BBC America

BBC America is a United States cable network owned and operated by BBC Worldwide which as of 2009 has first United States broadcast rights for both the revived Doctor Who and Torchwood.

BBC America's focus is to broadcast exclusively British — but not exclusively BBC —content to the United States. Because it is not run by the BBC proper, however, it has to pay for its content like any other American broadcaster.

Commercial network
The fact that BBC America is budgeted independently of the BBC has had some consequences for its audience. Most obviously, it has created the need for the channel to run advertisements in order to generate revenue. This, in turn, means that the programming has to be edited to allow for these commercials. In some cases — such as unusually long episodes of Doctor Who like Journey's End — BBC America has aired versions which are missing significant portions of the version that aired on BBC One. The need for the network to adopt a more traditionally American format can also play havoc with the original authorial intent of some of its shows. For instance, BBC America was the original American home of the ITV show, Primeval. However, to create the illusion of a more standard American season, the network combined the first two British series into what it called "Season 1". This has led to some initial confusion between people used to its airing on BBC America and those more familiar with its original ITV broadcast.

Despite these drawbacks, the commercial revenue stream has provided the company with profits that it can then use for the production of a limited amount of new programming. Initially fueled by a desire to offer its own coverage of the 2008 US Presidential election, it has begun to originate its own news programming, distinct from BBC World News. But it has also become a partner with both ITV and the BBC in the production of new drama, such as Steven Moffat's Jekyll.

As a commercial network, it must bid for the right to show BBC programming like any other network in America. It has not always won the right to debut BBC shows in America. It failed to receive the initial rights to the BBC Wales version of Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures, for instance — but it was the original American home for Torchwood.

On May 28, 2009, it was announced that BBC America has won the initial US broadcast right to Doctor Who beginning with The Next Doctor and the 2009 specials; it has yet to be confirmed whether the network will be the permanent home for Doctor Who when regular broadcasts resume in 2010.

BBC America On Demand
In some parts of the United States, BBC America runs a secondary service called "BBC America On Demand". For an additional fee, subscribers can receive largely commercial-free versions of the shows running on BBC America. Thus, in a sense the network does offer some BBC content in more or less the way it was intended to be seen.

Home video sales
Through a relationship with the BBC America Shop, headquartered in Pennsylvania, the network drives sales of Region 1 DVDs of its programs. Although the shop is not the only outlet for BBC Video sales in North America, it is the de facto "official provider" for BBC America, and a major supporter of the BBC America website.

More generally, the fact that the network provides an American home for some British shows creates a business rationale for releasing them to the Region 1 market. Shows like Torchwood and Jekyll would likely not have received a speedy Region 1 DVD release without the involvement of BBC America.