Split Decision for BBC America

Cable network BBC America surprised contenders in its review by splitting its $10 million ad account. Arnold in McLean, Va., picked up creative while media planning and buying went to Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners West of San Francisco.

The winners topped TBWA\Chiat\Day and Ogilvy & Mather, both in New York, and an undisclosed agency in a review that BBC chief operating officer Paul Lee described as strong across the board.

“We loved the clarity of Arnold and the work they did on Volkswagen,” he said, describing BBC as similar in that it, too, is a well-established European brand in need of bright, primary and accessible branding for the U.S.