BBC Radio commercial arm hunts global agency

BBC Radio International, a division of the corporation’s commercial arm BBC Worldwide, is seeking a media agency to handle its launch into sponsorship and advertising on overseas radio programmes.

BBC Radio International, part of BBC Worldwide Music, needs an agency with a global network to carry out research for clients wanting to know the composition of audiences for local stations around the world.

The division is seeing six agencies next week. They are believed to include Zenith Media, TMD Carat Advertising and CIA Medianetwork. These will be whittled down to a shortlist of three, within two weeks.

BBC Worldwide director John Willan, BBC Worldwide Music business development manager Leslie Golding and Wung Mortimer, BBC Worldwide Music sponsorship manager, will head the delegation.

Golding says: “We need to find out exactly who is listening to stations, so the companies which come to us can effectively target the shows they sponsor. This is particularly true of radio stations in developing countries.”

BBC Radio International is the world’s largest syndicator of music to radio stations.

The division operates in 108 countries worldwide and claims to reach a global audience of 100 million people annually.