MUMBAI: UK pubcaster the BBC?s commercial BBC Worldwide heads to the television trade event MipTV this month in Cannes, France. It will showcase new formats and a bolstered local production team looking for new partnerships around the world.

Heading the list is Baby Borrowers. This is a social experiment, which sees five teenage couples move in together for the first time, along with other people?s babies as they discover whether they are up for the toughest job of all: parenting.

People?s Quiz searches the UK for the best contestants for the ultimate quiz showdown. Hopefuls attend auditions across the country, with only the best making the final cut. The twist is that all the questions are already out there ? in the press

Get Me The Producer sees a senior broadcaster mentoring 12 young producer hopefuls who are challenged to bring their ideas to life across a different genre each week. The winning candidate will secure a 12 month contract with a top production company.

Panic Room is a BBC production which aims to cure you of your phobia for good, whether that be snakes, rats, feet or spiders. Each week, three hyper-phobics face their fears using expert therapy and exercise.

BBC Worldwide director of content and production, Wayne Garvie, said, ?Local productions and formats are key to our growth plans. With BBC Worldwide?s vast programme offering, there are fantastic opportunities to extend this to local versioning, not just with our entertainment formats but also with scripted formats from our drama and comedy catalogues. Our growing network of international partnerships and production bases, together with our expertise in this field, gives us the ability to create entirely new productions for our international audiences.?

Also coming to Cannes is one of BBC Worldwide?s most successful formats ever, Dancing with the Stars with over 30 broadcasters globally producing the hit show and the majority now into multiple series.

Just the Two of Us the BBC?s singing talent show, is attracting increasing international interest, having recently made its Chinese debut on Hunan TV, as well as in Australia, Belgium, Netherlands and Turkey.

The growing strength of its local production business has seen BBC Worldwide reach new heights in the past year. With a production office in Los Angeles, BBC Worldwide is now developing series such as Dancing with the Stars for ABC, now in its fourth season and You?re the One that We Want for NBC. The production office is currently producing three scripted formats for major US studios: Viva Blackpool (to be known as Viva Laughlin) for CBS, The Thick of It for ABC and I?m with Stupid for NBC. The quality of these productions has attracted major Hollywood talent including Melanie Griffiths, Hugh Jackman and the Farrelly Brothers.

In Australia this year, BBC Worldwide has signed a with local production partner, Freehand, to develop new formats in the territory and similar partnerships are being sought in Europe, Latin America and India where BBC Worldwide local productions are driving revenue growth.

In the UK, BBC Worldwide is looking to work more closely with independent producers to develop content for international export. These include agreements to develop entertainment formats (Fever Media) and distribute bespoke digital content (Baby Cow).

MUMBAI: UK pubcaster the BBC has announced the appointment of Sir Michael Lyons as chairman of the BBC Trust, the BBC's new governing body, with effect from 1 May 2007.

Chitra Bharucha, the BBC's Vice-Chairman and Acting Chairman since November 2006, has welcomed the appointment saying. "On behalf of all the Trustees, I am delighted to welcome Michael Lyons to the BBC Trust and congratulate him on his appointment as Chairman. The Trust has made important decisions in our first three months and significant challenges lie ahead. All of us look forward to working with Michael as we go forward."

Lyons said, "It is a great privilege to be appointed Chairman of the BBC Trust. As the BBC's sovereign body, our duty is to ensure the public who pay for the BBC retain overall control of their BBC. As chairman I will never lose sight of the public's core expectations of editorial independence and quality programmes across television, radio and the internet which inform, educate and entertain. I look forward to the exciting challenges of the future and working with my colleagues on the Trust to ensure the BBC provides a quality service to justify the public's continuing support."

MUMBAI: UK pubcaster the BBC?s commercial arm BBC Worldwide has appointed Steve Macallister, senior vice president and managing director of Buena Vista International Television, Asia Pacific (BVITV-AP), to the role of MD Global TV Sales. Macallister joins BBC Worldwide in July.

Reporting to BBC Worldwide CEO, John Smith, Macallister will sit on the board at the BBC?s commercial arm and be responsible for the exploitation of intellectual property around the world of more than 40,000 hours worth of programming from Worldwide?s catalogue. He will also manage BBC Worldwide?s annual sales event, BBC Showcase.

At BVITV-AP, Macallister was managing the regional business of Disney?s international television distribution arm.

Smith says, ?I am delighted to welcome someone of Steve?s calibre to manage the Global TV Sales business and to join the BBC Worldwide Board. Steve?s achievements in programme distribution, which remains a core part of our business, will be invaluable to Worldwide as we grow and develop over the next few years.?

Macallister says, ?I am excited to be joining BBC Worldwide during this period of rapid development in the media industry and look forward to working with John and the team.?

MUMBAI: The BBC expressed grave concern over the reports of one of its Gaza correspondents who went missing early this week.

The BBC is trying to locate the whereabouts of its Alan Johnston."We are working closely with the Palestinian authorities and others to establish the facts surrounding the situation," a BBC statement said.

According to published reports, Johnston?s car was found abandoned in Gaza City. While reports of what might have happened are sketchy, there has been unconfirmed speculation that Johnston was kidnapped after he left his office to go home. Reports emerging out of the region also talk about four armed gunmen who were seen in the vicinity of where his car was found.

While this has given rise to reports that he may be kidnapped,the BBC statement maintained that "We are currently unable to contact him and are concerned for his safety.We are trying to gather as much information as possible."
44-year-old Alan Johnston is currently the only foreign correspondent for a major media organization based in Gaza. 

He has been based there for three years, and reports indicate he was due to return to the U.K. in April.

Meanwhile a survey conducted by the International News Safety Institute (INSI) - a coalition of media organizations, press freedom groups, unions and humanitarian campaigners dedicated to the safety of journalists and media staff highlighted the situation of journalists and media persons in conflict torn countries.

The report ?Killing the Messenger? found that 1,000 news media personnel around the world have been killed trying to report the news over the past 10 years - that?s almost two deaths every week. The survey was conducted between January 1996 and June 2006.