WETA Enters Partnership to Represent and Distribute BBC World News Programming on PBS

[May 20, 2019; Arlington, VA] – WETA and BBC Global News today announce a new partnership to offer BBC World News programming to PBS stations nationwide beginning June 1. In addition to distributing BBC World News and BBC World News America, the WETA-based PBS National Sales team will also manage corporate and foundation underwriting duties for the programs in the United States.

“WETA is renowned for excellence in journalism, bringing trusted news and public affairs programming to the American people via public media,” said Sharon Percy Rockefeller, President and CEO of WETA. “We are pleased to collaborate with the BBC in presenting their stellar international news coverage to the nation. Together, we will offer content of importance and integrity with meaningful synergies in program marketing.”

“BBC Global News is the world’s most trusted truly global news broadcaster,” said Jim Egan, CEO of BBC Global News. “We’re excited to work with WETA to reach U.S. public media audiences hungry for impartial coverage of events inside and beyond America.”

BBC World News broadcasts are available in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide, providing bulletins with news, business, sport and weather information, and broadcasts the best of the BBC’s current affairs, documentary and lifestyle programming. BBC World News America provides in-depth reports on the major international and U.S. news of the day.

WETA, the flagship broadcaster in the nation’s capital, is one of the top-producing stations of new national content for public television in the United States and the leading provider of news and public affairs content in the public television system. WETA productions and co-productions include PBS NewsHour and Washington Week; major history series and documentaries from Ken Burns, Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and a variety of other partners; and performance and art specials from the nation’s leading cultural venues.

BBC World News and BBC World News America are owned and operated by BBC Global News, and distributed to PBS stations in the United States by WETA Washington, D.C. U.S. broadcast presentations are made possible by funding from the Freeman Foundation, and Judy and Peter Blum Kovler Foundation. 

For more information, please visit weta.org. Press materials and photography can be found at weta.org/press.

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About WETA

WETA is the leading public broadcasting company in the nation’s capital, serving Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia with educational initiatives and with high-quality programming on WETA Television and Classical WETA 90.9 FM.  For fiscal year 2018, the company had an annual operating budget of $109 million, nearly 300 employees, and more than 125,000 contributing members. The WETA fiscal year 2019 budget is $100 million.  Classical WETA 90.9 FM brings classical music, concerts and specials to Greater Washington. As the leading PBS station in the nation’s capital, WETA Television broadcasts on four channels: WETA TV 26, WETA HD, WETA UK and WETA Kids. WETA Television celebrates the people and history of this region through programs such as WETA Around Town, WETA Extras and WETA Arts.  For national PBS audiences, WETA Washington, D.C., is one of the largest-producing stations of new content for public television in the United States, with news and public affairs programs including PBS NewsHour and Washington Week; films by Ken Burns such as The Civil War and The Roosevelts: An Intimate History; and performance specials from the White House, the U.S. Capitol, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. WETA creates leading public service websites such as www.ReadingRockets.org, www.LDOnline.org, www.ColorinColorado.org, www.AdLit.org and www.Brainline.org; and develops community outreach programs to engage people of all ages in the joy of lifelong learning. The WETA studios and administrative offices are located in Arlington, Virginia. Sharon Percy Rockefeller is president and CEO.  More information on WETA and its programs and services is available at www.weta.org. On social media, visit www.facebook.com/wetatvfm on Facebook or follow @WETAtvfm on Twitter.

About BBC World News
BBC World News and BBC.com, the BBC’s commercially funded international 24-hour English news platforms, are owned and operated by BBC Global News. BBC World News television is available in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide, and over 454 million households and 3 million hotel rooms. The channel’s content is also available on 178 cruise ships, 53 airlines, including 13 distributing the channel live inflight, and 23 mobile phone networks. BBC.com offers up-to-the-minute international news, in-depth analysis and features, including BBC Capital, BBC Culture, BBC Future, BBC Travel and BBC Reel, for PCs, tablets and mobile devices to more than 95 million unique browsers each month.

Press Contacts
Mary Stewart, WETA Vice President for External Affairs, 703.998.2830, mstewart@weta.org
Olivia Wong, WETA Director of Public Relations, 703.998.2086, owong@weta.org
Christopher Chafin, BBC Global News, 212.705.9513, christopher.chafin@bbc.com