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Inside the bbc
- 1. Inside the BBC October1922 Following the closure of numerous amateur stations, the BBC started its first daily radio service in London. After much argument, news was supplied by an agency, and music drama and 'talks' filled the airwaves for only a few hours a day. It wasn't long before radio could be heard across the nation. December 1922 Thirty-three year old John Charles Walsham Reith became General Manager of the BBC on 14 December 1922. There were no rules, standards or established purpose to guide him. He immediately began innovating, experimenting and organising, and with the help of his newly appointed chief engineer, Peter Eckersley, the service began to expand. September 1923 The first edition of The Radio Times listed the few programmes on offer. It also provided advice for budding radio enthusiasts, and numerous advertisements by the fledgling radio industry, offering the latest in radio receiving technology. It was to become one of the world’s most popular listing magazines. February 1924 Invented by the Astronomer Royal Sir Frank Watson Dyson, and the Director General of the BBC John Reith. The six short 'pips' were designed to mark the precise start of every hour on BBC radio. Today the GTS is heard on BBC Radio 4, and other BBC networks. Time signals based on the same principle exist in other countries. January 1927 The BBC is established by Royal Charter as the British Broadcasting Corporation. Sir John Reith becomes the first Director- General. The Charter defined the BBC’s objectives, powers and obligations. It is mainly concerned with broad issues of policy, while the Director-General and senior staff are responsible for detailed fulfilment of that policy November 1929 John Logie Baird tests mechanical TV in his workshop. Using BBC frequencies, John Logie Baird broadcast some of his first experimental television broadcasts from studios near Covent Garden in London. Pictures were in black and white, created by mechanical means, and flickered, consisting of just 30 lines definition.
- 2. Public Service Broadcasting The BBC is the world's leading public service broadcaster is used to enrich people's lives with programmes that inform, educate and entertain. It was established by a Royal Charter, the BBC is a public service broadcaster funded by the licence fee paid by UK households. They use the income from the licence fee to provide services including 9 national TV channels, in addition BBC Three, the first TV channel in the world to switch online in 2016 also regional programming, 10 national radio stations, 40 local radio stations and an extensive website. BBC World Service broadcasts to the world on radio, on TV and online, providing news and information in 27 languages and world service English language. They also have commercial operations including BBC Worldwide and BBC Studios, our TV production subsidiary. Profits from these activities are returned to the BBC for investment in new programming and services. The BBC’s Board is responsible for ensuring that they fulfil the public service broadcasting service and public purposes set out in the Charter.
- 3. How the BBCis structured. The BBC was established as the British Broadcasting Corporation by Royal Charter in December 1926 and it’s governance and funding arrangements have been set out in a Royal Charter ever since. The most recent Charter was awarded from 1 January 2017 for a period of ten years following a wide-ranging review conducted by Government. As part of that Review new governance and regulatory arrangements were put in place which established a single BBC Board and gave sole regulatory responsibility for the BBC to Ofcom. BBC Board The new, unitary, BBC Board is led by a non-executive Chairman, Sir David Clementi, and consists of a majority of non-executive directors alongside executive directors including the BBC’s Director-General and Editor in-Chief, Tony Hall. The Board is responsible for ensuring the BBC fulfils its mission and public purposes as set out in the Charter. It does this by; setting the strategic direction for the BBC, establishing the creative remit, setting the BBC’s Budget and determining the framework for assessing performance. Board Committees The Board has a number of committees predominantly made up of non-executive directors as required by the Charter. These include an Audit and Risk Committee; a Nominations Committee, and Remuneration Committee. It has also established committees responsible for Editorial Guidelines and Standards, Fair Trading and the Nations. The Executive Committee The Director-General, Tony Hall, chairs the Executive Committee, which is responsible for the day-to-day running of the BBC and consists of the senior directors managing large operational areas of the BBC. The Executive Committee is responsible for delivering the BBC’s services in accordance with the strategy and delegation framework agreed by the Board. Regulation The Office of Communications (Ofcom) is the UK’s broadcasting, telecommunications and postal regulatory body. Under the BBC’s Charter it has responsibility for regulating the BBC. It does this through an Operating Framework and by setting a licence for the BBC that contains the regulatory conditions the BBC is required to meet. Ofcom also assesses performance, ensures fair and effective competition and regulates how the BBC’s commercial activities interact with its public services. In addition, it regulates BBC content and output against its Broadcasting Code. Audit arrangements The Comptroller and Auditor General, Sir Amyas Morse KCB, has been appointed as the BBC’s auditor. He is supported in this role by the National Audit Office. Sir Amyas and the NAO are independent of government. As part of the BBC’s governance arrangements, the Comptroller and Auditor General examines, certifies and reports on the BBC’s group accounts and is appointed as auditor of the BBC’s relevant subsidiaries, unless he and the BBC agree otherwise.
- 4. Licence Fee The licencefee allows the BBC's UK services to remain free of advertisements and independent of shareholder and political interest, the licence fee is currently £147 it is set to rise to £150.50 from 1 April 2018. The fee you pay provides a wide range of TV, radio and online content, as well as developing new ways to deliver it to you. In addition to funding BBC programmes and services, a proportion of the licence fee contributes to the costs of rolling out broadband to the UK population and funding Welsh Language TV channel S4C and local TV channels. The way in which the BBC is funded places significant responsibilities on the BBC as an organisation. Specifically, it has to: Provide value for money by focusing expenditure on the programmes and services the public most wants from the BBC... Ensure that its output is then delivered as cost efficiently as possible... Ensure effective and efficient collection of the licence fee... Maximise funding from other sources, most significantly BBC Worldwide.
- 5. BBCs Difference The BBCdiffers from any other company because of the fact that they don’t have adverts like ITV or C4 or when they do have one its normally about 1-2 minuets where as there normally 5 minutes on any other channel. If they do have a short advert it normally consists of shows that are on that channel or you normally see their ident, which is normally the hippos swimming around in the shape of the letter O. This then makes the company more quick and likeable, berceuse those watching it don't have to wait around to watch the adverts that come within the middle of the shows. I researched that the BBC actually spends the licence fee money on supporting the channel, they spend £79 on national television, £20 on local television and radio so there spending money so they can improve their company, along with all the many types of shows they show like sports, news, entertainment and many more just for their viewers.