BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, has agreed a global five-year partnership with Getty Images in which Getty Images will represent BBC Motion Gallery, BBC Worldwide’s prestigious video clip sales business. The agreement will see the world-renowned BBC Motion Gallery brand continue, with Getty Images as the exclusive global distributor.

They say: Getty Images’ extensive experience as the guardian of its own internationally renowned and historically significant Hulton Archive, as well as distributor to nearly 400 other well-known collections, make the company an ideal partner for BBC Worldwide.

BBC Worldwide customers will be able to access Motion Gallery services through Getty Images’ websites. They can expect the same quality service, but with the key difference being a stronger and wider sales offering, enabling customers to access content online from anywhere in the world 24 hours a day. There are no changes to the service for those customers acquiring content from Education, Sports Events & Live Programming as BBC Worldwide retains these sectors.
Marcus Arthur, Managing Director, BBC Worldwide UK & ANZ said, “Our footage sales business is very successful, with over 100,000 clips available online and innumerable hours of content available through the BBC’s vast and rich catalogue. We now have an opportunity to grow BBC Motion Gallery even further by partnering with a truly international player. The deal with Getty Images allows us to tap into their wealth of experience and global footprint in this sector.”

Lee Martin, Senior Vice President, Sales, Getty Images said: “We are delighted to partner with BBC Worldwide through the representation of BBC Motion Gallery. As a leading global media company, Getty Images has a proven track record of profitability and we are well-placed to grow and expand BBC Motion Gallery’s business internationally.”

Christian Toksvig, Vice President, Business Development, Getty Images said: “BBC Worldwide is a fabulous global brand, recognised and admired throughout the world. With BBC Motion Gallery on the Getty Images platform, we look forward to enriching our own already comprehensive video offering of almost 1.8 million clips, allowing us to greater serve the needs of our customers in over 200 countries worldwide.”

The BBC Motion Gallery collection will be available on the Getty Images website from 1 January 2014.