television broadcasters research

7/29/2019 Television Broadcasters Research

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Group 4


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BBC1 is the BBCs biggest channel in the UK. Launched on 2nd November 1936, it became the

worlds first major television broadcasting service. It is one of the most watched channels in the

world. According to the BARB figures the highest watched programme of the year was

Eastenders in 2012 with peaking viewing figures being 16,410,000. Its also very popular for its

BBC Breakfast and BBC News which is watched by many people in the UK everyday. It also

appeals to all ages as the BBC also include CBBC and CBeebies for the younger generation. The

BBC mainly feature Soaps and Dramas on a daily basis, However they also show documentaries,

with its most successful being Planet Earth. BBC1 is also highly famed for its coverage of sport.

The BBC cover a huge range of sport, with BBC1 covering sports from Football to Motorsport

such as Formula 1. BBC is highly popular with its funding relying on people paying their license

fee, which is a must if you own a television. On the other hand, BBC1 may be incredibly popular,

but most of its broadcasting doesnt really feature documentaries as much as other channels,

which is why it may not be the best choice for a documentary.


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BBC2 is he second television channel operated by the British broadcasting Corporation in the

UK. It was the third British television station to be launched in the UK, starting on 20th April

1964. From 1stJuly 1967 BBC2 was Europes first television channel to broadcast regularly in

colour. It was originally launched to host the less mainstream and more ambitious programmes.

Historically, BBC2 was screening programmes targeting the people that were more interested in

arts, culture, drama and some comedy, however, thirty or so years after it began, BBC2 was seen

as a highbrow channel which has a long history of demanding documentaries of all types such

as Civilisation and The Ascent of Man in the 1960s. Like Channel 4, BBC2 also established a

reputation as an independent and international cinema, under the Screen 2 brand. This would

be a better choice for a documentary because they have much more experience in

documentaries than BBC1, however there are some other channels which do offer some

promising aspects to be a good choice for a documentary.


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ITV launched on 22nd September 1955and became the first public service network in the UK. It

was designed to give competition to the BBC. For over 50 years, the homegrown programmes

have become the best loved and remembered. Before the 1990s, nearly all of the content was

produced by the regional companies. However, when the Broadcasting Act came in in 1990, it

imposed a 25% quota for commissioning independent productions, which meant ITV had to

make more programmes. This was fortunate because they started to produce lots of

docmentaries, as they were the cheapest to make. ITV had a very strong commitment to current

affairs and documentaries until the end of the 1990s where it began to diminish. These days,

ITV have s much more popular prime time slot in television, with the majority of the

programmes being soaps, game shows and talent shows. This would have been a good choice

for the documentary because of their experience in documentary broadcasting, however in the

current day, they dont feature enough in ITV, therefore not making it as good a choice as

Channel 4.


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Channel 4 started much later than the other BBC Channels. It was

first launched on 2nd November 1982. Although the channel was

largely commercially funded, it is publically owned. The channel was

established to provide a fourth television service to the UK in addition

to the BBC and ITV. The good thing about Channel 4 is that because

its funded by advertisements, they are classed as being independent,

meaning that they can host programmes from third parties. This was

a particularly popular way to feature documentaries in the channelbecause they didnt have to be put through a much more serious

screening before they were aired. The requirements to feature your

programme on Channel 4 was not for them to produce the

programme like the BBC did, but to get them practically buy it. A

trend started to appear, where by Channel 4 would own the

distribution rights and the copyright of the programme which

therefore saw Channel 4 owning the programme, not producing it.This would be a better choice for broadcasting our documentary

because its much easier to get on television and they have a huge

history for broadcasting lots of documentaries.


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Channel 5 launched on 30th March 1997, which became the fifth an final channel to become

standard on analog. Its been classed as a general entertainment channel with highly popular

shows such as The Gadget Show and Fifth Gear appearing along side many international

programmes such as Home and Away and Neighbours. Channel 5 is mostly famed for its reality

television, game shows and imported American Drama. The channel also hosts many different

sport covers of which the other channels do not cover, with the most popular being Motorsport.

It also introduces kids programmes such as Milkshake! which starts daily from 6am. This

would be a poorer choice to broadcast our documentary because they are not as famed for

their documentaries as they are for their soaps and reality television.


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BBC Three is the newest of all the channels, starting on the 9th February 2003. The channel is

broadcasted on all platforms apart from analog. The channels audience is between 16-34 year

olds they claim. Its designed to provide innovative content to younger audiences, focusing on

new talent and technology. The channel is aired from 19:00 to 05:00 every night in order to

share terrestrial bandwidth with CBBC Channel. 90% of BBC Threes broadcasted programmes

come from the UK or other European countries. It covers all genres from current affairs, to

drama, to comedy and to animation, however does lack more to do with documentaries. They

have more recently shown some documentaries such as Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents,

however they are more aimed at the younger generation, where as our documentary is on a

much more serious tone, which is why it probably wouldnt suit our documentary the most.

television broadcasters research

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