Task 5 The BBC By Alex Pereira History

Task 5 – The BBC By Alex Pereira

History of the BBC The British Broadcasting Company, as the BBC was originally called, was formed on 18 October 1922 by a group of leading wireless manufacturers including Marconi. Daily broadcasting by the BBC began in Marconi’s London studio, 2 LO, in the Strand, on November 14, 1922. John Reith, a 33 -year-old Scottish engineer, was appointed General Manager of the BBC at the end of 1922. Shortly after the radio station became popular in September of 1923, The Radio Times was produced. This was a magazine that listed upcoming programmes and adverts. As the company became increasingly popular, the BBC realised that official regulations and rules needed to be set in place to ensure they were producing consistent and professional media content. In 1927 the BBC is established by Royal Charter as the British Broadcasting Corporation. The Charter defined the BBC’s objectives, powers and obligations and so Director. Generals and senior staff were responsible for detailed fulfilment of that policy.

History of the BBC In November 1929, 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, were created by mechanical means, and flickered. The broadcasts consisted of just 30 lines definition. Ever since, the BBC has expanded, become increasingly popular and modernised. The BBC was the first broadcaster in the world to provide a regular ‘high definition’ television service. Programmes we would expect to see today such as drama, sport, outside broadcasts, and cartoons all featured, but not for long. The outbreak of war in 1939 brought programmes to a sudden halt. The BBC was soon used to as a form of propaganda, reporting live from battle scenes. After the introduction of an hour dedicated to women on BBC programmes as well as such pieces of media appropriate for children, BBC news was introduced.

History of the BBC No longer was the radio the only form of news broadcast, television now produced both fictional and non fictional programmes and did so too. Weather reports were soon aired and began to be a constant feature in 1944. The first broadcast of Parliament gatherings were also aired in 1944, followed by the complete introduction of colour media. Today, the BBC have a range of channels, many different platforms including those online (BBC i. Player) and better technology, bringing the public, relevant and contemporary information.

The BBC and what they do The BBC are a public service broadcaster. They are set by the government to produce content for the public and as mentioned, follow the royal charter which is set by the BBC Trust. The BBC produce content that acts in the public interests and follows three main rules and objectives. These are, to inform, to entertain and to educate. Each piece of media the BBC produces, be that film, television, radio or online synergy must cover at least one of these objectives. The BBC produces live television, which must act in the public interest and produce accurate facts, data and information. Considering the BBC is a public service broadcaster which produced live television, all those who want to watch, must pay a license fee, which is known as a TV licence. The fee recently rose from £ 147 a year, to £ 150. 50 a year for a colour television and £ 50. 50 for black and white.

Royal Charter The Royal Charter is a document and set of guidelines that the BBC must follow. The BBCs has five public purposes that are set out by the Royal Charter and Agreement. These purposes outline the values the BBC holds when striving to achieve its mission to inform, educate and entertain. The main purpose is providing impartial news and information to help people understand engage with the world around them. The BBC will provide accurate and impartial news, current affairs and factual programming of the highest editorial standards so that all audiences can engage fully with issues across the UK and the world. Another purpose includes supporting learning for people of all ages, this means that the educational content supplied will help support learning, especially for children and teenagers across the UK, whilst audiences will be encouraged to explore inspiring and challenging new subjects and activities through a range of content.

Royal Charter Promoting and airing high quality and distinctive material and services is another purpose of the BBC’s Royal Charter. Innovative content covering many different genres will be provided across a range of services and platforms, setting the standard both in the UK and globally to ensure this happens. As a result, products and services could and should be easily recognisable as being linked to the BBC and what it stands for. The fourth purpose is to reflect, represent and serve the diverse communities of all of the United Kingdom’s nations and regions. This means that the lives of the people in the United Kingdom today will be accurately and authentically portrayed in the BBC’s output and services to raise awareness of different cultures and contribute to social cohesion. Finally, the last purpose of the BBC stated in the Royal Charter is to reflect the United Kingdom, its British culture and values to the world. In doing so, high quality, accurate, impartial news coverage will be delivered to international audiences, aiding understanding of the UK as a whole.

Ownership and Structure Tony Hall was appointed Director-General of the BBC on 22 November 2012 and is the 16 th Director-General of the BBC. Hall, as Director General has many roles and responsibilities which include, being the Chief Executive Officer of the BBC (CEO) as well as its Editor-in-Chief. As CEO, Hall makes all of the major decisions for the company and so all responsibilities lie in his hands. Tony Hall is the editorial, operational and creative leader of the BBC, who as mentioned has the responsibility for a global workforce running services across television, radio and online, for the world's oldest national broadcasting organisation.

Ownership and Structure Sir David Clementi is the chairman for the BBC. As Chairman of the Board, Sir David is responsible for upholding and protecting the independence of the non profit organisation. He is responsible for ensuring that the BBC fulfils its mission to inform, educate and entertain and promotes its public purposes that are previously mentioned. Mr. Clementi also ensures that the Board’s decision-making is in the public interest, informed by the best interests of the audience and with appropriate regard to the impact of decisions on the wider media market in the UK. Sir David Clementi, also ensures that the BBC maintains the highest standards of corporate governance. Clementi was appointed as Chairman of the BBC in February 2017.

Funding in the BBC The BBC receive funding from various sources and places. They receive the money that audiences who wish to see live television pay for - licence fee money. Each year they receive approximately £ 3. 7 m from license fees alone and this figure helps to contribute to the running on the BBC as a corporation. They also source their money from other places, such as merchandise. Merchandise such as be bought online and in stores across the UK. The BBC use various synergistic techniques, some of which produce items available for audience to purchase. Examples of merchandise available include DVDs, lunchboxes and various toys from shows such as Dr, Who. This again allows the company to profit and produce services for its audiences. More synergistic examples include ‘Sherlock’ clothing items such as t-shirts and jumpers, ‘Top Gear’ mugs, pens, keyrings and car drone games.

Funding in the BBC Product placement is the process whereby a branded product is shown, mentioned or used in conjunction with a scene. A character or host may identify a brand or product to advertise its presence. For a product to be placed inside of a shot or scene, the brand owners must pay a fee, and only then will the product be advertised within the media text. Therefore this is another way in which the BBC receives funding. A prime example of a television programme that does exactly this is East. Enders incorporates the famous ‘Minute Mart, which obviously sells many items. Shopping items shown in the shop are used as product placement to receive advertisement from the public. As you can see a variety of chocolates are used as product placement such as ‘Celebrations’ and ‘Galaxy’.

Funding in the BBC An unusual, yet very common way that corporate companies make money is through the selling formats. Selling and buying formats involves one company selling a complete show or format of a show to another company. An example of this is BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, which has been sold (format) to more than 50 other countries. ‘The Office’ is an example of a television programme that was sold from the BBC to the US. The profits made from the selling of formats brings the company more money and so they are then able to create more content. The BBC also airs in continents such as America as BBC Worldwide, now part of a merged branch renamed BBC Studios. In Britain, the BBC do not have or show any commercial adverts as they are not sponsored; they are instead a public service available to all. However, outside of the UK, BBC Studios is a commercial business, meaning that the finance structure is different. That is, it can make money from commercial activities. As a result, in some countries within America, those places that do air the BBC and include sponsored adverts, they (the BBC) receive the sponsorship money, that people pay to ensure they have their company or product advertised. These worldwide services help to further the BBC’s income and ensure that they have the money to continue providing to the people who watch and use the services and products they provide.

Synergy and the BBC Synergy is the creation, promotion and sale of a product or brand across different platforms. The BBC produces a range of different services that are aired across a number of subsidiaries including BBC 1, 2, 3, and 4. The products that come from these subsidiaries create a marketing and synergistic heaven. An example of a service created by the BBC and produced on one of their many subsidiaries, which has used a number of synergistic techniques include ‘In the Night Garden’. This product had been created as a television programme, been released as a DVD, an app, video game and become a feature of the ‘Alton Towers’ “Cbeebies Land”. The higher the number of platforms a product is released on, the more chance there is of increasing its marketing and popularity. It also aids in bringing money back to the company to further help them to grow.

Synergy and the BBC Another example of a product when synergistic techniques have been successful within the BBC is ‘Doctor Who’ took the world by storm and created a masterpiece that has been around for years and is continuing to do so. Platforms that this product has been released on is endless and includes television, films, books, magazines, soundtracks, card games, video games and an animated movie. With each production created, companies try to create a profit. All money they spent on making and creating a production tries to be regained through its marketing process. In this sense, the BBC creates a win situation. Audiences receive a product and buy into it and through the profit made, companies can create more products.

Regulatory Requirements OFCOM stands for Office of Communications. They are the communications regulators regarding TV programmes and radio stations in the UK. They create a set of regulations that all TV programmes must follow. For example, one of these guidelines include the disallowance of racial, ethnic or cultural remarks - coming under the protection for members of the public, and others against offensive or harmful material in television or radio. All shows must ensure, as mentioned, that they go by Ofcom guidelines. The BBC are regulated by OFCOM too, they are no exception. OFCOM work under a set of laws that are allocated by the government. The main set of laws that they abide by is ‘Communications Act’ of 2003. The act says that OFCOM’s principle duty is to further the interests of citizens and consumers - meaning that each organisation focus’ its material on what the public would want to see and where appropriate, promoting competition. Regulatory bodies are organisations that supervise the content of specific media industries and aim to safeguard the public from offensive material. They ensure that all media companies are publishing suitable material.