Just being British isn't enough

Some more, if you can stand it, from the USA, home of the increasingly-mangled tiny-vocabulary version of the English language.

Here are extracts from an 'exclusive' interview in Deadline with Sarah Barnett, boss of BBC America.

"BBCA has its distinct DNA, which is informed by a broad mix as an entertainment network. You know, we’re not a sort of offshore version of BBC1 and BBC2, which sit in such a different landscape with such different expectations.

"Our ability at BBCA to have a fairly diverse slate and to be able to pivot with that in response to the shift in linear viewing patterns is something quite cool about this network. BBCA was, certainly for me and the team when we all started working together here, a case of really figuring out that just being British isn’t enough for BBCA. We have to maximize and create great stories around the stuff that’s always worked. We have, in a certain sense, some really unique tools at our disposal, I think, or levers to pull in responding to what audiences are watching and what they’re not watching.

And on the network's forthcoming launch of Planet Earth II:

"I think what we’re excited about is the transcendent nature of this content. So stats and actual volume of viewership aside, we have real ambition and belief that this show is remarkable and is at the perfect moment to resonate right now. So that’s how we’re approaching it. The fact that this show is remarkable, and I think it taps into a remarkable moment where people of any side of what feels like a big divide, actually, I think are craving something that unifies us, but transcends, and I think there’s something about nature and something about connecting with the planet that we all share that truly lifts you up and reminds us all of our shared experience on this planet."

Today, BBC America is showing Star Trek repeats from 0600 to 2400 East Coast time.