The BBC is the largest broadcaster in the United Kingdom, founded in 1922 and publicly funded through television license fees. It operates numerous TV channels and radio stations both domestically and internationally, producing news, entertainment, drama, and documentary programming. Each channel has a distinct target audience and mandate to provide public service broadcasting including education and culture alongside general entertainment. While the BBC model faces challenges in the current media landscape, it remains a highly influential institution valued for its role in British cultural and civic life.

1. Profile of BBC TV
By George Parkin

2.  Name: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
 Type: Statutory corporation with a Royal Charter
 Business Model: Publically funded by the British public through annual television
licence fees
 Owner: Publically owned in order to educate and entertain the general population
 Founded: 18, October 1922; 92 years ago
 Founder: John Reich, 1st Baron Reich
 Key People: Rona Fairhead, director of HSBC and current chairwoman of the BBC
Trust since taking office on 9, October 2014. Succeeding Chris Patten who held the
post from 2011.
 Other Prominent People: Tony Hall, Baron Hall of Birkenhead; 16th incumbent Director-
General of the BBC having assumed office on 2, April 2013. Succeeding George
Entwistle. Howard Stringer; non-executive director of the BBC
 Headquarters: Broadcasting House, London, United Kingdom
 Products/Services: Broadcasting, radio, online
 Website: www.bbc.co.uk or www.bbc.com
 Employees: 21.282 (2013) and 20,736 (2014)
 Area Served: Primarily the United Kingdom; also worldwide
Profile of BBC TV

3.  BBC UK:
 BBC One / BBC One HD
 BBC Two / BBC Two HD
 BBC Three / BBC Three HD
 BBC Four / BBC Four HD
 BBC Parliament
 BBC News / BBC News HD
 CBBC / CBBC HD
 CBeebies / CBeebies HD
 BBC Alba (Scottish Gaelic)
 BBC Worldwide:
 BBC Entertainment
 BBC America
 BBC Canada
 BBC Lifestyle
 BBC Arabic Television
 BBC Persian Television
 BBC Kids
 BBC Urdu
 BBC World News
 BBC Knowledge
 CBeebies
 BBC HD
Profile of BBC TV

4.  BBC Worldwide Ltd. and other commercial subsidiaries:
 UKTV; jointly owned by BBC Worldwide and Scripps Networks Interactive –
 Freeview:
 Yesterday
 Dave
 Really
 Subscriptions:
 Gold
 Watch
 Alibi
 Blighty
 Eden
 Home
 Good Food
 UKTV; Australia and New Zealand
 Community Channel
Profile of BBC TV

5.  BBC Radio:
 BBC Radio 1
 BBC Radio 2
 BBC Radio 3
 BBC Radio 4
 BBC Radio 5 Live
 BBC Digital Radio:
 BBC Radio 1Xtra
 BBC 6 Music
 BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra
 BBC Radio 4 Extra
 BBC Asian Network
Profile of BBC TV
 Miscellaneous:
 BBC Nations’ Radio
 BBC Local Radio
 BBC Red Button
 Ceefax
 BBC Online
 BBC Weather

6. Profile of BBC TV
 Weekly viewing summary of the UK television industry; June 22-28, 2015. Sourced
from BARB. As you can see the BBC One launched in 1936 remains the most
popular and the channel with the largest reach. BBC Two launched in 1964 is
being beaten slimly by ITV launched 1955.

7. Profile of BBC TV

8.  The BBC as a broadcasting medium and institution finds itself in a very unique
position. The BBC is funded in a exceptional way which sets it apart from the likes
of ITV or Channel 4. Most of its revenues are generated through licence fees
which residents who own televisions are obligated to pay. Certain commercial
enterprises also generate revenue but they usually take place outside of the
United Kingdom for foreign consumers of the BBC’s content.
 In The BBC’s Financial Performance Report the following is documented:
 “Unlike profit-making organisations we are not focused on the bottom line. Instead we need to
ensure the BBC delivers real and tangible value both for the licence fee payer and for the wider
UK economy. This translates into five key financial objectives:
 Maximising the BBC's income by collecting the licence fee as efficiently as possible
 Making the BBC as efficient as possible, and providing good value for money
 Maximising the returns the BBC makes on programmes paid for by the licence fee
 Spreading the benefit of the licence fee across the whole of the UK
 Ensuring the licence fee supports the wider creative economy
 The BBC's performance against these financial objectives is set out opposite, and you can read a
detailed commentary in the financial review in Part Two of this Annual Report. We comment
below on the financial risks facing the BBC and our response to them.”
Profile of BBC TV

9.  Because of the licence fee the BBC Trust is mandated to ensure that quality
programming is delivered, making sure there is content that appeals to all the
various demographics. After all, all television owners are forced to pay their
licence fee even if they don’t want to watch BBC content. This conundrum
means the remit for all their various channels is stringent.
 In other words, the BBC can’t act in the same way the commercial channels do,
simply aiming to produce programming that pulls in the largest viewers will not
do, they have to cater to all sorts of minority groups. They also have to consider
how their going to provide programming that would not be considered
entertainment, but rather fall under the category of public service broadcasting,
such as; consumer advice, educational programming, news, current affairs,
analysis, election coverage, weather warnings, and historical coverage etc.
Profile of BBC TV

10.  Because they have been mandated by the entire nation you can see how the
various different channels they operate have been set to appeal to certain
audiences, in order to satisfy all the licence fee payers from different walks of life.
 BBC One: This channel would be considered the flagship, it’s the best known and
most popular meaning it fulfils the role of a mixed-genre television service. What I
mean by this is your average viewer can extract all the valuable information they
need from just this one channel. Regular news bulletins, updates, weather reports,
as well a good quality scripted programming such as; Sherlock or Doctor Who.
 Besides that, BBC One delivers when it comes to soaps like EastEnders or Casualty
as well as family friendly television around dinner time like The One Show and
Friday/Saturday evening popcorn television such as; The Voice or The Graham
Norton Show.
 BBC One is also the channel that provides the coverage of things like;
Remembrance Day, Children in Need, Comic Relief, and freak events such as
the Royal Wedding in 2011.
Profile of BBC TV

11.  BBC Two: This channel is also a mixed-genre platform, but doesn’t have to touch
upon quite as many bases as BBC One does. It appeals to more of a select
audience; older, more middle-class, and cultured:
 “Appealing to a broad adult audience with programmes of depth and substance. It should carry
the greatest amount and range of knowledge building programming of any BBC television
channel, complemented by distinctive comedy, drama and arts programming.”
 BBC Three: This channel targets younger audiences. 16-34 year olds is their target
age group, as evidenced by their programming: Family Guy, Being Human, and
Russell Howard’s Good News.
 BBC Four: This channel is perhaps even more of a middle-class organ than say
BBC Two is, focusing on culture and arts almost exclusively:
 “BBC Four’s primary role is to reflect a range of UK and international arts, music and culture. It
should provide an ambitious range of innovative, high quality programming that is intellectually
and culturally enriching, taking an expert and in-depth approach to a wide range of subjects.”
 CBBC: This channel combines drama, entertainment, comedy, and factual
programming to produce content that suits a younger audience. It is aimed
predominantly at primary school children, ages 6 – 12 years.
 CBeebies: This channel caters to the BBC’s youngest audience. Aimed at
encouraging:
 “Learning through play in a consistently safe environment for children aged 6 or under.”
Profile of BBC TV

12.  Critical Reception and Commentary:
 Charlotte Higgins wrote an article for The Guardian, entitled; The future of the
BBC: you either believe in it or you don’t: The BBC is among our greatest national
institutions and it is revered across the world. But it stands accused of timid
journalism, patchy drama and byzantine management. In the final part of her in-
depth series on the past, present and future of the BBC, Charlotte Higgins,
assesses the health of the corporation and the challenges it faces on the road to
charter renewal in 2016:
 “Our relationship with the BBC has changed in recent years: we are in an age that has seen the
fracturing of the media, and the BBC has found it necessary to head out into the world to find its
audiences wherever they may be – on the TV and radio, but also on apps, satellite and cable
channels, and online. Once, the BBC represented a truly communal experience, when 20 million
viewers would simultaneously watch Morecambe and Wise on a Saturday night. No longer.”
 “For the consumer, there are enormous differences too. A subscription to Netflix, which at present
produces a comparatively small amount of original work, costs about £83 annually, set against
£145.50 for the licence fee, which grants access to all free-to-air British television and material live-
streamed through iPlayer, ITV Player and 4oD.”
 “Without the BBC we would be poorer in spirit. We would know less about the world: our cultural,
musical and political lives would be diminished; our curiosity neither so piqued nor so sated. It
threads itself through our lives, and I can barely imagine my days starting without the weather app
and the Today programme, and ending with the Proms, The World Tonight or – yes – a cop
drama.”
Profile of BBC TV