Profile of BBC TV

By George Parkin

Name: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Type: Statutory corporation with a Royal Charter Business Model: Publically funded by the British public through annual

television licence fees Owner: Publically owned in order to educate and entertain the general

population Founded: 18, October 1922; 92 years ago Founder: John Reich, 1st Baron Reich Key People: Rona Fairhead, director of HSBC and current chairwoman of the BBC

Trust since taking office on 9, October 2014. Succeeding Chris Patten who held the post from 2011.

Other Prominent People: Tony Hall, Baron Hall of Birkenhead; 16th incumbent Director-General of the BBC having assumed office on 2, April 2013. Succeeding George Entwistle. Howard Stringer; non-executive director of the BBC

Headquarters: Broadcasting House, London, United Kingdom Products/Services: Broadcasting, radio, online Website: www.bbc.co.uk or www.bbc.com Employees: 21.282 (2013) and 20,736 (2014) Area Served: Primarily the United Kingdom; also worldwide

Profile of BBC TV

BBC UK:

BBC One / BBC One HD BBC Two / BBC Two HD BBC Three / BBC Three HD BBC Four / BBC Four HD BBC Parliament BBC News / BBC News HD CBBC / CBBC HD CBeebies / CBeebies HD BBC Alba (Scottish Gaelic)

BBC Worldwide:

BBC Entertainment BBC America BBC Canada BBC Lifestyle BBC Arabic Television BBC Persian Television BBC Kids BBC Urdu BBC World News BBC Knowledge CBeebies BBC HD

Profile of BBC TV

BBC Worldwide Ltd. and other commercial subsidiaries:

UKTV; jointly owned by BBC Worldwide and Scripps Networks Interactive – Freeview: Yesterday Dave Really Subscriptions: Gold Watch Alibi Blighty Eden Home Good Food

UKTV; Australia and New Zealand Community Channel

Profile of BBC TV

BBC Radio:

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 5 Live

BBC Digital Radio:

BBC Radio 1Xtra BBC 6 Music BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra BBC Radio 4 Extra BBC Asian Network

Profile of BBC TV

Miscellaneous:

BBC Nations’ Radio BBC Local Radio BBC Red Button Ceefax BBC Online BBC Weather

Profile of BBC TV

Weekly viewing summary of the UK television industry; June 22-28, 2015. Sourced from BARB. As you can see the BBC One launched in 1936 remains the most popular and the channel with the largest reach. BBC Two launched in 1964 is being beaten slimly by ITV launched 1955.

Profile of BBC TV

The BBC as a broadcasting medium and institution finds itself in a very unique position. The BBC is funded in a exceptional way which sets it apart from the likes of ITV or Channel 4. Most of its revenues are generated through licence fees which residents who own televisions are obligated to pay. Certain commercial enterprises also generate revenue but they usually take place outside of the United Kingdom for foreign consumers of the BBC’s content.

In The BBC’s Financial Performance Report the following is documented:

“Unlike profit-making organisations we are not focused on the bottom line. Instead we need to ensure the BBC delivers real and tangible value both for the licence fee payer and for the wider UK economy. This translates into five key financial objectives:

Maximising the BBC's income by collecting the licence fee as efficiently as possible Making the BBC as efficient as possible, and providing good value for money Maximising the returns the BBC makes on programmes paid for by the licence fee Spreading the benefit of the licence fee across the whole of the UK Ensuring the licence fee supports the wider creative economy The BBC's performance against these financial objectives is set out opposite, and you can

read a detailed commentary in the financial review in Part Two of this Annual Report. We comment below on the financial risks facing the BBC and our response to them.”

Profile of BBC TV

Because of the licence fee the BBC Trust is mandated to ensure that quality programming is delivered, making sure there is content that appeals to all the various demographics. After all, all television owners are forced to pay their licence fee even if they don’t want to watch BBC content. This conundrum means the remit for all their various channels is stringent.

In other words, the BBC can’t act in the same way the commercial channels do, simply aiming to produce programming that pulls in the largest viewers will not do, they have to cater to all sorts of minority groups. They also have to consider how their going to provide programming that would not be considered entertainment, but rather fall under the category of public service broadcasting, such as; consumer advice, educational programming, news, current affairs, analysis, election coverage, weather warnings, and historical coverage etc.

Profile of BBC TV

Because they have been mandated by the entire nation you can see how the various different channels they operate have been set to appeal to certain audiences, in order to satisfy all the licence fee payers from different walks of life.

BBC One: This channel would be considered the flagship, it’s the best known and most popular meaning it fulfils the role of a mixed-genre television service. What I mean by this is your average viewer can extract all the valuable information they need from just this one channel. Regular news bulletins, updates, weather reports, as well a good quality scripted programming such as; Sherlock or Doctor Who.

Besides that, BBC One delivers when it comes to soaps like EastEnders or Casualty as well as family friendly television around dinner time like The One Show and Friday/Saturday evening popcorn television such as; The Voice or The Graham Norton Show.

BBC One is also the channel that provides the coverage of things like; Remembrance Day, Children in Need, Comic Relief, and freak events such as the Royal Wedding in 2011.

Profile of BBC TV

BBC Two: This channel is also a mixed-genre platform, but doesn’t have to touch upon quite as many bases as BBC One does. It appeals to more of a select audience; older, more middle-class, and cultured:

“Appealing to a broad adult audience with programmes of depth and substance. It should carry the greatest amount and range of knowledge building programming of any BBC television channel, complemented by distinctive comedy, drama and arts programming.”

BBC Three: This channel targets younger audiences. 16-34 year olds is their target age group, as evidenced by their programming: Family Guy, Being Human, and Russell Howard’s Good News.

BBC Four: This channel is perhaps even more of a middle-class organ than say BBC Two is, focusing on culture and arts almost exclusively:

“BBC Four’s primary role is to reflect a range of UK and international arts, music and culture. It should provide an ambitious range of innovative, high quality programming that is intellectually and culturally enriching, taking an expert and in-depth approach to a wide range of subjects.”

CBBC: This channel combines drama, entertainment, comedy, and factual programming to produce content that suits a younger audience. It is aimed predominantly at primary school children, ages 6 – 12 years.

CBeebies: This channel caters to the BBC’s youngest audience. Aimed at encouraging:

“Learning through play in a consistently safe environment for children aged 6 or under.”

Profile of BBC TV

Critical Reception and Commentary:

Charlotte Higgins wrote an article for The Guardian, entitled; The future of the BBC: you either believe in it or you don’t: The BBC is among our greatest national institutions and it is revered across the world. But it stands accused of timid journalism, patchy drama and byzantine management. In the final part of her in-depth series on the past, present and future of the BBC, Charlotte Higgins, assesses the health of the corporation and the challenges it faces on the road to charter renewal in 2016:

“Our relationship with the BBC has changed in recent years: we are in an age that has seen the fracturing of the media, and the BBC has found it necessary to head out into the world to find its audiences wherever they may be – on the TV and radio, but also on apps, satellite and cable channels, and online. Once, the BBC represented a truly communal experience, when 20 million viewers would simultaneously watch Morecambe and Wise on a Saturday night. No longer.”

“For the consumer, there are enormous differences too. A subscription to Netflix, which at present produces a comparatively small amount of original work, costs about £83 annually, set against £145.50 for the licence fee, which grants access to all free-to-air British television and material live-streamed through iPlayer, ITV Player and 4oD.”

“Without the BBC we would be poorer in spirit. We would know less about the world: our cultural, musical and political lives would be diminished; our curiosity neither so piqued nor so sated. It threads itself through our lives, and I can barely imagine my days starting without the weather app and the Today programme, and ending with the Proms, The World Tonight or – yes – a cop drama.”

Profile of BBC TV