Big in America ?

""We have reached a positive tipping point" says BBC Worldwide CEO Tim Davie of his US channel BBC America. We look forward to details of the 2013 figures, which are said to be the best ever. However, usually, we are only ever given peaks - such as reaching 2.47 million viewers (out of a potential of 80 million households) for Xmas Day Dr Who.

The next 24 hours of BBC America run thus:
Top Gear
Top Gear
BBC World News
BBC World News
BBC World News
Dr Who
Dr Who
Torchwood
Torchwood
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares (UK)
Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares (UK)
Kitchen Nightmares
Kitchen Nightmares

Adventurous, huh ? The current new product from BBC America is "Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond", which in the UK is to be called "Fleming: For Your Eyes Only", and will be shown in the UK February - on Sky Atlantic.

Tim Davie's New Year press release also reveals a BBC re-embrace for Lesley Douglas, the Radio 2 Controller who "resigned" as a result of Sachsgate, when Tim was Director of Audio and Music. Lesley has just set up her own fledgling indie, called Lonesome Pine. We are not told the scale of BBC Worldwide's investment. Tim's view now ? "There are few people with such strong talent relationships who understand what makes great content better than Lesley, and the breadth of her experience spans a multitude of globally appealing genres."

The worrying aspect of this deal ? Lesley's in partnership with a comedy scriptwriter, and you would have to say her judgement of what constitutes appropriate humour was not the sharpest when it came to Messrs Brand and Ross.