'The BBC' is the common acronym of 'The British Broadcasting Corporation'. It is the largest
broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers.
It has 26,000 employees in the
United Kingdom alone and a budget of more than
GBP£4 billion.
[1]
Founded in 1922 as the
British Broadcasting Company Ltd, it was subsequently granted a
Royal Charter and made a
state-owned corporation in 1927. The corporation produces programmes and information services, broadcasting globally on
television,
radio, and the
Internet. The stated mission of the BBC is "to inform, educate and entertain";
[2] its motto is "Nation Shall Speak Peace Unto Nation".
The BBC is a
quasi-autonomous Public Corporation operating as a
public service broadcaster. The Corporation is run by the
BBC Trust; however, the BBC is, per its charter, to be "free from both political and commercial influence and answers only to its viewers and listeners".
[3] The government's Foreign and Commonwealth Office funds the World Service.
Its domestic programming and broadcasts are primarily funded by levying
television licence fees (under the
Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949), although money is also raised through commercial activities such as sale of merchandise and programming. The
BBC World Service, however, is funded by the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office. In order to justify the
licence fee, the BBC is expected to produce a number of high-rating shows in addition to programmes that commercial broadcasters would not normally broadcast.
Domestic UK audiences often affectionately refer to the BBC as "the
Beeb", a nickname coined by
Kenny Everett.
[4] Another nickname, now less commonly used, is "Auntie", said to originate from the old-fashioned "Auntie knows best" attitude
[5] in the days when
John Reith, the BBC's founder, was in charge. The two nicknames have also been used together as "Auntie Beeb",
[6] and Auntie has been used in
outtakes programmes such as ''Auntie's Big Bloomers''.
[7]
History
The BBC coat of arms
The original ''
British Broadcasting Company'' was founded in
1922 by a group of
telecommunications companies (including
subsidiaries of
General Electric and
AT&T) to broadcast experimental radio services. The first transmission was on
14 November of that year, from station 2LO, located at Marconi House, London.
[8]
The Company, with John Reith as general manager, became the ''British Broadcasting Corporation'' in
1927 when it was granted a
Royal Charter of incorporation and ceased to be privately owned. It started experimental television broadcasting in 1932 using an entirely mechanical 30 line system developed by
John Logie Baird. It became a regular service (known as the
BBC Television Service) in 1936 alternating between a Baird mechanical 240 line system and the all electronic
405 line EMI system. The superiority of the electronic system saw the mechanical system dropped later that year. Television broadcasting was suspended from
1 September,
1939 to
7 June,
1946 during the
Second World War. A widely reported
urban myth is that, upon resumption of service, announcer
Leslie Mitchell started by saying, "As I was saying before we were so rudely interrupted..." In fact, the first person to appear when transmission resumed was
Jasmine Bligh and the words said were "Good afternoon, everybody. How are you? Do you remember me, Jasmine Bligh...?"
[9]
The
European Broadcasting Union was formed on 12 February, 1950, in Torquay with the BBC among the 23 founding broadcasting organisations.
Competition to the BBC was introduced in 1955 with the commercially and independently operated television network
ITV. The BBC monopoly on radio services persisted until the 1970s. As a result of the
Pilkington Committee report of 1962, in which the BBC was lauded and ITV was very heavily criticised for not providing enough quality programming,
[10] the BBC was awarded a second TV channel,
BBC2, in 1964, renaming the existing channel
BBC1. BBC2 used the higher resolution 625 line standard which had been standardised across Europe. BBC2 was broadcast in colour from
1 July,
1967, and was joined by BBC 1 and ITV on
15 November,
1969. The 405 line transmissions were continued for compatibility with older television receivers for some years.
Starting in
1964 a series of pirate radio stations (starting with
Radio Caroline) came on the air, and forced the UK government to finally deregulate radio services. In response the BBC reorganized and renamed their radio channels. The Light Programme was split into Radio-1 offering continuous rock music and Radio-2 more "Easy Listening". The "Third" programme became Radio-3 offering classical music and cultural programming. The Home Service became Radio-4 offering news, and non-musical content such as quiz shows, readings, dramas and plays. As well as the four national channels, a series of local BBC radio stations was established
[11].
In
1974, the BBC's teletext service,
Ceefax, was introduced but was not finally transmitted in vision as such until April 1980. In 1978, the BBC went on strike just before the Christmas of that year, thus blocking out the transmission of both channels and amalgamating all four radio stations into one.
Since the
deregulation of the UK television and radio market in the 1980s, the BBC has faced increased competition from the commercial sector (and from the advertiser-funded public service broadcaster
Channel 4), especially on
satellite television,
cable television, and
digital television services.
The
BBC Research Department has played a major part in the development of broadcasting and recording techniques. In the early days it carried out essential research into acoustics and programme level and noise measurement.
The 2004
Hutton Inquiry and the subsequent Report raised questions about the BBC's journalistic standards and its impartiality. This led to resignations of senior management members at the time including the then Director General, Greg Dyke. In January 2007, the BBC released minutes of the Board meeting which led to Greg Dyke's resignation. Many commentators have considered the discussions documented in the minutes to have made Dyke's ability to remain in position untenable and tantamount to a dismissal.
Unlike the other departments of the BBC, BBC World Service is funded by the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, more commonly known as the Foreign Office or the FCO, is the British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom abroad.
Corporation
Royal Charter
The BBC is a
quasi-autonomous Public Corporation operating as a
public service broadcaster incorporated under a Royal Charter that is reviewed every 10 years; this makes it technically a
quango and
non-departmental public body, but it is rarely called such, as its existence goes back further than the minting of these terms. Until 2007, the Corporation was run by a board of governors appointed by The Queen or King on the advice of
the government for a term of four years, but on 1 January, 2007 the Board of Governors was replaced with the
BBC Trust. The BBC is required by its charter to be free from both political and commercial influence and to answer only to its viewers and listeners.
3
The most recent Charter came into effect on 1 January, 2007.
3 It has created a number of important changes to the Corporation's management and purpose:
★ Abolition of the Board of Governors, and their replacement by the
BBC Trust.
★ A redefinition of the BBC's "public services" (which are considered its prime function):
★
★ Sustaining citizenship and civil society;
★
★ Promoting education and learning;
★
★ Stimulating creativity and cultural excellence;
★
★ Representing the UK, its nations, regions and communities;
★
★ Bringing the UK to the world and the world to the UK;
★
★ Helping to deliver to the public the benefit of emerging communications technologies and services, and taking a leading role in the switchover to digital television.
★ The BBC must display at least one of the following characteristics in all content: high quality, originality, innovation, to be challenging and to be engaging.
★ The BBC must demonstrate that it provides ''public value'' in all its major activities.
Corporate structure
★ Governance Unit
★ Content Groups
★
★ Journalism (incorporates News, Sport, Global News and Nations and Regions)
★
★ Vision (incorporates all TV production)
★
★ Audio and Music (incorporates all radio production, music commissioning and BBC Radio Resources)
★
★ Future Media and Technology (Incorporates New Media, R&D, Information and Archives)
★ Professional Services
★
★ Strategy (formerly Strategy and Distribution and merged with Policy and Legal)
★
★ Marketing, Communications and Audiences
★
★ Finance
★
★ BBC Workplace (Property)
★
★ BBC People (to 2004, Human Resources & Internal Communications)
★
★ BBC Training & Development
★ Commercial Groups
★
★
BBC Resources Ltd
★
★
BBC Worldwide Ltd
Management
The BBC is a nominally autonomous corporation, independent from direct government intervention, with its activities being overseen by the
BBC Trust, formerly the
Board of Governors. General management of the organisation is in the hands of a
Director-General, who is appointed by the Trust.
BBC Trust
Main articles: BBC Trust
The BBC Trust came into effect on 1 January 2007, replacing the Board of Governors.
The BBC Trust works on behalf of licence fee payers: it ensures the BBC provides high quality output and good value for all UK citizens and it protects the independence of the BBC. — BBC Trust[12]
The Trust sets the overall strategic direction for the corporation and assess the performance of the BBC Executive Board. The Trust has twelve trustees, currently:
★ Sir
Michael Lyons (Chair)
★
Chitra Bharucha (Vice-Chair)
★
Diane Coyle
★
Alison Hastings
★
Patricia Hodgson
★
Rotha Johnston
★
Janet Lewis-Jones
★
David Liddiment
★
Mehmuda Pritchard
The original trustees, three former governors and eight new members, were announced by
Tessa Jowell,
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, in October 2006.
[13] Michael Grade, then Chairman of the Governors, was to become Chairman of the Trust at the time of the announcement, but due to his move to
ITV, Chitra Bharucha became the Acting Chair.
[14] Sir Michael Lyons took over as Chairman from 1 May 2007.
[15]
Executive Board
The Executive Board oversees the effective delivery of the corporation's objectives and obligations within a framework set by the BBC Trust, and is headed by the Director-General,
Mark Thompson. In December 2006, Thompson announced the final appointments to the new Executive Board, consisting of ten directors from the different operations of the group, and five non-executive directors, appointed to provide independent and professional advice to the Executive Board. The members are:
[16]
★
Mark Thompson (Board Chairman and Director-General)
★
Mark Byford (Deputy Chairman and Deputy Director-General; Director, Journalism Group)
★
Caroline Thomson (Chief Operating Officer)
★
Jana Bennett (Director, BBC Vision)
★
Jenny Abramsky (Director, BBC Audio and Music)
★
Ashley Highfield (Director, Future Media and Technology)
★
John Smith (Chief Executive, BBC Worldwide)
★
Zarin Patel (Group Finance Director)
★ Steve Kelly (Director, BBC People)
★
Tim Davie (Director, Marketing, Communications and Audiences)
Non-executive directors:
★
Marcus Agius (Senior non-executive director), Chairman,
Barclays
★ Dr
Mike Lynch OBE, co-founder and Chief Executive,
Autonomy Corporation
★
David Robbie, Group Finance Director,
Rexam
★
Dr Samir Shah OBE,
Chief Executive,
Juniper Communications
★
Robert Webb QC,
General Counsel,
British Airways
Governors
Main articles: Board of Governors of the BBC
The Board of Governors regulated the group from incorporation in 1927 until 31 December 2006, when the Board was replaced by the BBC Trust. The governors as of the dissolution of the Board were:
★
Anthony Salz (Acting Chairman)
14
★
Professor Ranjit Sondhi (National Governor for the English regions)
★
Professor Fabian Monds (National Governor for Northern Ireland)
★
Professor Merfyn Jones (National Governor for Wales)
★
Jeremy Peat (National Governor for Scotland)
★
Deborah Bull
★
Baroness Deech
★
Dermot Gleeson
★
Angela Sarkis
★
Richard Tait
Finance
The BBC has the largest budget of any UK broadcaster with an operating expenditure of £4 billion in 2005
[17] compared to £3.2 billion for
British Sky Broadcasting,
[18] £1.7 billion for
ITV[19] and £79 million (in 2006) for
GCap Media (the largest commercial radio broadcaster).
[20]
Revenue
The principal means of funding the BBC is through the television licence, costing £11.37 a month if paid by
direct debit (as of February 2007). Such a licence is required to operate a broadcast
television receiver within the
UK. The cost of a television licence is set by the government and enforced by the criminal law. The revenue is collected privately and is paid into the central government
Consolidated Fund, a process defined in the
Communications Act 2003. Funds are then allocated by the DCMS and Treasury and approved by Parliament via the Appropriation Act(s). Additional revenues are paid by the Department for Work and Pensions to compensate for subsidised licences for over-75s. As the state controls BBC's funding, it is sometimes referred to as a "state" broadcaster.
Income from commercial enterprises and from overseas sales of its catalogue of programmes has substantially increased over recent years,
[21] with
BBC Worldwide contributing some £145 million in cash to the BBC's core public service business.
According to the BBC's 2005-2006 Annual Report,
[22] its income can be broken down as follows:
★ £3,100.6 m licence fees collected from consumers.
★ £620.0 m from BBC Commercial Businesses.
★ £260.2 m from the World Service, of which £239.1 m is from grants (primarily funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office), £15.8 m from subscriptions, and £5.3 m from other sources.
★ £24.2 m from other income, such as providing content to overseas broadcasters and concert ticket sales.
Expenditure
The BBC gives two forms of expenditure statement for the financial year 2005-2006.
The amount of each licence fee spent monthly
[22] breaks down as follows:
| Department | Monthly cost (GBP) |
|---|
| BBC ONE | £3.52 |
|---|
| BBC TWO | £1.52 |
|---|
| Transmission and collection costs | £1.08 |
|---|
| Nations and English Regions television | £1.04 |
|---|
| BBC Radio 1, 2, 3, 4 and Five Live | £1.02 |
|---|
| Digital television channels | £1.00 |
|---|
| Nations' and local radio | 68p |
|---|
| bbc.co.uk | 36p |
|---|
| BBC jam | 14p |
|---|
| Digital radio stations | 10p |
|---|
| Interactive TV (BBCi) | 8p |
|---|
| ''Total'' | '''£10.54''' |
|---|
The total broadcasting spend for 2005-2006
[22] is given as:
| Department | Total cost (£million) |
|---|
| Television | 1443 |
|---|
| Radio | 218 |
|---|
| bbc.co.uk | 72 |
|---|
| BBC jam | 36 |
|---|
| Interactive TV (BBCi) | 18 |
|---|
| Local radio and regional television | 370 |
|---|
| Programme related spend | 338 |
|---|
| Overheads and Digital UK | 315 |
|---|
| Restructuring | 107 |
|---|
| Transmission and collection costs | 320 |
|---|
| ''Total'' | '''3237''' |
|---|
Headquarters and regional offices
Main articles: Broadcasting House
Broadcasting House in
Portland Place,
London is the official headquarters of the BBC. It is home to the national radio networks
BBC Radio 2,
3,
4,
6 Music, and
BBC 7. On the front of the building are statues of
Prospero and
Ariel (from
Shakespeare's ''
The Tempest'') sculpted by
Eric Gill.
Renovation of Broadcasting House began in 2002 and is scheduled for completion in 2010. As part of a major reorganisation of BBC property, Broadcasting House is to become home to
BBC News (both television and radio), national radio, and the
BBC World Service. The major part of this plan involves the demolition of the two post-war extensions to the building and construction of a new building
[25] beside the existing structure. During the rebuilding process many of the BBC Radio networks have been relocated to other buildings in the vicinity of Portland Place.
In 2010, the entire BBC News operation is expected to relocate from the News Centre at
BBC Television Centre to the refurbished Broadcasting House in what is being described as "one of the world's largest live broadcast centres".
[26]
By far the largest concentration of BBC staff in the UK exists in
White City. Well known buildings in this area include the
BBC Television Centre, White City, Media Centre, Broadcast Centre and Centre House.
As well as the various BBC buildings in London, there are major BBC production centres located in
Cardiff,
Belfast,
Glasgow,
Birmingham,
Manchester,
Bristol,
Southampton and
Newcastle upon Tyne. Some of these local centres (for example Belfast) are also known as "Broadcasting House" (see
Broadcasting House (disambiguation)). There are also many smaller local and regional studios scattered throughout the UK.
In 2011, the BBC is planning to move several departments including
BBC Sport and
BBC Children's North to newly built premises in
Salford Quays,
Greater Manchester.
[27] This will mark a major decentralisation of the corporation's operations from London.
Services
News
Main articles: BBC News
BBC News is the largest broadcast news gathering operation in the world,
[28] providing services to BBC domestic radio as well as television networks such as
BBC News 24,
BBC Parliament and
BBC World, as well as
BBCi,
Ceefax and
BBC News Online. New BBC News services that are also proving popular are mobile services to mobile phones and PDAs. Desktop news alerts, e-mail alerts, and digital TV alerts are also available.
 Weekly reach of all the BBC's services in the UK [29] |
 Weekly reach of the BBC's five national analogue radio stations29 |
 Weekly reach of the BBC's domestic television services29 |
| |
Ratings figures suggest that during major crises such as the
7 July 2005 London bombings or a royal funeral, the UK audience overwhelmingly turns to the BBC's coverage as opposed to its commercial rivals.
[30]
On
7 July 2005, the day that there were a series of coordinated bomb blasts on London's public transport system, the
bbc.co.uk website recorded an all time
bandwidth peak of 11
Gb/s at 12:00 on 7 July.
BBC News received some 1 billion total hits on the day of the event (including all images, text and
HTML), serving some 5.5
terabytes of data. At peak times during the day there were 40,000 page requests per second for the BBC News website. The previous day's announcement of the
2012 Olympics being awarded to London caused a peak of around 5 Gbit/s. The previous all time high at
bbc.co.uk was caused by the announcement of the
Michael Jackson verdict, which used 7.2 Gbit/s.
[31]
Radio
The BBC has five major national stations,
Radio 1 ("the best new music and entertainment"),
Radio 2 (the UK's most listened to radio station, with 12.9 million weekly listeners
[32]),
Radio 3 (specialist-interest music such as classical, world, arts, drama and jazz),
Radio 4 (current affairs, drama and comedy), and
Radio 5 Live (24 hour news, sports and talk).
In recent years some further national stations have been introduced on
digital radio platforms including
Five Live Sports Extra (a companion to Five Live for additional events coverage),
1Xtra (for black, urban and gospel music),
6 Music (less
mainstream genres of music),
BBC 7 (comedy, drama & children's programming) and
BBC Asian Network (
British South Asian talk, music and news in English and in many South Asian languages), a station which had evolved from BBC Local Radio origins in the 1970s and still is broadcast on Medium Wave frequencies in some parts of England. In addition the BBC World Service is now also broadcast nationally in the UK on DAB.
There is also a network of
local stations with a mixture of talk, news and music in
England and the
Channel Islands as well as national stations (Nations' radio) of
BBC Radio Wales,
BBC Radio Cymru (in
Welsh),
BBC Radio Scotland,
BBC Radio nan Gaidheal (in
Scots Gaelic),
BBC Radio Ulster, and
BBC Radio Foyle.
For a world-wide audience, the BBC produces the
Foreign Office funded
BBC World Service, which is broadcast worldwide on
shortwave radio, and on DAB Digital Radio in the UK. The World Service is a major source of news and information programming and can be received in 150 capital cities worldwide, with a weekly audience estimate of 163 million listeners worldwide. The Service currently broadcasts in 33 languages and dialects (including English), though not all languages are broadcast in all areas.
[33]
In 2005, the BBC announced that it would substantially reduce its radio broadcasting in
Eastern European languages and divert resources instead to a new
Arabic language satellite TV broadcasting station (including radio and online content) in the
Middle East to be launched in 2007.
[34]
Since 1943, the BBC has also provided radio programming to the
British Forces Broadcasting Service, which broadcasts in countries where British troops are stationed.
All of the national, local, and regional BBC radio stations, as well as the BBC World Service, are available over the
Internet in the
RealAudio streaming format. In April 2005, the BBC began trials offering a limited number of radio programmes as
podcasts.
[35]
Historically, the BBC was the only (legal) radio broadcaster based in the UK mainland until 1967, when
University Radio York (URY), then under the name ''Radio York'', was launched as the first (and now oldest) legal independent radio station in the country. However the BBC did not enjoy a complete monopoly prior to this as several Continental stations (such as
Radio Luxembourg) broadcast programmes in English to Britain since the 1930s and the Isle of Man based
Manx Radio began in 1964.
Television
Main articles: BBC Television
BBC One and
BBC Two are the BBC's flagship television channels. The BBC is also promoting the new channels
BBC Three and
BBC Four, which are only available via
digital television equipment (now in widespread use in the UK, with analogue transmission being phased out by December 2012
[36]). The BBC also runs
BBC News 24,
BBC Parliament, and two children's channels,
CBBC and
CBeebies, on digital.
BBC One is a regionalised TV service which provides opt-outs throughout the day for local news and other local programming. These variations are more prounounced in the BBC 'Nations', i.e.
Northern Ireland,
Scotland and
Wales, where the presentation is mostly carried out locally on BBC One and Two. BBC Two variations within England are currently rare, though most regions still have the ability to 'opt out' of the main feed, albeit on analogue only. BBC Two was also the first channel to be transmitted on 625 lines in 1964, then carry a small-scale regular colour service from 1967. BBC One would follow in December 1969.
In the
Republic of Ireland, the BBC channels are available in a number of ways. All multichannel platforms carry them, although many viewers also receive BBC services via 'overspill' from transmitters in Northern Ireland or Wales, or via 'deflectors' - transmitters in the Republic which rebroadcast broadcasts from the UK, received off-air, or from Digital Satellite.
From
June 9,
2006, the BBC began a 6-12 month trial of
High-definition television broadcasts under the name
BBC HD. The corporation has been producing programmes in the format for many years, and states that it hopes to produce 100% of new programmes in HDTV by 2010.
[37]
Since
1975, the BBC has also provided its TV programmes to the
British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS), allowing members of
HM Forces serving all over the world to watch and listen to their favourite programmes from home on two dedicated TV channels.
Internet
Main articles: bbc.co.uk
The bbc.co.uk
[1] website, formerly known as BBCi and before that BBC Online, includes a comprehensive, advertisement-free
news website and archive. The BBC claims the site to be "Europe's most popular content-based site"
[38] and states that 13.2 million people in the UK visit the site's more than two million pages.
[39] According to
Alexa's TrafficRank system, in May 2007 bbc.co.uk was the 20th most popular
English Language website in the world,
[40] and the 33rd most popular overall.
[41]
The website allows the BBC to produce sections which complement the various programmes on television and radio, and it is common for viewers and listeners to be told
website addresses for the bbc.co.uk sections relating to that programme. The site also allows users to listen to most Radio output live and for seven days after broadcast using its
RealPlayer-based "Radio Player"; some TV content is also distributed in
RealVideo format. A new system known as
IPlayer was launched on
July 27,
2007, which uses
peer-to-peer and
DRM technology to deliver both radio and TV content of the last seven days for offline use for up to 30 days.
[42] Also, through participation in the
Creative Archive Licence group, bbc.co.uk allowed legal downloads of selected archive material via the internet.
[43]
BBC jam is a free online service, delivered through broadband and narrowband connections, providing high-quality interactive resources designed to stimulate learning at home and at school. Initial content was made available in January 2006. BBC jam was suspended on 20th March 2007.
[44]
In recent years some major on-line companies and politicians have complained that the bbc.co.uk website receives too much funding from the television licence, meaning that other websites are unable to compete with the vast amount of advertising-free on-line content available on bbc.co.uk.
[45] Some have proposed that the amount of licence fee money spent on bbc.co.uk should be reduced — either being replaced with funding from advertisements or subscriptions, or a reduction in the amount of content available on the site.
[46] In response to this the BBC carried out an investigation, and has now set in motion a plan to change the way it provides its online services. bbc.co.uk will now attempt to fill in gaps in the market, and will guide users to other websites for currently existing market provision. (For example, instead of providing local events information and timetables, users will be guided to outside websites already providing that information.)
Part of this plan included the BBC closing some of its websites, and rediverting money to redevelop other parts.
[47] More recent information on web plans at
[2]
Interactive television
Main articles: BBCi
BBCi is the brand name for the BBC's
interactive digital television services, which are available through
Freeview (digital terrestrial), as well as
Sky Digital (satellite), and
Virgin Media (cable). Unlike
Ceefax, BBCi is able to display full-colour graphics, photographs, and video, as well as programmes. Recent examples include the interactive sports coverage for
football and
rugby football matches,
BBC Soundbites which starred young actress
Jennifer Lynn and an interactive national IQ test,
Test the Nation. All of the BBC's digital television stations, (and radio stations on
Freeview), allow access to the BBCi service.
BBCi provides viewers with over 100 interactive TV programmes every year, as well as the 24/7 service.
[48] It also offers video news and weather. In the 1980s, the BBC developed several PC's, most notably the
BBC Micro.
Commercial services
BBC Worldwide Limited is the wholly-owned commercial subsidiary of the BBC responsible for the commercial exploitation of BBC programmes and other properties, including a number of television stations throughout the world. The cable and satellite stations
BBC Prime (in
Europe,
Africa the
Middle East, and
Asia),
BBC America,
BBC Canada (alongside
BBC Kids), broadcast popular BBC programmes to people outside the UK, as does
UK.TV (co-run with
Foxtel and Fremantle Media) in
Australasia. A similar service,
BBC Japan, ceased broadcasts in April 2006 after its
Japanese distributor folded.
[49] BBC Worldwide also runs a 24-hour news channel,
BBC World and co-runs, with
Virgin Media, the
UKTV network of stations in the UK, producers of amongst others
UKTV Gold. In addition, BBC television news appears nightly on many
Public Broadcasting Service stations in the
United States, as do reruns of BBC programmes such as ''
EastEnders'', and in
New Zealand on
TV One.
Many BBC programmes (especially
documentaries) are sold via BBC Worldwide to foreign television stations, and
comedy,
documentaries and
historical drama productions are popular on the international DVD market.
[50]
BBC Worldwide also maintains the publishing arm of the BBC and it is the third-largest publisher of consumer magazines in the United Kingdom.
[51] BBC Magazines, formerly known as BBC Publications, publishes the ''
Radio Times'' (and published the now-defunct ''
The Listener'') as well as a number of magazines that support BBC programming such as ''
BBC Top Gear'', ''
BBC Good Food'', ''
BBC Sky at Night'', ''
BBC History'', ''
BBC Wildlife'' and ''
BBC Music''.
The BBC has traditionally played a major role in producing book and music tie-ins with its broadcast material.
BBC Records produced soundtrack albums, talking books and material from radio broadcasts of music.
Between 2004 and 2006, BBC Worldwide owned the independent magazine publisher Origin Publishing.
[52]
BBC Worldwide also licences and directly sells
DVD and audio recordings of popular programmes to the public, most notably ''
Doctor Who'' (including books and merchandise), and archive
classical music recordings, initially as ''BBC Radio Classics'' and then ''BBC Legends''.
Miscellaneous
The BBC and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office jointly run
BBC Monitoring, which monitors radio, television, the press and the internet worldwide.
Unions
Union membership is a private matter between staff and their chosen union: staff are not automatically covered by a union, but since the BBC is a large employer (in the media sector), membership numbers are considerable.
Staff at the BBC are normally represented by
BECTU, along with journalistic staff by the
NUJ and electrical staff by
Amicus. Union membership is optional, and paid for by staff members and not by the BBC.
Cultural significance
The BBC was the only television broadcaster in the United Kingdom until
1955 and the only legal radio broadcaster until
1973. Its cultural impact was therefore significant since the country had no choice for its information and entertainment from these two powerful media.
Even after the advent of commercial television and radio, the BBC has remained one of the main elements in British popular culture through its obligation to produce TV and radio programmes for the mass audiences. However the arrival of BBC2 allowed the BBC also to make programmes for minority interests in drama, documentaries, current affairs, entertainment and sport. Examples are cited such as ''
I, Claudius'', ''
Civilisation'', ''
Tonight'', ''
Monty Python's Flying Circus'', and ''
Pot Black'', but many other ground-breaking examples can be given in each of these fields as shown by the BBC's entries in the
British Film Institute's 2000 list of the
100 Greatest British Television Programmes.
[53] In radio the BBC has also maintained a high standard of news, drama, entertainment, documentaries, sport and music for all tastes, and still draws large audiences, while also serving minority tastes.
The BBC's objective of providing a service to the public, rather than just entertainment, has changed the public's perception in a wide range of subjects from health to natural history. By maintaining a high standard the BBC also defined a quality threshold that the commercial companies had to reach to retain their licences, but the advent of the multi-channel age is lessening this effect. The export of BBC programmes, the
BBC World Service and
BBC World have meant that the cultural impact of the BBC has been also experienced world-wide.
Although the BBC has changed society, the society has also changed the BBC. The term
BBC English (Received Pronunciation) refers to the former use of
Standard English with this accent. However the organisation now makes more use of
regional accents in order to reflect the diversity of the UK, though clarity and fluency are still expected of presenters. From its 'starchy' beginnings, the BBC has also become more inclusive, and now accommodates the interests of all strata of society and all minorities, because they all pay the licence fee. The BBC therefore plays a major role in maintaining a cohesive society.
Competition from
Independent Television,
Channel 4,
Sky and other broadcast television stations, has slightly lessened the BBC's reach, but nevertheless it remains a major influence on British popular culture. Many popular everyday sayings are derived from BBC-produced television shows.
Criticism
Main articles: Criticism of the BBC
Criticism of the BBC is nothing new. The BBC has long faced allegations of a left-wing or liberal bias,
[54] and such criticism has been repeated most recently by past and present employees such as
Antony Jay,
Jeff Randall,
Justin Webb and
Andrew Marr.
[55]
The BBC received its most serious criticism of recent times over its coverage of the events leading up to the war in Iraq.
[56] The controversy over what it described as the "sexing up" of the case for war in Iraq by the government, led to the BBC being heavily criticised by the
Hutton Inquiry,
[57] although this finding was much disputed by the British press.
[58]
See also
★
BBC Network
★
British television
★
Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom
★
Early television stations
References
1. Media and Politics in Japan, , Susan, Pharr, University of Hawaii Press, 1996, ISBN 0824817613
2. BBC website: ''About the BBC - Purpose and values''
3. BBC Royal Charter and Agreement
4. Radio Rewind : Kenny Everett
5. BBC Press Release: ''Mark Thompson celebrates the official opening of a new state-of-the art BBC building in Hull''
6. Times Online: ''Auntie Beeb suffers a relapse''
7. IMDB listing for ''Auntie's Big Bloomers''
8. BBC Press Office: Key BBC Dates
9. Baird: The edit that rewrote history
10. Committees of Enquiry: Pilkington Committee
11. The Offshore Radio Revolution in Britain 1964 - 2004
12. BBC Trust
13. BBC Press Release: ''New BBC Trust to represent the public interest''
14. BBC Press Release: ''Michael Grade resigns as BBC Chairman''
15. Press Release: ''Sir Michael Lyons joins BBC Trust as new Chairman'' BBC Trust
16. About the BBC – Executive Board Biographies BBC
17. Annual Report and Accounts 2004-05: Financial review BBC
18. Annual Report and Accounts 2005 BSkyB
19. Annual Report 2005 ITV
20. Annual Report 2005-06 GCap Media
21. Annual Report and Accounts 2004-2005 BBC
22. Annual Report and Accounts 2005-2006 BBC
23. Annual Report and Accounts 2005-2006 BBC
24. Annual Report and Accounts 2005-2006 BBC
25. New Broadcasting House BBC
26. New Broadcasting House - The future BBC
27. BBC Salford move gets green light BBC News Online
28. Key Facts - BBC News and Current Affairs BBC Press Office
29. BBC Press Release: ''Governors report progress in delivery - Notes to Editors''
30. BBC news ratings double Claire Cozens
31. Statistics on BBC Webservers 7th July 2005 BBC
32. Quarterly Summary of Radio Listening - Quarter 1 2006 - National Stations RAJAR
33. Annual Review 2005-2006: A year in brief BBC World Service
34. BBC Arabic TV appoints former Al Jazeera employee as news editor Middle East Times
35. BBC Press Release: ''BBC to podcast up to 20 more programmes including Today and Radio 1 speech highlights''
36. BBC News Report
37. BBC Press Release: ''BBC to trial High Definition broadcasts in 2006''
38. bbc.co.uk Commissioning
39. bbc.co.uk Key Facts
40. Top English-language Sites Alexa
41. Global Top 500 Sites Alexa
42. BBC to launch online TV service
43. BBC Press Release: ''BBC News opens its archives for the first time''
44. http://jam.bbc.co.uk/
45. Department of Culture, Media and Sport: Independent Review of BBC Online, pp41-58
46. BIPA Response to Review of the BBC’s Royal Charter British Internet Publishers Alliance
47. Public value key to BBC websites
48. BBC Press Office: BBCi Key Facts
49. BBC Japan website
50. Annual Review 2006 BBC Worldwide
51. Annual Review 2001 BBC Worldwide
52. Origin Publishing
53. The BFI TV 100: 1-100
54. The Centre for Policy Studies''[3]'' "Since at least the mid-1980s, the BBC has often been criticised for a perceived
bias against those on the centre-right of politics".
55. Confessions of a BBC liberal TimesOnline , We are biased admith the stars of BBC News Daily Mail
56. Viewers most common complaints of 2006 BBC NewsWatch
57. Investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Dr. David Kelly Lord Hutton
58. UK press mauls Hutton 'whitewash'
Bibliography
★ Briggs, Asa. - ''The BBC - The First Fifty Years'' - Condensed version of the five-volume history by the same author. -
Oxford University Press, 1985. ISBN 0-19-212971-6
★ Coulton, Barbara. - ''Louis MacNeice in the BBC'' - Writer and producer from 1941 to 1961 in the Features Department of BBC radio. -
Faber & Faber, 1980. ISBN 0-571-11537-3
★ Gilder PhD., Eric. - ''Mass Media Moments in the United Kingdom, the USSR and the USA''. - Historical background relating to the British Broadcasting Company, Ltd., its founding companies; their transatlantic connections; General Post Office licensing system; commercial competitors from Europe prior to World War II and offshore during the 1960s. - "Lucian Blaga" University of Sibiu Press, Romania. 2003. ISBN 973-651-596-6
★ Milne, Alasdair. - ''The memoirs of a British broadcaster'' - History of the Zircon spy satellite affair, written by a former Director General of the BBC. A series of BBC radio programmes called "''The Secret Society''" led to a raid by police in both England and Scotland to seize documents as part of a government censorship campaign. - Coronet, 1989. - ISBN 0-340-49750-5
★ Moran, Lord. - ''Churchill at War 1940 to 1945 - The Memoirs of Churchill's Doctor'', with an introduction by Lord Moran's son, John, the present Lord Moran. - This diary paints an intimate portrait of Churchill by Sir Charles Watson, his personal physician (Lord Moran), who spent the war years with the Prime Minister. In his diary, Moran recorded insights into Churchill's character, and moments when he let his guard down, including his views about the BBC being riddled with communists. - Carroll & Graf, 2002. Reissue ISBN 0-7867-1041-1
★ Parker, Derek. -
David & Charles - ''Radio: The Great Years'' - History of BBC radio programmes from the beginning until the date of publication. 1977. ISBN 0-7153-7430-3
★ Spangenberg, Jochen. - ''The BBC in Transition. Reasons, Results and Consequences'' - Encompassing account of the BBC and influencing external factors until 1996. - Deutscher Universitaetsverlag. 1997. ISBN 3-8244-4227-2
★ Wilson, H.H. - ''Pressure Group'' - History of the political fight to introduce commercial television into the United Kingdom. - Rutgers University Press, 1961.
★ West, W.J. - ''Truth Betrayed'' a critical assessment of the BBC, London, 1987, ISBN 0-7156-2182-3
External links
★
bbc.co.uk: BBC Homepage
★
About the BBC
★
Editorial Guidelines
★
Motion Gallery
★
BBC Programme Catalogue - "Details of 949,181 BBC radio & TV programmes, dating back 75 years"
★
Find a BBC Building
★
First article on the BBC role in Social Bookmarking on the Internet - The BBC added Social Bookmarking links in August 2007, to their News and Sport articles, raising the profile of them significantly.
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