Comments | editrx: BBC Audio Books up for sale

editrx

BBC Audio Books up for sale

Aug 28, 2009 19:26

Via Publishers Weekly:
The commercial arm of the BBC is looking to sell a majority stake in BBC Audiobooks, sources familiar with the company confirm. Based in the U.K., BBC Audiobooks was formed in 2001 and includes the American division BBC Audiobooks America. The decision to sell a stake in the audio group is part of BBC’s strategy to more ( Read more... )

bbc, publishing

Comments 10

xebgoc August 29 2009, 00:06:40 UTC

i'd be willing to bet thst Naxos will be in the running. If I hear anything i'll let you all know>

editrx August 29 2009, 04:32:57 UTC

Thank you! I'm curious as to who will pick this up, given that it includes the print division.

xebgoc August 29 2009, 04:35:26 UTC

yeah, that's the only thing I'm not sure about because they don't do print. so i suppose it could be Random House since they do both already.

principia August 29 2009, 00:32:39 UTC

Large print division? Does this mean they're selling off BBC Books as well? I thought Random House already owned the majority chunk of that.

editrx August 29 2009, 04:32:28 UTC

Okay, I tried writing a muddle of how this looks & then realized it was unintelligible. Easier to put it this way:

Publishing as It's Done Today 101:What we think of as publishers (such as Random House or Simon & Schuster) are mainly distribution & marketing for many of their "imprints ( ... )

mtemplar_fic August 29 2009, 00:37:46 UTC

Interesting. Where does that leave Ebury?

editrx August 29 2009, 04:34:10 UTC

::shrug:: Got me.

See what I wrote above to Principia about the print division & what it might mean.

neadods August 29 2009, 01:36:32 UTC

Bugger. I worry that any other company would not keep up the quality.

editrx August 29 2009, 04:37:26 UTC

Yes, that worries me too. Or that sales figures are down enough that someone will buy it for the loss, and then dump it.

Nowadays companies, especially in publishing, are either cutting all new titles & just reprinting old ones, or they are cutting divisions that are only a tiny bit off in sales for a quarter, because they want instant results (which doesn't happen in publishing; that's not how it works) because the companies are now mostly run by bean-counters who are part of global syndicates and know nothing about how publishing works.

neadods August 29 2009, 22:43:07 UTC

which doesn't happen in publishing; that's not how it works

*spares you the rant that we're in this overall mess because everyone wanted instant results and sure profit and didn't know (or care) dick about business trends.