Walt Disney's 'Witch' casts a magic spell at BBC Worldwide

The media giant's hit title is coming to Britain and delivering a timely boost to the Beeb as it prepares to cash in on its commercial operation. Clayton Hirst reports

Walt Disney has selected the BBC for the UK launch of its Witch comic, which has already sold 20 million copies worldwide and netted $100m (£55.7m).

The deal with the BBC's magazine publishing division means that when it is launched in the UK in the spring, Witch will be available in 68 countries.

The push is part of outgoing chief executive Michael Eisner's strategy of wringing as much cash out of Disney's homegrown content as possible.

He hopes it will mark an end to a troubled period in the company's history which was capped by the unsuccessful $60bn (£33.5bn) hostile bid from the American cable giant Comcast.

The Witch comic was launched in 2001 and is today published in 28 languages. According to media research company Guy Consterdine, it is the world's fourth-largest-selling magazine, behind Cosmopolitan, Elle and Reader's Digest.

The deal is also significant for the BBC. The publishing arm is part of Worldwide, its commercial operation. The BBC is considering whether to float or sell off parts of Worldwide and the Disney deal could enhance its value.

Andy Mooney, the chairman of Disney Consumer Products, said: "If a company like Disney really wants to get a lot of eyeballs with new content, then the BBC is the ideal partner."

Mr Mooney said he expected the UK comic to sell at roughly the same rate as in Italy, where it has a monthly circulation of 200,000.

Disney is also hoping to bring Witch to British television screens. Mr Mooney explained: "We want to turn this into a global franchise. In the UK we are talking to a few terrestrial broadcasters, including the BBC."

Over the next five years, Mr Mooney wants Disney to develop or acquire five new franchises that can be turned into TV and film.

Another area of future expansion will be computer games. "We are developing the intellectual property and making a high financial investment," said Mr Mooney.

Asked if he would consider buying an existing computer games developer, he commented: "We expect all media and entertainment companies to look at a new approach - to look at the market in a more comprehensive manner. We are definitely going to be bigger in computer games."