This year's most entertaining Valentine's surprise comes with the announcement that BBC Studios will launch BBC Nordic and BBC Nordic+, an enhanced linear channel and dedicated on-demand service for Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish and Icelandic viewers from 17 April 2023.
Linear channel BBC Nordic brings together the very best of BBC BRIT and BBC Earth and will replace them in the current channel mix. BBC Nordic+, a new on-demand service will enable viewers to delve deeper into the BBC shows they enjoy from the linear channel and discover new favourites.
With a long-standing history in the five Nordic market, the new channel and on-demand service have been borne out of research into local audiences tastes and the content they most enjoy. They will offer a tailored line up of the brightest factual and feel-good entertainment series from the BBC, making it easier for Nordic audiences to find their favourite programmes and to discover new shows.
Spring will be even more interesting and colourful with expanded content mix on BBC Nordic. New series of much loved factual and factual entertainment programming that aired on BBC BRIT and BBC Earth such as QI, The Graham Norton Show and Life Below Zero, will be joined by new programmes for the channel such as The Great British Bake Off along with the return of Serengeti for a third season.
Among the programmes that will be available on BBC Nordic at launch is the latest series from the multi-award winning documentary maker Louis Theroux - Louis Theroux Interviews... which sees Louis get up close and personal with the UK's biggest stars such as singer Rita Ora and actress Dame Judi Dench in the way only he can. Serengeti III will transport viewers to the heart of Tanzania to get lost in the adventures and perils of the iconic wildlife trying the navigate a land on the brink of change.
Lifestyle and entertainment programming will also form an important part of the channel offering with iconic series The Great British Bake Off (S10) being new to the channel alongside feel-good shows such as The Great Pottery Throwdown, a battle of the clay which sees 12 home potters compete to become champion, and DIY SOS which follows friends, family and local trades transform the homes of deserving families across Britain. Viewers of BBC Nordic can also look forward to new episodes of popular entertainment series coming to the channel in the following months - Live at the Apollo, The Graham Norton Show, QI, Pointless and The Weakest Link.
Dedicated on-demand service BBC Nordic+ will enable viewers to delve deeper into the BBC content they enjoy from the BBC Nordic channel and discover new favourites at the touch of a button. New content has been curated around topics such as arts and culture, travel, history, documentaries and music. In April this will include pioneering documentary series from Public Enemy frontman Chuck D - Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World. In the new 4-part series Chuck D leads a cast of Hip Hop icons from Ice-T to Run DMC to Eminem to tell the definitive story of how hip hop emerged from the ashes of the Bronx in the 70s to become a global force for change today.
Last year, BBC Studios unveiled plans to become an online only service which led to the cutback of content spending and the folding of the BBC World News brand into BBC News. The idea of BBC Earth possibly folding under BBC Brit wouldn't be a far fetched idea particularly for African consumers.
BBC Brit and since last year BBC UKTV had supplied selected content from BBC Earth for sometime as the channel in question is currently viewed as a premium channel for which the consumer base had been struggling due to inflation and domination of streaming.
Taking to account that BBC Earth can only be viewable in South Africa, it wouldn't be far fetched if this was the first TV channel that BBC Studios opts to cease distribution in the market. As mentioned, the whole premium base of DStv is struggling same goes for most of the offering on that package.
On top of BBC undergoing a similar route as The Walt Disney Company in halting most if not all their linear operations seen globally.
