That's Entertainment! A Survey of American and British Television Dewhurst / Jung Week 2: Overview of British Television
Name the TV Show
Early TV in Britain 1922: BBC founded as radio broadcaster 1932: BBC begins testing John Logie Baird s television system; international radio service, known as the Empire Service, begins 1936: First television pictures broadcast 1939: Suspension of TV service because of WW2 1946: Resumption of TV; TV licence introduced 1949: BBC Television spreads outside London
The British Broadcasting Corporation
BBC The Early Years The mission of a public broadcasting service to inform, educate and entertain John (later Lord) Reith General Manager 1922-38
The Post-War BBC Desert Island Disks (1941-) Roy Plomley and Noel Coward The Goon Show, 1951-60 Hancock s Half Hour, 1954-61 (from 1956 on television) The Archers (1950-)
The Post-War BBC Muffin the Mule (1945-55) Panorama, (1953-) Coronation of Elizabeth II, 1953
The Post-War BBC Orwell s 1984 (1954) Grandstand (1958-) Dixon of Dock Green (1955-76) This is Your Life (1955-) Blue Peter (1958-) Juke Box Jury (1959-67 )
1955 Launch of Independent Television 1954: Television Act Establishment of Independent Television Authority (ITA) Licences or franchises issued to regional television companies Decentralised, regional programming News produced by the non profit-making Independent Television News (ITN) 1998: Launch of ITV2 2004: Launch of ITV3
1955 Launch of Independent Television ITN News (1955-) I Love Lucy (from 1955) Coronation Street (1960-)
Other developments 1958: TV households exceed radio only households 1962: Pilkington report recommends second BBC channel (BBC2) 1964: Launch of BBC2 1969: Inauguration of colour TV on BBC and ITV 1972: Removal of restriction on broadcasting hours 1980: Broadcasting Act provides for launch of Channel 4 1982: Launch of Channel 4
Other developments (cont.) 1989: Launch of domestic satellite services by Sky Television 1990: Opening of British Sky Broadcasting (BSB); merger of Sky and BSB to form BSkyB 1997: Launch of Channel 5 1999: Launch of digital satellite and terrestrial services 2002: Office of Communications Act to establish regulator Ofcom
Structure of British Television
Television Stations
Regulation Governmental supervision: Department for Culture, Media and Sport; Department of Trade and Industry Direct regulation by Ofcom (Office of Communications), which: Issues licenses, undertakes research into viewing matters, creates codes and policies, deals with complaints and looks into competition matters
How the BBC is run Licence payers (24.5 million) Parliament Decides legal framework and scrutinises BBC affairs Sets level of licence fee Board of Governors (12) Appointed by the Queen on advice from ministers Accountable to licence payers and parliament Monitors policy and performance Appoints Director-General Executive Committee and Director-General Composed of directors of BBC s 16 divisions Appoints directors Answerable to Board of Governors Largely self-regulating
BBC Divisions Broadcasting divisions: News, Drama Entertainment & CBBC, Factual & Learning, Sport, World Service, TV, New Media & Technology, Radio & Music, Nations & Regions Professional services: Strategy & Distribution, Marketing & Communications, Finance Property & Business Affairs, BBC People (Human Resources & Internal Comms), Public Policy Commercial divisions: BBC Worldwide Ltd., BBC Ventures Group Ltd.
Structure of Independent Television Licences or franchises issued by ITA to regional television companies (original Big Four : London Weekday, London Weekend, North of England, Midlands) Decentralised, regional programming Franchise rounds in 1964, 1968, 1974, 1982, 1990, 1993 Current franchise holders: ITV plc, Anglia, Border, Central, London Weekend, Meridian, Tyne Tees, Westcountry, Yorkshire, Grampian, Scottish, Channel, Ulster, GMTV Regulated by Ofcom
Structure of Satellite Television British Sky Broadcasting Operates Sky Digital, Britain s most popular subscription service Controlled by 36.8% shareholder News Corporation (CEO Rupert Murdoch) Owns several TV channels and production companies 7,787 million direct to home customers Mainly broadcast via satellite service; some via cable operators (NTL, Telewest) Funding through subscription Regulated by Ofcom
Funding for Commercial TV TV Shows (crew, camera, actors, etc.) Production Company (~ network) Network (e.g., ITV, BSkyB) Advertisement or Subscription
Production of TV Shows Production Company (~ network, e.g. BBC) TV Shows (crew, camera, actors, etc.) Network (e.g., ITV, Channel 4, Sky) Commissions Network controllers TV Stations consumer terrestrial/cable/satellite
Programming Types of programme Scripted vs. unscripted Episodic vs. serial Specific types of shows Pilot, first-run, re-run/repeat, spinoff Modes of production In-house productions (BBC) Commissioning Channel 4 commissions from independent production companies; BBC and ITV companies now commission at least 25% of programmes Programmes purchased from foreign networks (e.g. American series)
TV Scheduling morning talk shows, morning news daytime soaps, talk shows, populist news programmes, local & national news, game shows, children s TV (ca. 3 pm 5 pm), soap operas primetime (8-11 pm) first-run and repeat sitcoms, dramas, news programmes, documentaries, mini-series and soap operas, TV films, feature films 9 o clock watershed late night (after 11pm) news, talk shows, films, Open University (BBC2)
British Television Programming A History
Drama and Realism Up the Junction, 1965 Cathy Come Home, 1966 The War Game, 1965 Z Cars, 1962-78
Fantasy and Adventure The Avengers, 1961-9, 1976-7 Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), 1969-70 Jason King, 1971-2 The Champions, 1969-71
Doctor Who The Tardis Tom Baker as the Doctor Daleks! Patrick Mccoy as the Doctor
Broadcasting to Young People Top of the Pops, 1964- Pan s People Radio London (1960s)
Sitcoms The Likely Lads, 1964-6 Steptoe and Son, 1962-5 Till Death Us Do Part, 1966-8, 1972, 1974-5 In Sickness and in Health, 1985
Rising Damp, 1974-8 Porridge, 1974-7 Citizen Smith, 1977-80
Black and Asian TV? Empire Road, 1978-9 No Problem, 1983-5 Love Thy Neighbour, 1972-6 It Ain t Half, Hot, Mum, 1974-81
Historical Dramas Colditz, 1972-4 Elizabeth R., 1971 Brideshead Revisited, 1981
1980s: Soaps
Crime Series
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1984-5, 1986-8 Juliet Bravo, 1980-5 Poirot, 1987-95 Inspector Morse, 1987-97 Miss Marple, 1984-94
Politics and TV Yes, Minister, 1980-2 Yes, Prime Minister, 1986-8
Spitting Image, 1984-92
1990s: Lives and Lifestyles Charles: The Private Man, the Public Role, 1994 Panorama, 1995
Adaptations Lady Chatterley s Lover, 1993 The Buddha of Suburbia, 1993 The Darling Buds of May, 1991-3
Crime Spender, 1991 Prime Suspect, 1991, 1992
Comedy Rab C. Nesbitt, 1990 Absolutely Fabulous, 1992-5 One Foot in the Grave, 1990-
The Royle Family, 1998 Have I Got News for You, 1990I m Alan Partridge, 1997- Drop the Dead Donkey, 1990
New Genres The Office, 2001Changing Rooms, 1995 What Not to Wear, 2003 I m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! 2002
Issues Today Greater competition between networks Increasing presence of satellite TV ( sport wars ) Influence of ratings and scheduling concerns on programming Great variety of genres, including hybrid genres (docusoap, docucomedy) Boom in public access TV Boom in reality TV Dumbing down?? Public service broadcasting?