedy ‘Wingin‘ It‘ is about a reckless angel-in-training sent to help a hapless high school student. This new series is from Temple Street, the producers of ‘Being Erica‘. Coming-of-age comedy ‘Sadie J‘ tackles the various issues that a 13 year old has to deal with. The series follows Sadie as she tries to cope in an all-boy household.