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Local film and television studio Rapid Blue will retain its relationship with the BBC’s production arms after being sold to Anele Mdoda’s Rose and Oaks Media.On June 12, Rose and Oaks, operated by Mdoda and business partners Frankie du Toit and Paul Buys, announced it had acquired Rapid Blue from BBC Worldwide for an undisclosed sum. BBC had held ownership of the production house since 2016. The Randburg-based company was founded by veteran TV producers Duncan Irvine and Kee-Leen Irvine in 1993 and is behind some of South Africa’s biggest success shows, including The Weakest Link, Strictly Come Dancing, Come Dine With Me South Africa and Shark Tank. Pierre Cloete, vice-president for Africa at BBC Studios, told Business Day his unit’s relationship with Rapid Blue will remain largely unchanged. “From where we are sitting in BBC Studios and the channel business, there’s actually very little that’s changed.”BBC Studios is the primary commercial subsidiary and production arm of the British broadcaster. It produces a number of BBC productions, as well as being in charge of the broadcaster’s six channels in the region ― BBC UKTV, BBC Brit, BBC Lifestyle, BBC Earth, CBeebies and BBC News. These channels are available locally, primarily through DStv.According to Cloete, BBC Studios will continue producing certain shows through Rapid Blue.“The way we worked with Rapid Blue in the past, nothing will really change going forward. We commission Rapid Blue for some of our shows. Come Dine with Me South Africa is a good example. They produce it. They’ve also done The Great South African Bake Off, Homegrown Tastes South Africa and a number of other shows for the BBC channels,” he said.“We will commission them as we would any other producer.”Though the ownership line is no longer to the BBC in the UK, “it doesn’t really matter to us as a channel business because we are looking for those shows”. Even then, the former MNet executive said the deal does enable them to negotiate “a little bit harder because they are not part of our business anymore”.“We’ve always treated them very neutrally, but we can maybe push them a little bit on pricing and things like that because they might be able to change their operating model internally to have lower costs. Rose and Oaks are quite experienced producers, so they could bring in some more local expertise, maybe opening up some new ideas and concepts for our channels. We’re very open to working with them if there are new ideas coming from their side.”The entertainment expert said the value of a business such as Rapid Blue is backed by the following factors: Rapid Blue’s rights in producing and adapting certain BBC formats locally. “Rapid Blue has been sold as a production company linked to these format rights. And it’s not only BBC formats that they own; there are others in their stable too. So, if a channel or a platform wants to create one of these formats, they’ll work through Rapid Blue,” Cloete said. Skilled personnel. “There are highly experienced people in Rapid Blue that have worked in the industry for many years.”Existing production contracts. A “very strong brand and track record of producing high-quality content. The experience … all the shows they have done [in the past] give them a lot of credibility in the market,” Cloete said.
