2. Ownership
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster. Its
located at Broadcasting House in Westminster, London. It is the world's oldest national
broadcasting organisation and the largest broadcaster in the world in terms of number of
employees. It employs over 20,950 staff in total, 16,672 of whom are in public sector
broadcasting, and the total number of staff is 35,402.
The BBC is established under a Royal Charter and operates under its agreement with the
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Its is funded mainly by an annual television
licence fee which is charged to all British households, companies, and organisations
receiving or recording live television broadcasts and iPlayer catch-up. The fee is set by the
British Government, agreed by Parliament, and used to fund the BBC's radio, TV, and online
services in the UK. It also funds BBC worldwide, which broadcasts in 28 languages and
provides TV, radio, and online services.
3. Ownership - Royal Charter
The Royal Charter is the constitutional basis for the BBC. It sets out the public purposes of the BBC,
guarantees its independence, and outlines the duties of the Trust and the Executive Board.
Key elements of the BBC Royal Charter, 2017, include:
- OFCOM to be the external independent regulator of the BBC.
- The government to provide "guidance" to OFCOM on "content requirements" for the BBC.
- A new “unitary board” consisting of four government appointed members and a Chair, and nine BBC
appointed members, to consider any "issues or complaints that arise post-transmission".
- Editorial decisions to "remain the responsibility of the Director-General".
- The possibility of production by independent companies to exist for all BBC programmes except news
and some parts of current affairs.
- The National Audit Office to have a "stronger role" in looking at how the BBC spends its money.
4. Ownership - Roles
The BBC is owned by HM Government (Her Majesty’s Government). The ministers of the government
decide what is suitable to broadcast, and are appointed by the prime minister. The new 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
-Determining the framework for assessing performance
-The Board is accountable for all the BBC’s activities including the publicly funded services in the UK and
around the world, as well as its commercial activities.
5. Funding - License Fee
The main source of funding for the BBC is the license fee,
which is currently at £150.50. The public need to covered by a
TV Licence in order to watch or record live TV programmes on
any channel and download or watch any BBC programmes on
iPlayer – live, catch up or on demand. The fee provides a wide
range of TV, radio and online content, as well as developing
new ways to deliver it to audiences. Besides funding BBC
programmes and services, a proportion of the licence fee
contributes to distributing broadband to the UK population,
funding Welsh Language TV channel S4C and other local TV
channels. The licence fee allows the BBC to remain free of
advertisements and independent of shareholder and political
interest. In 2013/14 the amount the BBC got from the license
fee was £3.7bn.
6. Funding - Product placement
Product placement is the inclusion of a product, service or trademark within a programme in
return for payment. There are strict rules regarding product placement on BBC channels. For
instance, product placement is not allowed if it is connected to a political organisation,
connected to a religious body or any pornography and sexual services. However, a ban on
product placement was lifted in 2011, where under Ofcom regulations, broadcasters must
inform viewers by displaying the letter 'P' for three seconds at the start and end of a
programme that contains product placement. The taking of product placement for licence fee
funded services is prohibited under the terms of the BBC Agreement, and they must not
commission, produce or co-produce output for its licence fee funded services which contains
product placement.Therefore, the BBC allowed their programmes to take appropriate
product placement on commercial television channels (BBC Worldwide and BBC Studios),
as long as it does not “undermine the editorial integrity of the programme, channel or
service”.
7. Funding - Product placement
An example of product placement is if the BBC aired “The
Secret Life of Walter Mitty”. A Lot of products were placed in
the film, such as Papa John’s, Cinnabon and EHarmony.
Another film with product placement is the James Bond film
“Skyfall”, for instance, Heineken, where the company paid a
reported $45 million for product placement. These count as
product placement as the companies would have paid the
production company to feature them. The BBC needs to state
that there is product placement in use within the film through
the use of the ‘P’, to make the audience aware that it is
advertising a product. If a BBC programme has a brand
visible, they find strategic ways to cover it up, as seen here.
8. Funding - Phone in competitions/voting
Previously, another source of funding was through phone in competitions. However, after a
string of controversy surrounding it, the BBC stopped it. One major fiasco was with Strictly
Come Dancing. The BBC decided to stop the phone vote one year, after realising that the
judges' marks for Lisa Snowdon and Rachel Stevens were so high it meant Tom Chambers
would end up in the dance-off despite of viewers' votes. They also refused to refund viewers,
and many viewers believed the show was fixed to have the right people in the final. Another
phone in scandal was between 2005 and 2007, when it emerged that the BBC had kept
more than £100,000 that viewers had pledged to charity. 'Comic Relief' viewers were
encouraged to enter competitions they could not win because lines had closed. 'Sports
Relief' viewers were encouraged to enter competitions they had no chance of winning and
winners were faked by using production team members. 'Blue Peter' allowed a child visiting
the studio to pose as a caller in a phone-in competition when technical problems stopped
real calls coming through.
9. Funding - Merchandise
The BBC is also funded by merchandise, as the BBC have
several shows with a large fan base, they may hire a company
to create some merchandise for them. The BBC will sell these
products, which also helps them to promote their programmes.
One BBC show with a passionate fan base is Doctor Who, it is a
very popular show which is known worldwide, and there are
several places where fans can buy some form of merchandise.
For instance, there is an official Doctor Who website, which sells
clothing, DVDs, toys, figurines and replica props from the show
such as the Sonic screwdriver. There are also popular
merchandise shops, such as Forbidden Planet and The Who
Shop, showing that BBC Doctor Who merch is available in
several different places.
10. Funding - Royalties
Royalties is another form of funding for the BBC, this is where
they sell their programmes, either selling a format abroad or
rights to air a show. In a different country, if a channel wants to
recreate a pre existing BBC show, then they have pay the BBC
for the idea every year for a negotiated fee. For example, the
BBC show here is Strictly Come Dancing, whilst globally it is
known as Dancing With The Stars, and the BBC has made
£500 million by selling the show to more than 50 countries.
Also, the BBC sell their rights to air a programme. For
instance, Netflix or Amazon Video would pay the BBC to have
their show on their streaming service. Some examples of BBC
shows on Netflix are Peaky Blinders, Sherlock, Luther and The
Fall. Some other funding comes from government grants and
the lottery.
11. Synergy
Synergy is releasing a brand across different platforms,
and the BBC do this to increase their funding. Synergy is
very effective, as if a person is a fan of a BBC programme,
then they may buy different formats of the show, such as a
video game or soundtrack. This keeps audiences
interested and reaches several different types of
audiences, who may then watch the original source - the
programme. Synergy also increases the brands image,
whilst also targeting different audiences. Doctor Who is
one BBC programme that uses synergy. For instance,
Doctor who began as a show in 1963, DVDs were then
released, as well as soundtracks, video games, films,
magazines and books.
12. Examples Of Products/Services
The BBC ensure that their products reach a wide range of
audiences. The BBC Trust approved a BBC Diversity Strategy in
2015, where they commissioned a “large-scale qualitative
research study to engage and involve a wide range of audiences
in the development of the strategy”. For example, BBC one is
targeted at a wide range of people, as it features a diverse range
of programmes that may attract teenagers to seniors. For
instance, different audiences may enjoy Eastenders or The
Graham Norton Show, which are on BBC One. BBC Two’s
audience is older than BBC One, and the programmes are more
for an intellectual audience rather than the more mainstream and
popular shows on BBC One. Shows featured on this channel
include University Challenge, Eggheads and Dragons Den.
13. Examples Of Products/Services
BBC Three was launched in 2003 as a replacement for BBC Choice,
the service's remit was to provide "innovative" programming to a target
audience of viewers between 16 and 34 years old. The channel was on
air between 7pm to 4am, perhaps due to the audience not being
around to watch during the day. In 2014, due to a £100 million budget
cut across the BBC, it was proposed that BBC Three be discontinued
as a television service, and be converted to an Internet television
service with a smaller programming budget and a focus on short-form
productions. The proposal was approved by the BBC Trust in June
2015, and the channel went off air on 16 February 2016, being
replaced by an online-only version. This way, they could feature a
wider range of young adults, who now tend to watch more online rather
than the television. Bad Education, Little Britain and Family Guy all
aired on the channel.
14. Examples Of Products/Services
BBC Four, also airs programmes for a much older audience,
featuring documentaries about nature and history, such as
World War II Remembered and Nature's Microworlds. CBBC
is primarily aimed at viewers 6 to 12 years old, whilst the sister
channel - CBeebies serves a younger audience of 6 and
under. CBBC broadcasts for fourteen hours per-day from 7am
to 9pm, with Blue Peter, Jacqueline Wilson's Katy and The
Dengineers. CBeebies, is aimed at encouraging "learning
through play in a consistently safe environment, and providing
"high quality, mostly UK-produced programmes", such as
Waffle the Wonder Dog and Show Me Show Me. Lastly, there
is BBC News and BBC Parliament, mainly for older audience,
featuring daily worldwide news, weather and sports.
15. Examples Of Services
The BBC’s service is not only television, they also do BBC Radio,
IPlayer, magazines, BBC worldwide, BBC store and BBC
websites. There is BBC Radio 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 Live, which are all
available through analogue radio, DAB Digital Radio and internet
services through RealMedia, WMA and BBC iPlayer. The
remaining stations, BBC Radio 1Xtra, 4 Extra, 5 Live Sports Extra
and 6 Music, all broadcast on digital platforms. They all cover a
wide range of music genres, to appeal to different audiences. For
instance, BBC Radio 1 is youth oriented, featuring mostly
contemporary pop and rock music (including Top 40), news, and
original live music sessions. BBC Radio 2 is more adult oriented
entertainment, also with a wide range of music, but specially older
songs, also talk, comedy and news.
16. Examples Of Services
BBC iPlayer is an internet streaming, catch up, television and
radio service from the BBC first released in 2007. The service is
available on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones,
tablets, personal computers, gaming consoles and smart
televisions. When it began, shows were only available for a
week, however this was expanded to 30 days due to more
demand and popularity of the service. By May 2010, the site
was getting 123 million monthly play requests. BBC Store was
a Video on Demand store that launched in the UK in 2015 and
allowed people to buy episodes or series of a show and
download them. BBC Store was funded through BBC
Worldwide, however, it closed on 1 November 2017 due to not
being able to keep up with subscription services such as Netflix
and Amazon.
17. Examples Of Services
BBC worldwide is a subsidiary of the BBC. They monetises BBC brands, selling
BBC and other British programming for broadcast abroad with the aim of
generating income to the BBC. In 2013/14, BBC Worldwide generated £157.4m
in profits and had sales of £1,042.3m, returning £173.8m to the BBC. The
company merged with BBC Studios on 1 April 2018, to form a new licensing
and production company under the BBC Studios name. The BBC also has
several websites, also for different audiences. For instance, BBC Bitesize,
which is for both younger and older children to help with school work and
exams. There is also the BBC news website, which contains international and
British news coverage, entertainment, science, and political news. Many reports
are accompanied by audio and video from the BBC's television and radio news
services. Thus, cross platforms are used to inform as many audiences as
possible. Lastly, the BBC have The Radio Times as another service, which is a
magazine that can be found in several shops. It features weekly television and
radio programme listings.
18. Regulatory bodies - BBC trust
The BBC Trust was the governing body of the BBC between 2007 and 2017. Its
aim was to make decisions in the best interests of licence-fee payers. In 2016, it
was announced in the House of Commons that, under the next Royal Charter, the
regulatory functions of the BBC Trust were to be transferred to Ofcom. Trust
approved the BBC's strategic direction, demanding a high quality and more
distinctive BBC. They also approved several new services, including the iPlayer,
HDTV and the Gaelic Digital Service, BBC Alba. In May 2008 the trust published
its review of the BBC's website, criticising the service for mismanaging finances,
with a £36 million overspend. The trust was heavily criticised in the media for its
review of the amount the BBC pays for presenters, such as Jonathan Ross and
Graham Norton. They also never answered if they were value for money, with
Ross reportedly being paid £6 million a year.
19. Regulatory bodies - Ofcom
Ofcom is the communications regulator in the UK for TV, radio and video-on-
demand sectors, fixed-line telecoms, mobiles and postal services. Ofcom has
several responsibilities, including deciding if a programme is appropriate to air.
Ofcom reinforces the watershed, which protects children and vulnerable people
from anything they may find unsuitable. The watershed is from 9pm to 5:30am.
Meaning, during this time the BBC can air anything that may be considered adult
content, including sexual content, violence, graphic or distressing imagery and
swearing. One of Ofcom’s responsibilities is to hold the BBC accountable for
fulfilling its mission and promoting its public purposes. They are required to
publish an Operating Framework containing “provisions to secure effective
regulation of the BBC”. They must also set an operating licence for the BBC, and
assess the BBC’s performance, to ensure the BBC fulfils its duties.
20. Regulatory bodies - Ofcom
One example of a programme that airs before the watershed at 3pm is
Escape to the Country. This features no adult content that audiences
would find offensive, and thus it can air at this time. However, one recent
show that aired which received complaints from the public was Comic
Relief 2017. Ofcom received 338 complaints and viewers took to social
media to complain about the Comic Relief show that had “smutty humour
and swearing”. Other unsuitable moments included when Vic Reeves
flashed a fake penis at Susanna Reid and the host Russell Brand
shouted 'f***ing hell' live, which all happened before the watershed,
Another BBC show with complaints was Gunpowder, which was a three-
part series about the plot to blow up the House of Lords in 1605, that
aired a few minutes after the watershed. Ofcom received 26 complaints
for the show being too violent. The opening episode featured close-up
scenes of a young priest being hung, drawn and quartered and a woman
stripped naked before being crushed to death by a stone slab.
