BBC Studios reaches ‘milestone of cultural collaboration’ in new deal with Qatar’s beIN Media Group

BBC Studios has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with beIN MEDIA GROUP, one of the world’s leading entertainment and sports groups and owner of MIRAMAX studios.

The MOU establishes a partnership between the two companies to explore opportunities for the co-development, co-production and distribution of content in Qatar, the Middle East and Turkey

Paul Dempsey, President for Global Markets at BBC Studios, and Yousef Al-Obaidly, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of beIN MEDIA GROUP, signed the agreement, which is set to run for an initial three-year term from 1st August 2018, at BBC Studios’ London headquarters in Television Centre.

As part of the agreement, BBC Studios and beIN intend to seek opportunities for the development and production of content, while exploring the acquisition of additional BBC Studios’ digital content by beIN to complement the current BBC programming on beIN’s platforms.

Paul Dempsey said: “This MOU builds on BBC Studios’ successful existing partnership with beIN MEDIA GROUP and stands to bring our expertise in development and production to an even wider international audience.

“It further demonstrates our commitment to working with partners globally to create world-class programmes.”

Yousef Al-Obaidly added: “We are incredibly excited about furthering our trusted partnership with BBC Studios.

“This memorandum of understanding establishes a new milestone of cultural collaboration between our organisations, bringing together two of the strongest global entertainment brands to deliver stand-out original content, cutting-edge innovation and – ultimately – more value to our customers.

“We are also delighted to support BBC Studios’ intention to explore broader business opportunities together with beIN MEDIA GROUP in Qatar.”

Earlier this year, beIN launched BBC Earth, BBC Studios’ global factual brand, as a linear channel across the Middle East and North Africa via its direct-to-home service.

BBC Earth joined BBC Studios’ pre-school brand, CBeebies, which has been on the beIN platform since 2016. BBC Earth and CBeebies are also available as bespoke channels in Turkey via pay-tv operator Digiturk, which – along with MIRAMAX studios – is also part of beIN MEDIA GROUP’s rapidly-growing and market-leading global and entertainment and sports business.