(Redirected from BBC 1)
'BBC One' is the primary television channel of the
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and was the first to be launched in the
United Kingdom. The channel has an annual budget of
£840 million.
[1] It is funded entirely by the television
licence fee, and therefore shows uninterrupted programming with no commercial advertising. On
2 November 1936 the BBC launched the world's first regular public high definition (
405-line)
television service, following low definition BBC television broadcasts that began in 1929.
[2]
History
The early years
The transmission mast above the
BBC wing of
Alexandra Palace, home of BBC One from 1936 until the early 1950s, photographed in 2001.
An Emitron camera used to make the earliest 405-line programmes broadcast on the channel.
made Britain's first television broadcast on
30 September 1929 from its studio in
Long Acre, London via the BBC's London
transmitter, using the
electromechanical system pioneered by
John Logie Baird. This system used a vertically-scanned image of 30 lines — just enough resolution for a close-up of one person, and with a
bandwidth low enough to use existing radio transmitters. Simultaneous transmission of sound and picture was achieved on
30 March 1930, by using the BBC's new twin transmitter at
Brookmans Park. By late 1930, thirty minutes of morning programmes were broadcast Monday to Friday, and thirty minutes of evening programmes were broadcast at midnight on Tuesdays and Fridays after BBC radio went off the air. Baird broadcasts via the BBC continued until June 1932.
The BBC began its own regular television programming from the basement of
Broadcasting House, London on
22 August 1932. The studio moved to expanded quarters at 16
Portland Place, London, in February 1934, and continued broadcasting the 30-line images, carried by telephone line to the
medium wave transmitter at
Brookmans Park, until
11 September 1935, by which time advances in all-electronic television systems made the electromechanical broadcasts obsolete.
After a series of test transmissions and special broadcasts that began in August, regular BBC television broadcasts officially resumed on
2 November 1936, from a converted wing of
Alexandra Palace in London, housing two studios, various scenery stores, make-up areas, dressing rooms, offices, and even the transmitter itself, now broadcasting on the
VHF band. BBC television initially used two systems, on alternate weeks: the 240-line Baird system and the
405-line Marconi-EMI system, each making the BBC the world's first regular high-definition television service. The two systems were to run on a trial basis for six months. However, the Baird system, which used a mechanical camera for filmed programming and
Farnsworth image dissector cameras for live programming, proved too cumbersome and visually inferior, and was dropped in February 1937.
Initially, the station's range was officially only within a twenty-five mile (40 km) radius of the Alexandra Palace transmitter—in practice, however, transmissions could be picked up a good deal further away, and on one occasion in 1938 were picked up by engineers at
RCA in
New York, who were experimenting with a British television set.
[3]
Wartime closure
On
1 September 1939, two days before Britain declared war on
Germany, the station was unceremoniously taken off air with little warning
[4]. It was feared that the VHF transmissions would act as a beacon to enemy aircraft homing in on
London. Also, many of the television service's technical staff and engineers would be needed for the war effort, in particular on the
RADAR programme. The last programme aired was a
Mickey Mouse cartoon, ''
Mickey's Gala Premiere''. According to figures from England's Radio Manufacturers Association, 18,999 television sets had been manufactured from 1936 to September 1939, when production was halted by the war.
Postwar
BBC television returned on
7 June 1946 at 3 p.m.
Jasmine Bligh, one of the original announcers, made the first announcement saying, 'Good afternoon everybody. How are you? Do you remember me, Jasmine Bligh?' The Mickey Mouse cartoon of 1939 was
repeated twenty minutes later.
[5]
Postwar broadcast coverage extended to
Birmingham in 1949 with the opening of the
Sutton Coldfield television transmitter, and by the early 1950s the entire country was covered.
Alexandra Palace was the home base of the channel until the early 1950s when the majority of production moved to the
Lime Grove Studios, and then in 1960 the headquarters moved to the purpose-built
BBC Television Centre at
White City, also in
London, where the channel is based to this day.
Competition
The station held a
monopoly on television broadcasting in the
United Kingdom until the first
ITV station was launched in 1955. The competition quickly forced the channel to change its identity and priorities following a large drop in audience figures. By the 1980s, the channel had launched the first
breakfast television programmes and returned to its previous form under the controller of the channel at the time,
Michael Grade.
Since the launch of multichannel television, BBC One's share of the viewing has declined, although not as fast as
ITV's leading the channel to once again become the most watched in the last decade.
The station was renamed BBC1 when
BBC2 was launched in April 1964. On
15 November 1969, simultaneous with
ITV and two years after BBC2, the channel began 625-line
PAL colour programming. Stereo audio transmissions began in 1988 (
NICAM), and wide-screen programming was introduced on digital platforms in 1998. However, many of these developments took some years to become available on all transmitters.
The channel has had a diverse range of identities and priorities over the years and was named 'Channel Of The Year' at the 2007 Broadcast Awards.
The channel was praised by judges who said: "At a time when all major terrestrial broadcasters are facing questions about how fast and far their share of viewing will fall, BBC One has shown it can deliver mass entertainment.."
Peter Fincham, Controller of BBC One said: "I am really delighted that BBC One did so well at the Broadcast Awards. I'd like to thank the many many people who contributed to a successful year on the channel and these awards reflect the variety and strength of the programming."
[6]
Programming
'Channel Controllers'
★ 1936–1939:
Gerald Cock
★ 1946–1947:
Maurice Gorham
★ 1947–1950:
Norman Collins
★ 1950–1957:
Cecil McGivern
★ 1957–1961:
Kenneth Adam
★ 1961–1963:
Stuart Hood
★ 1963–1965:
Donald Baverstock
★ 1965–1967:
Michael Peacock
★ 1967–1973:
Paul Fox
★ 1973–1977:
Bryan Cowgill
★ 1977–1981:
Bill Cotton
★ 1981–1984:
Alan Hart
★ 1984–1987:
Michael Grade★
★ 1987–1992:
Jonathan Powell★
★ 1992–1996:
Alan Yentob
★ 1996–1997:
Michael Jackson
★ 1997–2000:
Peter Salmon
★ 2000–2005:
Lorraine Heggessey
★ 2005–present:
Peter Fincham
★ had not previously worked for the BBC before appointment
Only 8.9%
1 of the peak programming is repeats (30.8% is repeats overall) with a peak target of 5% in 2008/2009. Programming on this channel costs an average of £162,900 per hour.
With a mission to provide big programmes for all licence-fee payers, it has the main sport, news, current affairs and documentaries. It has historically broadcast children's programmes (now taken from
CBBC and
CBeebies). The channel remains one of the principal television channels in the United Kingdom and provides 2,508 annual hours of news and weather, 1,880 hours of factual and learning, 1,036 hours of drama, 672 hours of children's, 670 hours of sport, 654 hours of film, 433 hours of entertainment, 159 hours of current affairs, 92 hours of religion and 82 hours of music and arts.
[7]
News and current affairs
Main articles: BBC News
2,508 annual hours of news and weather (293 in peak, 1,049 of
BBC News 24 simulcasts) are provided by regular news programmes are ''
BBC Breakfast'', the
''One O'Clock News'',
''Six O'Clock News'' and the
''Ten O'Clock News'' (the most-watched UK news programme), each including BBC regional news programmes. The station has broadcast continuously since 1997, simulcasting
BBC News 24 from the early hours in the morning until 6:00am. All of the three main news bulletins have a lead over their rival programmes on ITV.
Each year 159 hours of current affairs programmes are broadcast on BBC One, including ''
Panorama'' and
Watchdog. Politics is also covered, with programmes such as ''
Question Time'' and ''
This Week''. ''
Crimewatch UK'', a special programme appealing for help in unsolved crimes, is also frequently broadcast.
Factual and learning
Whilst nature documentaries such as ''
Planet Earth'' are the most familiar part of the 1,880 annual BBC One hours of factual and learning, this also includes lifestyle-format daytime programmes and a number of ''reality TV'' formats and the ''One Life'' strand.
Drama
Main articles: BBC television drama
BBC One is the BBC's home of drama, with 1,036 hours each year. There are several half-hour episodes of ''
EastEnders'' each week, plus hospital dramas ''
Casualty'' and ''
Holby City''. In recent years the BBC's innovative dramas such as ''
Spooks'', ''
Judge John Deed'', ''
Hustle'' and time-travel police drama ''
Life on Mars'' have led
ITV in the ratings. Also included in the twenty weekly hours of new drama is its highly successful programme ''
Doctor Who''.
Children's
Main articles: CBBC
Because there are many homes that do not yet have access to digital television channels
CBeebies and
CBBC, BBC One still broadcasts 672 hours of children's programmes each year - over two hours each day - mostly during the late afternoon. It is expected these programmes will migrate to the digital channels by 2013.
Sport
Main articles: BBC Sport
The BBC holds rights to many sporting events, and BBC One broadcasts 670 hours of sport each year. This includes
Premiership football highlights on ''
Match of the Day'', tennis from
Wimbledon, horse racing such as the
Grand National, the
London Marathon, the
Olympic Games,
Rugby League,
Rugby Union,
Snooker tournaments, and international
athletics.
Film
British, US and international films are broadcast for 654 hours each year on BBC One. This is mainly late-night fillers with some box office hits at Christmas and holiday periods.
Entertainment
433 hours of entertainment are broadcast by BBC One each year. This includes game shows like ''
National Lottery'', quiz shows like ''
Have I Got News for You'', several talent shows such as ''
Dance X'' and chat shows such as ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross''.
Religion
The annual 92 hours of religion comprises mainly of weekly editions of recorded "
Songs of Praise"
Christian services and Sunday morning Christian ''
Heaven and Earth with Gloria Hunniford'', which ended its nine year run on BBC One on
2 September 2007[8]. It will be replaced by shows produced by two independent production companies. Mentorn Oxford will produce ''Heart and Soul'', which is described as “a new multifaith programme featuring a panel and a studio audience”, followed by ''Life from the Loft'' which will take the same slot early next year, and will be made by the Leeds-based company True North.
[9] In
2005 BBC One was criticised for reducing the amount of religious programming, which was previously at 101 hours per year.
[10]
Comedy
BBC One broadcasts many comedy programmes, often screened on Friday nights. These shows include the long running ''
My Family'' and highly successful ''
Little Britain'', no longer in production, which was transferred from
BBC Three. One of the most popular BBC comedy shows was ''
Only Fools and Horses'', which until recently was still regularly repeated on the channel.
Music and arts
As the weekly popular music chart programme ''
Top of the Pops'' was axed, BBC One now broadcasts only 82 hours of music and arts each year. The majority of this is the
Alan Yentob fronted ''
Imagine'' and classical music concerts such as the
BBC Proms.
Daytime
Daytime programming (from 9:15 a.m.) is a mainly made up of lifestyle shows such as
Bargain Hunt, but also includes soaps such as ''
Neighbours'' and ''Doctors''. From 3:25 p.m. until 5:35 p.m., normal broadcasting is suspended in order for a special CBBC broadcasting strand, with its own visual identity. BBC One's most popular daytime programme is ''Neighbours'', with audience figures approaching five million. As of 2008,
Channel Five will be broadcasting ''Neighbours'' instead of the BBC
[2] .
Quotas
28%
1 of "qualifying hours" are made by independent production companies (statutory target is 25%). 99% of peak hours programmes are original productions (target 90%), as are 82% of all hours (target 70%)
1.
Some of the channels most popular programmes such as ''
Match of the Day'', ''
Have I Got News for You'', ''
The Kumars at No. 42'', and ''
The Apprentice'' originally started off on other BBC channels, but were moved to BBC One because of their popularity.
[11]
Productions
For the first half-century of its existence, with the exception of
films and imported programmes from countries such as the
United States and
Australia, almost all the channel's output was produced by the BBC's in-house production departments. This changed following the
Broadcasting Act 1990, which required that 25% of the BBC's television output be out-sourced to independent production companies.
[12] As of 2004 many popular BBC One shows are made for the channel by independents, but the in-house production departments continue to contribute heavily to the schedule.
Network variations
An example of the BBC One Scotland variation on the current national theme.
To reflect the countries within the United Kingdom that the channel is available in, BBC One has individual continuity and opt-outs for
Scotland,
[13] Wales[14] and
Northern Ireland.
[15] The channel's visual identity is largely the same as the version used in England, save for the inclusion of the country name below the main BBC One logo.
In the
English regions,
[16] the BBC has and current affairs programme opt-outs as well as a limited amount of continuity for the English regions. During such regional opt-outs, the region name is displayed as with the national variations, in smaller characters beneath the main channel logo. A generic news programme,
UK Today, available mainly to digital viewers but also shown in the case of problems with regional news programmes was discontinued in 2002. This was replaced by transmission of
BBC London News, since digital viewers are now able to receive regional programming.
BBC One Scotland has undoubtedly the greatest level of variation from the generic network, owing to
BBC Scotland scheduling Scottish programming on the main BBC Scotland channel, rather than on
BBC Two.
BBC One Scotland variations include the soap opera
River City and the football programme
Sportscene, the inclusion of which causes network programming to be displaced or replaced.
BBC One Wales was considered a separate channel by the BBC upon its launch in the mid-1960s, appearing as "BBC Wales" (without the "1")
[17]
Presentation
BBC One's identity has been symbolised by a globe shown on its
indents for most of its existence
[18]. Originally in 1962 this was represented as a map of the UK shown between programmes, but in 1963 the globe first appeared, changing in style and appearance over the next 39 years.
★ From
15 November 1969 it became a 'mirror-globe' in several colours and sizes (a globe in front of a curved mirror which reflected a distorted view of the reverse).
★ On
18 February 1985 the COW (Computer Originated World) debuted. This was a computer-animated globe with the land coloured gold and the sea a transparent blue, giving the impression of a glass globe.
★ On
16 February 1991 on the same day that BBC2 rebranded, an ethereal crystal-ball-type globe appeared, which was played out on air from
laserdisc.
★ On
4 October 1997 the revolving aspect disappeared as the globe became a red, orange and yellow hot-air balloon, coloured to resemble a globe, flying around various places in the UK.
★ On
29 March 2002 the globe finally disappeared from television screens, to be replaced by a series of idents consisting of people dancing in various styles (see
BBC 'Rhythm & Movement' idents).
★ On
7 October 2006 at 10:00 BST, the new set of idents based on circles (''see
BBC One 'Circle' idents'') were launched. According to the BBC, the circle symbol both represents togetherness and acts as a nod to the former globe idents.
Impact of Peter Fincham
Since first joining the channel as Controller in 2005
Peter Fincham has overseen the commissioning of several successful BBC One programmes including ''
Robin Hood'' (2006–present), ''
Jane Eyre'' (2006) and ''
How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?'', which was soon followed by related show ''
Any Dream Will Do'' because of its success.
[19] His first full year in charge of the channel saw a year-on-year growth in the audience share, with a rise from 22.2% in August 2005 up to a 23.6% share in August 2006.
[20]
Fincham also directly initiated the creation of both early evening current affairs and lifestyle programme ''
The One Show'' (2006–present), now to run all but two weeks of the year, and the prime time
chat show ''
Davina'' (2006), the latter being designed as a vehicle for successful ''
Big Brother'' presenter
Davina McCall.
[21] However, ''Davina'' was a critical and ratings disaster,
[22] which Fincham subsequently admitted was personally his fault, although he defended the strategy of experimenting with the BBC One schedule. He then continued with this experimentation with another notable change to the schedule in January 2007, when he moved the
current affairs series ''
Panorama'' back from its Sunday night slot to a prime time Monday evening slot which it had been removed from in 2000, although this decision was most likely in response to a demand from the
Board of Governors of the BBC for the channel to show more current affairs programming in prime time.
[23]
Fincham's judgement was again called into question, this time by ''
The Daily Telegraph'' newspaper, for his decision to spend £1.2 million replacing the
BBC 'Rhythm & Movement' idents, which had been introduced by his predecessor
Lorraine Heggessey several years earlier, with the
BBC One 'Circle' idents, a set of eight ten-second films, some of which were shot abroad in locations such as
Mexico and
Croatia.
[24] Fincham later found himself having to publicly defend the £18 million salary that the BBC payed presenter
Jonathan Ross in 2006,
[25] although Ross's BBC One work - primarily consisting of ''
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' - formed only a small part of his overall BBC commitment.
In May 2007, Fincham took the decision to drop the
Australian soap opera ''
Neighbours'' from BBC One after twenty-one years on the channel, when its producers significantly raised the price they wanted the BBC to pay for it in a bidding war.
[26] Fincham commented that it was 'a big loss', but that BBC One would not pay 'the best part of £300m'.
[27] Neighbours will leave the channel in Spring 2008 and is currently the most popular daytime show.
[28] Fincham admitted the error, but rejected calls that he should resign from his position as a result.
[29] His future is still uncertain following critical comments from
BBC Trust Chairman
Sir Michael Lyons.
[30]
Subtitles service
The BBC has stated that by April 2008 they aim to have
subtitles for viewers with hearing difficulties present on 100% of BBC programming. Currently 95% of BBC One and BBC Two programmes are subtitled.
[31] The BBC also offers
audio description on some popular BBC One programmes
[32] for visually impaired viewers. Currently 8% of the BBC's total television output, which includes BBC One, has audio descriptions. This will increase to 10% by 2008.
[33]
Notes and references
1. BBC Annual Report and Accounts 2005/2006
2. Television: An International History of the Formative Years, , R.W., Burns, The Institution of Electrical Engineers, 1998, ISBN 0-85296-914-7
3. They filmed the static-ridden output they saw on their screen, and this poor-quality, mute film footage is the only surviving record of 1930s British television filmed directly from the screen. However, some images of programmes do survive in newsreels, which also contain some footage shot in studios while programmes were being made, giving a feel for what was being done, albeit without directly replicating what was being shown on screen.
4. The edit that rewrote history - Baird
5.
Back after the break Finlo Rohrer
6. BBC One named Channel Of The Year at Broadcast Awards BBC Press Office; 25 January 2007
7.
BBC Annual Report and Accounts 2005/2006
8. Heaven and Earth ends
9. New shows to replace Heaven and Earth
10. BBC criticised for reducing amount of religious programmes
11. The Apprentice moves to BBC One BBC Press Office
12. About the Independent Production Quota
13. About BBC One Scotland BBC Website
14. About BBC One Wales BBC Website
15. About BBC One Northern Ireland BBC Website
16. BBC - England BBC Website
17. ''"...a separate service - BBC Wales - available to the greater part of the people in the Principality..."'' BBC Handbook 1967, p25; British Broadcasting Corporation, London: 1966
18. Oh, that Symbol... - Baird
19. Back the BBC to hang on to its viewers in the multi-channel age Raymond Snoddy
20. Channel 4's Big Brother hangover
21. The One Show gets another go
22. Don't blame Davina for this disaster Thomas Sutcliffe
23. Panorama to take on ITV soap Adam Sherwin
24. BBC splashes out £1.2m on circle of life TV links Richard Alleyne
25. BBC's £18m deal makes Ross best-paid presenter Adam Sherwin
26. BBC pulls out of Neighbours fight
27. Neighbours will move in Spring 2008 Media Guardian
28.
Fincham was involved in a further controversy in July 2007, when he was accused of misleading BBC One viewers. The incident involved a clip from forthcoming documentary ''A Year With the Queen'' which was shown to journalists during a press conference. It apparently showed the Queen storming out of a session with American photographer Annie Leibovitz over a disagreement about what she should wear, but the BBC subsequently admitted that the scenes used in the trailer had been edited out of th correct order, meaning that a false impression was given.[ BBC apologises over Queen clips ]
29. I stay, says royal row BBC boss
30. Fincham Criticised by Sir Michael Lyons Times Online
31. BBC policy on subtitles BBC Website
32. List of programmes with audio description
33. BBC Policy on Audio Descriptions BBC Website
See also
★
Oldest television station
★
List of television programmes broadcast by the BBC
External links
★
BBC One Official Website
★
BBC One Channel Listings
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