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"The BBC is reportedly reviewing options for the sale of Radio Times as part of a planned shake-up at its BBC Worldwide commercial division. Worldwide is currently seeking a partnership deal with a rival publisher to enable its &amp;quot;portfolio of profitable market-leading titles to meet its potential, while still protecting the BBC&amp;#039;s editorial standards and brands&amp;quot;.  The BBC Magazines division, which includes Top Gear, Gardener&amp;#039;s World and Doctor Who titles, reported an \u00A311.5 million profit last year on sales of \u00A3182m. The unit sells around 85m magazines each year. Worldwide believes that a commercial partnership agreement would result in a &amp;quot;mixed portfolio&amp;quot; of BBC titles, with some being sold and others licensed. In a statement issued yesterday, a Worldwide spokesman said: &amp;quot;We confirmed to BBC Worldwide staff on Friday [April 9] that following a review of our magazines business we are seeking a partnership with another company to enable our portfolio of profitable market-leading titles to meet its potential, while still protecting the BBC&amp;#039;s editorial standards and brands. &amp;quot;BBC Magazines hopes to hold preliminary conversations with interested companies in the coming weeks. But we will only proceed if we can find an appropriate partner who understands the BBC&amp;#039;s values and brands, and if we are able to structure a deal that works for both parties and delivers value back to the BBC.&amp;quot; Speaking to The Times, an industry source claimed that a commercial partnership deal will not be straightforward as most of the BBC&amp;#039;s magazines are closely linked to its programming brands. &amp;quot;It can&amp;#039;t just be about flogging off the company because a lot of the magazines are BBC-branded and programme-branded and a huge part of their value is their relationship with the BBC,&amp;quot; said the source. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s not straightforward and it&amp;#039;s not going to be the same structure for all of them. There are some titles that could be sold, some parts need to remain close to the BBC.&amp;quot;  Following the deal, it is thought that Top Gear magazine would be licensed to another publisher, while listings title Radio Times would be sold.  A shake-up at BBC Magazines first surfaced in the BBC&amp;#039;s strategy review, which stated that Worldwide should focus more on its international operations and &amp;quot;move away from physical media&amp;quot;. However, any proposed partnership deal would first have to be approved by the BBC Trust before it can go into operation.  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tech/news/a214076/bbc-worldwide-mulls-radio-times-sale/>