Background The idea for BBC America was first mooted in December 1994, as part of a two-channel plan by BBC Worldwide to enter the US cable market by means of a partnership with Cox. The two channels were going to be BBC World, which was due to launch the following year, and an entertainment channel, named BBC Prime or BBC America. There were no short-term plans to launch the channel, which, according to the teams, was in its "research stages". Preparations for the channel began in March 1997, with a launch set for "as early as summer 1998".
Launch and early years BBC America was announced in December 1997 under a commercial agreement with Discovery Communications and 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 the channel needed to establish a niche, since non-British viewers found the lifestyle shows appealing. Most of the newer programs appeared as part of BBC America's evening schedule. The network removed the 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.
AMC Networks joint venture (2014–2024) In 2014,
AMC Networks acquired a 49.9% equity stake in BBC America for $200 million, and replaced
Discovery Communications as its managing partner. As part of the deal, AMC Networks also took on the responsibility of negotiating American broadcast and advertising sales for the regional variant
BBC News (International). 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." AMC Networks became a founding partner in the American launch of
BritBox, a streaming service operated by
BBC Studios and
ITV plc. On Sunday, April 25, 2021, BBC America unveiled a redesigned logo and tagline – "Brit-ish".
Fully owned subsidiary of AMC Networks (2024–present) In AMC Networks' Q3 earnings report released November 8, 2024, the company announced that it had closed a deal with the BBC on the first of that month to buy it out of its 50.1% stake in BBC America for $42 million in cash, clarifying that the transaction would be the final time AMC was increasing a non-controlling interest by paying in cash. The report further stated, "Assuming the transaction had closed on September 30, 2024, $132.9 million of redeemable noncontrolling interest related to BBC America, and reflected on the condensed consolidated balance sheet, would have been eliminated. Additionally, the Company’s future contractual programming commitments to BBC Studios would have been significantly reduced." The BBC continues to maintain commercial ties with the channel, with AMC paying licensing fees to BBC Studios for the use of the BBC name and branding and some of the channel's programming. ==Programming==