Media of the United Kingdom

1. Media of the United Kingdom Brian Lee, Andrew Stanley, Michael Ardizzone

2. DCMS • Department for Culture, Media, and Sports • What does the DCMS do? • Responsible for Government policy on the arts, sport, the National Lottery, tourism, libraries, museums and galleries, broadcasting, film, the music industry, press freedom and regulation, licensing, gambling and the historic environment. • Economic contributions • 27.7 million visitors to the UK spent around £13 billion in 2004. • Full switchover from analogue to digital television will benefit the UK in the region of £2 billion. • Creative industries grew by an average of 6% per year between 1997-2002, compared to 3% for the whole economy: advertising, architecture, the art and antiques market, crafts, design, designer fashion, film and video, interactive leisure software, music, the performing arts, publishing, software and computer games, television and radio. 

3. Television • History • First British television channel (1932) – The BBC Television Service • BBC television broadcasting monopoly until 1955 (when ITV was launched) • Analog Television • Chartered Public Broadcasting Companies (Government funded) • BBC • Channel 4 (S4C) • Franchise Commercial Television Stations (Advertising revenue) • ITV • Five

4. Television – Licensing Fees • BBC is funded by public money • Television license = Fee gathered from all UK households with a television set (£110) • Revenues – The 2005 Annual report gave revenue sources in millions of: • £2,940.3m license fees collected from consumers. • £624.3m from BBC Commercial Businesses. • £247.2m from the World Service, of which £225.1m is from grants (primarily funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office), £16.7m from subscriptions, and £5.4m from other sources. • £23.5m from other income, such as providing content to overseas broadcasters and concert ticket sales. • In total, the BBC's group income is estimated at £3835.3m for 2005. • Licence fee expenditure • The BBC gives the following figures for expenditure of licence fee income: • 50% - BBC One and BBC Two • 15% - local TV and radio • 12% - network radio • 10% - digital (BBC Three, BBC Four, BBC News 24, BBC Parliament, CBBC, CBeebies) • 10% - transmission costs and licence fee collection • 3% - BBC Online, Ceefax, and Interactive Content (including bbc.co.uk and BBCi)

5. Digital Television • Digital television: • Increased choice of channels • Interactive services (home shopping, banking, e-mail, internet access) • Improved picture and quality • Switch from analog to digital television: • Benefit to UK economy in terms of manufacturing and employment • Digital Television Action Plan (December 2001) • Series of actions to ensure switchover from analog to digital • Could start to happen as early as 2006 and completed by 2010

6. Ofcom • Ofcom (Office of Communications) • Designed to be a “super regulator”, required in an age where many media platforms are converging. • Initially established in the Office of Communications Act 2002, but received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003. On December 29, 2003, Ofcom inherited the duties that had previously been the responsibility of five regulatory bodies: • Broadcasting Standards Commission • Independent Television Commission • Office of Telecommunications • Radio Authority • Radiocommunications Agency

7. Program Standards • Government has created regulators to ensure standards are maintained on public broadcasts • The regulatory bodies are: Ofcom, The Governors of the BBC, and the Welsh Fourth Channel Authority (S4C) • Bodies are appointed by government but operate independently • The regulations are set by the Codes of Practice • Codes of Practice set the rules on content and nature of programs and advertisements

8. Media Ownership • Communications Act simplifies media ownership roles • The Act also sets limits on the ownership of media assets • The Act deregulates, whenever possible, programs and advertising in order to promote competition and attract new investments • The aim of the Act is to have a balanced of different media viewpoints • The Act includes the Competition Law which encourages dispersed ownership and the engagement of new players in media

9. BBC Charter • The Royal Charter sets out what the BBC does and how it does it • Every 10 years the public reviews the BBC to determine its effectiveness and consider its future • The reviews are initiated by the Secretary of State • The current review began on December 11, 2003 • They are expected to pass the current review

10. BBC Programming • In the UK the BBC has 8 channels: • BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three, BBC Four, BBC Parliament, BBC News 24, CBBC Channel, Cbeebies • BBC One competes with ITV1 as the most viewed channel in the UK • BBC One is more mainstream than BBC Two and generally gets higher ratings • BBC Two caters to the wealthier citizens, and often has “prestige” drama productions • A show might start out on BBC Two, but move to BBC One once it becomes popular

11. BBC and Public Broadcasting • The government encourages strong public service broadcasting to ensure that all consumers have access to varied programming • The main public broadcasters are: • The BBC, funded mainly by television license fees • Channel 4, self-funded by advertising revenues • S4C, funded grant-in-aid from the government and advertising revenue • ITV, Channel 5, and Teletext

12. BBC Programming • CBBC provides programs for younger viewers • It also shows film premiers and documentaries • BBC Parliament broadcasts coverage of the British House of Commons and Lords, the Scottish Parliament, and Welsh Assembly • BBC News is the largest news gathering operation in the world • It produces 165 hours of news output every hour • The Six O’Clock News is followed by a half-hour of regional news shows

13. BBC…Public or Commercial? • The BBC provides domestic public service broadcasting to educate and entertain free of commercial advertising because government regulation controls its funding • However, the BBC engages in commercial advertising in its newspapers and some radio broadcasts • Income from commercial enterprises has substantially increases over recent years • Its annual budget is approximately 3.7 billion pounds • BBC Worldwide is the only BBC subsidiary that is completely commercially owned • It broadcasts television stations throughout the world, such as BBC Prime, BBC America, and BBC Canada

14. Political Influence • In theory, the BBC is free from both political and commercial influence • However, the Board of Governors is a group of 12 who regulate the BBC and represent the interest of the public • The Government appoints the Board • Governors are nominally appointed by the monarch on the advice of Ministers • The idea that the BBC is regulated by government appointees undeniable demonstrates governmental influence • Political influence manifests in the form of government controlled license fees • The Government can threaten to lower license fees

15. Sources • Department for Culture, Media, and Sport – www.culture.gov.uk • The Economist – www.economist.com • Wikipedia – www.wikipedia.org • Encyclopedia Britannica – www.britannica.com