'British television broadcasting' has a range of different
broadcasters, broadcasting multiple channels over a variety of distribution media.
Major broadcasters
There are six major broadcasters:
Free-to-air analogue terrestrial networks
Before the advent of digital television in the UK, five main analogue television channels dominated British television. With the increasing popularity of digital television, all are expanding and offering a portfolio of digital-only channels to viewers. All the main analogue channels are now simulcasted on all digital television services.
;
BBC: The BBC is the world's oldest and biggest broadcaster, and is the country's first and largest
public service broadcaster. The BBC is funded by a
television licence fee that all households with a television must pay. Its analogue channels are
BBC One and
BBC Two. The BBC first began a television service, initially serving
London only, in
1936. BBC Television was closed during
World War II but reopened in
1946. The second station, BBC Two, was launched in
1964. As well as these two analogue services, the British Broadcasting Corporation now also offers digital services
BBC Three,
BBC Four,
BBC News 24,
BBC Parliament,
CBBC Channel,
CBeebies,
BBCi and has trialled
BBC HD.
;
ITV (Independent Television): ITV is the network of fifteen regional and three national commercial television franchises, originally founded in
1955 to provide competition to the
BBC. ITV was the country's first
commercial television provider funded by
advertisements, and has been the most popular commercial channel through most of its existence. Through a series of mergers, takeovers and relaxation of regulation, eleven of these companies are now owned by
ITV plc, two by
SMG plc while
UTV and
Channel Television remain independent. ITV plc, the operator of all
English,
Welsh and
Southern Scotland franchises, has branded the channel as
ITV1 since
2001, with regional names being used prior to regional programmes only.
SMG plc, which operates the two other Scottish franchises, has now unified the regions under the single name of
STV.
UTV, the
Northern Ireland franchisee operated by
UTV plc, uses its own name on air at all times, while the independent
Channel Television uses the generic
ITV1 stream and its own name prior to regional programmes. ITV is has been officially known as 'Channel 3' since
1990. ITV plc also operates digital channels
ITV2,
ITV3,
ITV4,
Men & Motors and the
CITV Channel.
ITN currently holds the national news franchise,
GMTV operates the breakfast franchise and
Teletext Ltd operates the national teletext franchise.
;
Channel 4 (traditionally only broadcast in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland): Launched in
1982, Channel 4 is a state-owned national broadcaster which is funded by its commercial activities (including advertising). Channel 4 has expanded greatly after gaining greater independence from the
IBA, especially in the multi-channel digital world launching
E4,
Film4,
More 4 and various
timeshift services. Since
2005, it has been a member of the
Freeview consortium, and operates one of the six digital terrestrial multiplexes with
ITV as
Digital 3&4. Since the advent of digital television, Channel 4 is now also broadcast in
Wales across all digital platforms. Channel 4 was the first British channel not to carry regional variations for programming, however it does have set advertising regions.
;
S4C (Siannel 4 Cymru, broadcast in Wales only): S4C is the
Welsh national fourth channel, launched in
1982. It was set up to provide a mixture of both
Welsh language programmes in primetime hours alongside English-language Channel 4 programmes, which are often re-scheduled. S4C is overseen by the
Welsh Fourth Channel Authority, and most of its programmes are provided by
BBC Wales and
ITV Wales. S4C operates three services; S4C, the original Welsh and English language fourth channel broadcasting on analogue transmissions throughout Wales, S4C Digidol (S4C Digital), broadcasting only Welsh language programming across all digital transmissions in Wales, and
S4C2, broadcasting coverage of the
Welsh Assembly Government and
National Assembly of Wales coverage from
Cardiff. After
digital switchover, S4C will be an entirely Welsh broadcaster since Channel 4 will be universally available throughout Wales. S4C is often receiveable outside Wales, including English border areas and parts of the
Republic of Ireland. It has the right to half of the
DTT multiplex A in Wales, previously fully operated by a consortium with S4C known as
SDN, which was sold to
ITV plc in
2005.
;
Five: Five (previously known as Channel 5) was the final analogue broadcaster to be launched, in
March 1997. Its coverage is less than that of the other analogue broadcasters, and broadcast in re-assigned frequencies, often at a lower power from major transmitters only. Many ex-VHF transmitters which were used for black and white transmissions prior to the switchover to UHF transmissions in the 1970s–80s are now used to broadcast Five, mainly due to capacity restraints on the masts. It was also the first terrestrial broadcaster to broadcast on satellite and carry a permanent
digital on-screen graphic (DOG). The channel was re-named "five" in 2002, which saw an overhaul of the channel's identity and removal of the infamous DOG.
RTL Group, Europe's largest television broadcaster, took full control of the channel in August
2005. Five launched two new channels,
Five US and
Five Life in October 2006. All of these channels are also carried on
satellite television,
cable television and
digital terrestrial television services. Five also owns 20% of the digital terrestrial pay-TV provider,
Top Up TV. Like Channel 4, Five does not have programming regional variations, however it does so for advertising.
Programming
British television differs from other countries, such as the
United States, in as much that programmes produced in Britain do not generally have a long 'season' run of around 20 weeks. Instead, they are produced in a series, a set of episodes varying in length, usually aired over a period of a few months.
Weekday programming on terrestrial channels begins with breakfast national news programmes (along with regional news updates) on
BBC One and
GMTV, with children's programming on
BBC Two and
Five.
Channel 4 and
S4C predominately broadcasts
teen-orientated programmes in its morning slot,
T4, including soaps, music and comedy programming. The weekday breakfast news programme ends at 9:15 am on BBC One and 9:25 am on GMTV.
Following this on BBC One, lifestyle programming is generally shown, including property, auction and home/garden makeover. BBC One continues this genre until after the lunchtime news, whereby afternoon soaps such as ''
Neighbours'' and ''
Doctors'' have occupied the schedule. ITV on the other hand takes over from GMTV at 9:25 am, and generally broadcasts more human-interest chat-style shows, including ''
The Jeremy Kyle Show'' and ''
Loose Women'', in the morning to mid-afternoon slots, with the ''
ITV Lunchtime News'' (including a regional bulletin) at 1:30 pm. Channel 4 continues its T4 slot, often with home-project and archeology lifestyle programming in the early afternoon after the ''
News at Noon''. Five broadcasts chatshow programmes in the morning including ''
The Wright Stuff'' and ''
Trisha Goddard'' with regular news bulletins. In the afternoon it shows a variety of films, daytime imported soaps and dramas.
At around 3:25 pm, BBC One switches to its
CBBC children's output, before a repeat of ''Neighbours'' at 5:30 pm. BBC Two often carries lifestyle programming such as ''
Animal Park'' and often many sporting events. ITV on the other hand now shows repeats of classic ITV shows, such as ''
Heartbeat'', ''
Poirot'' and ''
Midsomer Murders'' in mid-afternoon, before a chatshow or gameshow-style programmes at 5:00 pm, which have included ''
That Antony Cotton Show'', ''
Golden Balls'' and ''
The Price Is Right''.
News bulletins are broadcast between 6pm and 7pm on both BBC One and ITV, with BBC One beginning with the national 6 O'Clock news and ITV with the flagship regional news programme. At around 6.30, BBC One broadcasts the regional news programmes whilst ITV broadcasts the national news. Both Channel 4 and Five have news programmes at around 7pm.
Primetime programming is usually dominated by further soaps—including Britain's favourite soap ''
Eastenders'' on BBC One, which was said to be best at representing British life. ''
Coronation Street'' and ''
Emmerdale'' on ITV, and
Hollyoakson Channel4.
Channel5 also has a stint with
Family Affairs.These soap operas or 'continuing dramas' as they are now called can vary throughout the year, however weekly dramas, such as ''
Holby City'', are also fixed to scheduling. Because of this, the UK can often rely more heavily on TV guides, be it with the newspaper, online on as available on information services on the television:
Ceefax/
Teletext/
BBCi as well as built in
Electronic Programme Guides.
Weekend programming traditionally contains further children's, lifestyle programming, as well as sporting events and the occasional afternoon film. There are further battles for viewers in the weekend primetime slot, often featuring reality or talent game shows in the evening. Morning and late evening news programmes still continue on BBC One and ITV, yet even these can be shifted about due to delays in sporting events.
After midnight, when late evening films are shown, many channels cease broadcasting "normal" programming or simulcast with another channel. Before 2000, the channels simply closed down, displaying news in the form of Ceefax or a
test card. However, recently programming has been shown continuously. BBC channels will join
BBC News 24 in a multichannel simulcast. Since 2005, ITV has broadcast the
ITV Play strand of phone-in participation TV programmes. Depending on the time of year, Channel 4 may show live feeds of ''
Big Brother'' (in the summer) and its spin-off, ''
Celebrity Big Brother'' (in January). On weeknights, Five generally shows various sports from around the world, including boxing and football from European leagues, with phone-in participation-TV ''
Quiz Call'' on weekends.
Digital Networks
;
BSkyB: BSkyB (British Sky Broadcasting) operates a satellite television service and numerous television channels e.g.
Sky One,
Sky Two,
Sky Three,
Sky Movies,
Sky Sports. It is owned by
News Corporation.
;
Virgin Media Television: Owned by the cable provider
Virgin Media and operates several channels, including
Living,
Bravo,
Trouble,
FTN and
Virgin Central. It also owns 50% of 11-channel broadcaster
UKTV with
BBC Worldwide, and the commercial shopping-TV provider
Sit-Up Ltd.
These six broadcasters dominate British television. The terrestrial networks all operate numerous digital channels and the bulk of viewing is on channels provided by these broadcasters. The most watched digital channels are owned by these networks also.
Other digital broadcasters who have secured a notable place on British television include
UKTV,
Viacom,
EMAP,
Discovery Networks and
Disney.
No further analogue broadcasters are expected to be launched, and efforts are being made to popularise the uptake of digital television so that analogue television broadcasts can be discontinued and the bandwidth allocated can be reused. The analogue service is to be switched off over a 5 year plan starting in 2008 and finishing in 2012. 2008 will see
ITV Border,
ITV Westcountry and
ITV Wales analogue service switched off. 2009:
ITV Granada,
ITV West, and
STV. 2010:
ITV Central,
ITV Yorkshire and
ITV Anglia, 2011:
ITV Meridian,
ITV London,
ITV Tyne Tees and
UTV, and finally 2012:
ITV Channel Television.
With the passage of UK’s ''Communications Act 2003'', there are no longer any foreign-ownership restrictions in the UK’s television programming services, cable and Direct-to-Home satellite television sectors. To counterbalance the removal of foreign-ownership restrictions for companies in the broadcasting sector, the UK government has increased the power of the regulatory body, which is called Ofcom.
Local services
There are a few local TV services available on both analogue terrestrial television, cable and satellite, many of which are operated under a
Restricted Service Licence. Successful operators of RSL licences include the Oxford broadcaster
Six TV,
C9TV of Coleraine, Derry and Limavady,
NvTv of Belfast,
Capital TV of Cardiff,
York@54 of York,
Channel M of Manchester and
MATV of Leicester.
Digital terrestrial television
Main articles: Digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom
Digital terrestrial television was originally launched as a subscription-based service by a company called
ONdigital, later
ITV Digital, which failed commercially. The digital television service was relaunched as
Freeview, a free-to-air service which is run and promoted by a consortium which includes the BBC, Channel 4, ITV, BSkyB and
National Grid Wireless. The Freeview package includes all of the terrestrial channels mentioned above, some extra BBC channels, and a selection of the specialist channels found on the three subscription services, but not any of the premium ones such as top sport and movie channels. A more limited package of subscription channels has since been added under the name
Top Up TV.
Cable and satellite
Two major competitors to the old free-to-air analogue broadcasters are the subscription-based services of cable companies such as
Virgin Media, and the satellite broadcaster
BSkyB, whose
Sky Digital system is available nationwide, as well as in
Ireland.
In 2005, NTL announced the purchase of Telewest, establishing a single dominant company offering telephone, digital television, and high-speed broadband in the UK. The merger was widely rumoured to be intended to create an effective competitor to BSkyB. ntl:Telewest is now part of the Virgin Media Group. Sky have now reacted to this move, with the purchase of Easynet, in a bid to match VM's "triple-play" offering.
Freesat from Sky, a satellite-based free-to-air service similar to Freeview, is available from BSkyB for an initial installation charge of £150, and includes receiver, dish, viewing card, with access to all FTA and FTV
1 channels in the UK.
Alternatively, existing Sky customers can end their ongoing subscriptions, and opt for the Free-To-View viewing card, which is inserted into the Sky Viewing Card slot; effectively giving them the FreeSat from Sky service.
Freesat from Sky is not to be confused with the proposed
Freesat service from the BBC and ITV, which is yet to be launched.
1 - UK mainland address required.
See also
★
List of British television channels
★
List of UK television series
★
Ofcom
★
BACC
★
BARB
★
Digital switchover in the United Kingdom
External links
★
BARB audience share figures for major UK broadcasters
★
Ofcom website, the UK regulatory body
★
Digital Spy
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