BBC Studios Consolidates Distribution, Nick Percy Leads Global Markets

BBC Studios is consolidating its Asia Pacific (APAC) and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) distribution regions as a single, unified business.

The new division, known as Global Markets, under the leadership of Nick Percy as president, will be operational from Jan. 31, 2022. It will join the Americas and the U.K. as the third BBC Studios regional business.

The formation of Global Markets concludes a period of internal consolidation, BBC Studios said. Jon Penn, the current head of the Asia Pacific division is moving on, but will continue to lead EMEA and APAC until the new Global Markets region becomes operational.

Regional commercial leads Phil Hardman (general manager and senior VP Asia), Natasha Hussain (senior VP MENA), Ding Ke (general manager for Greater China), Fiona Lang (general manager for ANZ), Salim Mukaddam (senior VP content sales markets EMEA) and Arran Tindall (senior VP of key markets EMEA) will report to Percy, who will be based in the U.K.

Percy has led the EMEA region since April 2020 and has experience of the APAC region, having previously lived in Australia and worked on projects in Asia.

Paul Dempsey, president of global distribution, said: “Nick is a strategic and talented leader who understands the complexities of the Global Markets regions and the focus for BBC Studios moving forward. I’m pleased that he is going to be leading the team through the next stage of our transformation.”

Percy said: “There will be many benefits, as well as trade-offs to be made, over the next few years, as we invest in our branded services, balance our global and regional deals, offer more in direct-to-consumer and ramp up our digital deals.”

Penn added: “I’ve been fortunate to work with such an incredible brand, team and customer base as we have ridden the wave of digital transformation in the content industry. It’s been a part of my career that I’m very proud of, but now I’m ready for my next challenge and can do this in the knowledge that the business and team is in very safe hands.”