AudioGO (formerly BBC Audiobooks) was a publisher of audiobooks and a range of spoken word and large-print titles. It was majority owned by AudioGO Ltd, and minority owned by
BBC Worldwide
BBC Worldwide Ltd. was the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the BBC, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in January 1995. The company monetises BBC brands, selling BBC and other British programming for broadcas ...
.
[ It was formed in 2010, when AudioGO purchased a majority share in BBC Audiobooks,][ and traded until it went into administration in 2013.
AudioGO published unabridged audio novels, and the BBC Radio Collection which incorporated dramatisations and non-fiction output derived from BBC Radio programmes. Novels were published under the imprint ''AudioGO'', and BBC-sourced content under the ''BBC Audio'' imprint, the latter making up about 20% of new titles as at 2010.]
Catalogue
AudioGO had about 8,500 titles in its catalogue at the time it went into administration in 2013.[ Thereupon AudioGO's catalogue of non-BBC titles was sold to ]Audible.com
Audible is an American online audiobook and podcast service that allows users to purchase and stream audiobooks and other forms of spoken word content. This content can be purchased individually or under a subscription model where the user receiv ...
.
The BBC titles, formerly known as the BBC Radio Collection, and considered by industry experts to be the most valuable asset, were licensed to Random House Audio
Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
.[ These included popular radio dramatisations such as '']Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'', ''The Hobbit
''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the '' ...
'' and ''The Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...
'', as well as radio comedy including ''I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue
''I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue'' is a BBC radio comedy panel game. Billed as "the antidote to panel games", it consists of two teams of two comedians being given "silly things to do" by a chairman. The show was launched in April 1972 as a parody ...
'' and '' Just a Minute''.
Commercial History
Owned by BBC Worldwide, BBC Audiobooks was created by the amalgamation of BBC Radio Collection, Cover to Cover and Chivers Audio Books (Chivers Press) in 2001. BBC Audiobooks had bought Cover to Cover in 2000, a company which specialised in unabridged audio recordings and had been started by Helen Nicoll
Helen Nicoll (10 October 1937 – 30 September 2012) was an English author of children's books. She is best known for the ''Meg and Mog'' series. In total, she wrote 17 books. She worked with Jan Pienkowski (illustrator) for over forty years on ...
, the author of the Meg and Mog
Meg and Mog is a series of children's books written by Helen Nicoll and illustrated by Jan Pieńkowski. First published in the 1970s, the books are about Meg, a witch whose spells always seem to go wrong, her striped cat Mog, and their friend Ow ...
books, in 1983. Chivers Audio Books was one of the early commercial audiobook companies and among the first to employ professional actors for narration and included an American arm, Chivers Sound Library.
In 2007, BBC Audiobooks America acquired Audio Partners, publisher of the ''Arkangel Shakespeare
''The Complete Arkangel Shakespeare'' is a notable series of audio-drama presentations of 38 of William Shakespeare's 39 plays.
Description
''The Complete Arkangel Shakespeare'' is a notable series of audio drama presentations of 38 of ...
''.
In July 2010, BBC Worldwide, at that time led by CEO John Smith, sold an 85% stake in BBC Audiobooks to AudioGO Ltd, a company set up by former Polygram
PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...
senior executive Michael Kuhn
Michael Ashton Kuhn (born 1949) is a Kenyan-born British film producer based primarily in the United Kingdom.
Career
Kuhn was born in 1949 in Nairobi, Kenya. At age 13, he traveled to the UK to study at Dover College and then read law at Clar ...
and six partners, for a reported £10m to £15m.[ In 2011, AudioGO acquired US children's audiobook firm Audio Bookshelf.
In October 2013 AudioGO Ltd announced that it was suspending operations, due to "significant financial challenges", and was seeking fresh investment or a sale of the business. The US arm, ]Blackstone Audio
Blackstone Audio is one of the largest independent audiobook publishers in the United States, offering over 30,000 audiobooks. The company is based in Ashland, Oregon with five in-house recording studios. Blackstone distributes directly to consu ...
which had been acquired in January 2013, was sold back to its founders, the Black family, with other AudioGO US operations at the same time.
At the end of October 2013, AudioGO Ltd filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators as it was unable to find a buyer or investor. Accountancy firm BDO were appointed as administrator.
In November 2013 it was announced that 57 employees had been made redundant, and that the licensing rights to 5,000 non-BBC titles would be transferred to Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...
-owned Audible
Audible may refer to:
* Audible (service), an online audiobook store
* Audible (American football), a tactic used by quarterbacks
* ''Audible'' (film), a short documentary film featuring a deaf high school football player
* Audible finish or rush ...
pending approval from affected authors and publishers. In December 2013, Random House Audio
Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
reached an agreement with BBC Worldwide to license the rights to the prestigious 3,500 BBC audio catalogue, saying that it would take "sole responsibility for sales, stock management and distribution of BBC-branded physical CDs in the UK and the rest of the world excluding North America, Australia and New Zealand," and "take global responsibility for download sales with leading digital retailers, including Audible".
The AudioGo website reported it would close on 1 February 2014. However, sales ceased on the website months before then.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Publishers of Doctor Who books
British record labels
Audiobook companies and organizations
2010 establishments in England
2013 disestablishments in England