Just another state

Some readers will remember the days when American series peppered BBC schedules - from Dr Kildare, through Bilko, to Kojak, Dallas and Dynasty. Licence fees are still being spent on US programming, and a cynic might say such programming is padding out the iPlayer, whilst seeking to make it 'sexy', like Netflix and Amazon. 

This year BBC Head of Acquisition Sue Deeks has bought the second series of State of The Union, now set in Connecticut, made by SeeSaw Films for Sundance TV; comedy thrillers Search Party for BBC3 and iPlayer and Our Flag Means Death for BBC2 and iPlayer, both previously on HBO; we have Tokyo Vice, also from HBO; iPlayer has a box set of Pretty Little Liars, previously on HBO. We've mentioned before that the BBC3 section of iPlayer is rich in Americana, with Fboy Island, Ghosts US, and Awkwafina. A search of 'America' on iPlayer produces 57 separate programmes. 

BBC Studios big boss Mark Linsey is moving to LA in January, and has told Deadline it's to be “geographically closer to key global content decision makers”. He talks about 'building infrastructure' in Los Angeles, but the BBC refuses to say how many staff are employed in the city.