ABC Bluey it: Hit Aussie show makes millions … for BBC

Those within the upper ranks of the ABC who were around during Michelle Guthrie’s reign as managing director may well be the only people in the world wishing for Bluey’s explosive success to come to an end.

At least that’s how we’d be feeling if we were them, forced to watch on as the show finds new ways to grow every year, knowing the national broadcaster had the opportunity to snatch up the commercial rights back in 2017, only to let the BBC take them instead.

The painful reminders come every year, thanks to the BBC’s annual report. In its latest disclosure the BBC’s commercial division reported a 17 per cent earnings increase to £267 million ($502 million), off the back of Bluey’s success. Not bad when you consider the BBC is up against falling licence-fee revenue and a tough global media market.

In fact, the first of 22 times the BBC mentioned Bluey in its report was to note the show was a driver of the increased earnings of its commercial division, alongside the success of its US Britbox business, despite bringing in about the same amount of revenue as last year.

The hit show was the most-streamed title in the US in 2025 for two years running. There’s a Bluey feature film set for release next year. There’s even a video game in the works. And Lego sets! The ABC, as managing director Hugh Marks estimated at a conference this year, has missed out on about $300 million to its British counterpart.

“As the brand launched nationally in Japan, and The Bluey Movie feature film went into production for release in August 2027, a series of new collaborations developed, including Lego sets and customisable branded Converse footwear, clothing and accessories,” the report goes on. And that’s before we even get to the International Emmy award.

It’s got to sting a little bit for Marks, who, despite not being at the ABC when the broadcaster whiffed on the deal all those years ago, would no doubt love to bag a major commercial hit.

Still, the ABC wouldn’t be drawn on what – if any – changes Marks has made to the ABC’s commercial and commissioning operations to help it snare the next Bluey. Instead, a spokeswoman came back to us with this: “The ABC is actively engaging with industry partners to secure greater long-term value from future content investments.”

Tim Doyle’s next act

Start-up doyen Tim Doyle was, of course, one of the biggest winners when the telehealth weight loss company he co-founded, Eucalyptus, was scooped up by New York-listed obesity drugs giant Hims & Hers in a $1.6 billion deal this year.

The deal valued Doyle’s 10 per cent share in the digital healthcare company at about $163 million. And it sounds like he’s planning to use a chunk of that cash to test one of the oldest questions in the technology world: can being rich make you cool?

To that end, the 35-year-old is in talks with the founders of Sydney-based streetwear retailer Above The Clouds, with a view to snapping up a roughly 30 per cent stake in the company, according to a source familiar with the discussions.

Above The Clouds is a luxury streetwear boutique that was launched in Sydney in 2010 by Dimitri Calligeros. In the years since, it’s emerged as Australia’s answer to the explosion of luxury streetwear retailers in the US and UK, like Goodhood and End Clothing, the latter of which has a significant global online business. Above The Clouds, meanwhile, has one store, on Crown Street in Surry Hills, where it moved in back in 2022.

Our guess is Doyle sees a similar growth opportunity for Above The Clouds, which has links to End: the company’s managing partner and creative director John Paul Wager spent a few years working in marketing at the British retailer.

Sparked out

Every year, the organisation Spark runs a festival for start-up and innovation types that has previously secured funding from the NSW government. But not for the past three years.

Spark chief executive Harry Godber is a former Turnbull and Morrison government adviser. Until May last year he was also a policy boss of the Scott Farquhar-led Tech Council of Australia but stepped down after being bailed on domestic violence charges that have since been withdrawn.

Still, a request for $40,000 in funding from Spark to support its festival was signed off on by Investment NSW Deputy Secretary Rebecca McPhee on May 10, according to documents released under the NSW Government Information Public Access Act, seen by CBD. Only for NSW Industry Minister Anoulack Chantivong to approve “$0” in funding for the festival a couple of months later.

The previous year, the Investment NSW panel assessing Spark’s 2025 festival funding application noted the “criminal investigation” into Godber. It said that, in line with sponsorship policy and program guidelines, the government agency wouldn’t enter into an agreement with “an organisation that poses a significant reputational risk”.

So was Chantivong still concerned about reputational risk, or was it something else?

The minister’s office declined to comment on why he rejected the application or if Godber’s historical charges factored into the decision, other than to remind us he’s the final decision maker on these things.

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