—STV mobile: Buoyed by Adobe’s upgrade that makes video more widespread, the Scottish broadcaster is planning an iPhone app for its STVPlayer VOD service in March, as well as a range of new mobile sites. Via STV.tv. —Generation Game: Another iPhone app - this time, the old BBC gameshow is…

—AOP: The Association of Online Publishers has appointed James Bromley to its executive committee. He has been MD of Mail Online since April 2008. The AOP, which had been a part of the Periodical Publishers Association, became an independent organisation at the beginning of this year. —BBCWW: Sharon Baylay has…

A company that has built—and is already publicizing—a BBC iPlayer app for the iPhone may get stalled at the gates by the BBC, we have learned. If it goes live, the Rewat.ch app, from Manchester-based developers Camiloo, would be the first iPlayer app for iPhones on the market, according to…

- Dr Who: The BBC is planning to extend the Dr Who franchise into games. This signals the BBC re-entering the gaming industry after shutting its Multimedia division in 2005. The Dr Who venture is being licensed through BBC Worldwide. (via MCV) - Virgin Media: The pay-TV provider had 750…

—TopGear.com: FHM.com editor-in-chief Chris Mooney is the BBCWW commercial site’s new editor. Top Gear is a key global online property for BBCWW. —Red Bee: Brian Levy is the new CTO for Red Bee, a commercial spin-off of the BBC that provides digital media services to broadcasters and telecoms clients. He…

BBC Worldwide has tapped Electronic Arts (NSDQ: ERTS) exec Robert Nashak to help build up its gaming offerings as EVP of Digital Entertainment. During the nearly two years he spent at EA, Nashak’s last role was as a VP charged with overseeing the company’s social gaming group. He previously led…

Late last month, I met with Lonely Planet CEO Matt Goldberg, and did a short video interview with him. It has been exactly a year since Goldberg, the former Dow Jones’ digital strategy and operations SVP, joined as the CEO of the travel guide company now owned by BBC Worldwide.…

By Stephen Brook: The BBC Worldwide chief executive, John Smith, has become the first executive at the corporation to support Rupert Murdoch’s plan to charge for online content. Smith, who runs the BBC’s commercial division, which includes magazines such as Top Gear and Radio Times and licenses BBC hits such…

Guidebook business Lonely Planet has named Douglas Schatz as its new MD for EMEA, in charge of the division’s print and online expansion in the region. He joins the BBC Worldwide-owned business from independent UK book retailer and map data provider Stanfords. He’s been involved in digital publishing from an…

—BBCWW: The Beeb’s commercial arm has promoted its director of programming John Taite to the role of VP for programming, EMEA. The unit is looking to hire three new heads of scheduling in EMEA. Via C21Media.net. —BBCWW Asia: The company’s Asian division has hired Otto Leong from Hong Kong pay…

Arqiva’s unlikely son-of-Kangaroo online VOD portal SeeSaw has finally struck its first content deal. Its licensing BBC Worldwide shows for a mix of free and paid. But this isn’t yet the springboard SeeSaw needs, and there are some unanswered questions… —Same ‘ol: First, BBCWW’s repertoire is just about the first…

BBC Worldwide, the BBC’s profit-making commercial wing, is being barred from doing any mergers or acquisitions unless in “exceptional circumstances”, after its £89 million acquisition of three quarters of travel publisher Lonely Planet ruffled commercial rivals’ feathers. Concluding an 18-month review in to BBCWW, the regulating BBC Trust says it…

BBC Worldwide is losing the president of its fast-growing U.S. operation, Garth Ancier. No news on his next role, but he’s staying on as a non-exec director. Deadline Hollywood has Ancier’s exit memo to staff, in which he says: “Next year, our digital story will get even stronger with the…

—BBC Worldwide: The BBC’s commercial wing has promoted Helen Jurado to VP for sales and distribution, responsible for selling content in Latin America. From IBCnews.com. —Carat: The Aegis Media-owned agency has a new head of search: former The Search Works search director Gary Reid replaces Greg Shickle who leaves the…

—Cisco-Tandberg: Cisco (NSDQ: CSCO) has made an improved $3.4 billion (£2 billion) bid for Norwegian teleconferencing company Tandberg to win over its target’s cautious shareholders: the deal on the table is now 170 Norwegian krone (£18.17) per share, compared to the previous offer’s NOK 153 per share. That’s it, though:…

BBC Worldwide is planning to launch a pay-for video-on-demand portal, a range of new paid mobile apps and a series of ecommerce partnerships overseas, after enduring a “nightmare” year in the depressed international advertising economy. Similar to iPlayer in the UK, the VOD platform has been under development for six…

VMtv’s celebrity and lifestyle channel Living TV is expanding its online footprint with a new ad-funded VOD portal hosting short-form clips of shows and news. Liv is currently available on Livingtv.co.uk but will eventually be hosted on IPC Media fashion and style sites including Marie Claire, as Marketing reports.

—BBCWW Oz iTunes: BBC shows are now available for sale through Australia’s iTunes store, joining UK, US, Canada, Germany and France, at $2.99 a piece. —4oD in Ireland: C4’s VOD service has resumed in the Republic. It had shut after the closure of the 4oD app because it couldn’t identify…

[by Jane Martinson] BBC executives are considering the part- privatisation of the corporation’s lucrative commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, as part of a wide-ranging review, the director general, Mark Thompson, has told the Guardian. Among the options under consideration is a stockmarket listing of the business, which had annual revenues of…