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CBS News and BBC News on Thursday unveiled an editorial and news gathering partnership that they said would “significantly enhance the global reporting capabilities” of both organizations.
The announcement was made by CBS News president David Rhodes and BBC director of news and current affairs James Harding. The agreement replaces a previous BBC deal with ABC News and a CBS News partnership with Sky, which 21st Century Fox is planning to take full control of.
The announcement of the new partnership follows NBC News’ recent closing of the acquisition of a 25 percent stake in European news network Euronews for roughly $30 million, giving both organizations access to each other’s content and news gathering.
The news alliances come at a time when Donald Trump‘s presidency is attracting much coverage in Europe, and Brexit and other European stories are also making headlines worldwide.
This new deal allows the companies to share video and other editorial content, starting immediately, and additional news gathering resources in New York, London, Washington and around the world. The relationship “will also allow for efficient planning of news gathering resources to increase the content of each broadcaster’s coverage of world events,” the partners said.
“CBS News is completely committed to original reporting around the world — a commitment clearly shared by the BBC,” said Rhodes. “There’s no better partner to strengthen and extend our global coverage than BBC News. I look forward to working with James Harding as we increase the capabilities of both organizations.”
In a memo, he said about the ended Sky News relationship: “This takes the place of our longtime arrangement with Sky News who have been strong allies for many years, but the opportunity to partner with one of the world’s largest news organizations was too compelling not to make this change.”
“There’s never been a more important time for smart, courageous coverage of what’s happening in the world,” said BBC News boss Harding. “This new partnership between the BBC and CBS News is designed to bring our audiences — wherever you live, whatever your point of view — news that is reliable, original and illuminating. Our ambition is to deliver the best in international reporting on television.”
About the end of the long-running ABC News relationship, he said: “Our relationship with ABC has been long and fruitful. We have worked side by side on some of the most significant stories of our time on both sides of the Atlantic, from the attack on the Twin Towers to the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. We wish ABC well and would like to thank them for many years of hard work and expertise.”
The BBC and CBS highlighted that their collaboration builds on a relationship that dates back to the early days of TV and radio news. Edward R. Murrow delivered many of his reports from the BBC’s London headquarters.
“Everyone at CBS News is committed to comprehensive, international, original reporting _ and BBC News shares these values completely,” Rhodes reiterated in a memo to staff. “Both of our organizations have a rich history covering the world’s biggest stories over many decades. We’ll have no better partner to help us deepen our global news footprint.”
Jeremy Barr in New York contributed to this report.
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