The BBC has called a review of its £25m media planning and buying account.
The account is currently held by Havas Group Media, who won the business in 2015 and subsequently opened an office in Manchester in order to service it.
Prior to that it was held by MEC Manchester (now known as Wavemaker) – the first time the BBC’s media business had moved out of a London agency – and before that, joint-held by Havas and PHD (then known as MPG Media Contacts).
The broadcaster issued a tender for the statutory review last week and it will be handled by its procurement team.
The new contract will last four years and the BBC is looking to target younger audiences through paid media channels, alongside its owned media.
Havas will be tendering to retain the account.
A BBC spokesperson said: “Audiences need to be aware of BBC programmes and services to get the most out of their licence fee. Our existing media buying contract is coming to an end and as is legally required, we’re tendering for the new contract.”
The BBC said it would it would not be commenting further while the process was ongoing.
