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| BBC Television |
The BBC is the world's oldest and biggest broadcaster, and is the country's first and largest public service broadcaster. The BBC is funded by a government grant; it does not carry advertising. The grant is financed by the payment of a television licence fee that all households with a television must pay. However, the funds do not go directly to the BBC but to the Treasury instead, via a government body known as TV Licensing. The government has no legal duty to hand all or any of this revenue to the BBC but traditionally has done.
Its analogue channels are BBC One and BBC Two.
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| The BBC first began a television service, initially serving London only, in 1936. BBC Television was closed during World War II but reopened in 1946. The second station, BBC Two, was launched in 1964. As well as these two analogue services, the British Broadcasting Corporation now also offers digital services BBC Three, BBC Four, BBC News, BBC Parliament, CBBC Channel, CBeebies, BBC One HD, BBC HD (soon to become BBC Two HD), BBC Alba and BBC Red Button. |
The BBC also opperates a number of international TV channels. BBC World News, BBC America, plus a bouquet of thematic channels - BBC Entertainment, BBC Knowledge, BBC Lifestyle, CBeebies and BBC HD, which are in the process of being rolled out around the world.
The BBC Canada and BBC Kids channels are broadcast in Canada, through a joint venture with Alliance Atlantis, while Animal Planet Canada is broadcast through a joint venture between BBC Worldwide, DCI and Canadian Television (CTV).
In partnership with Foxtel and FremantleMedia, BBC Worldwide broadcasts the UK.TV channel to audiences in Australia and New Zealand.
In partnership with Discovery Communications Inc (DCI) the BBC deliver the international Animal Planet and People + Arts channels. |
| Visit the BBC TV Homepage for more information & channel listings. |
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| BBC One |
The BBC's main channel, broadcasting mainstream comedy, drama, documentaries, films and the home of their television news, sport and children's programmes.
BBC One is the oldest television station in the United Kingdom, and indeed, the world. It is the primary channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation, and first broadcast as the 'BBC Television Service' on November 2, 1936, although the BBC had been broadcasting experimental and test transmissions in a variety of formats since 1929.
The station held a complete monopoly on television broadcasting in the United Kingdom until ITV was launched in 1955.
BBC One's history goes hand in hand with that of the history and development of television as a whole.
BBC One was from its launch in 1936 until 1964 known as The BBC Television Service, the worlds first regular television service.
BBC One began broadcasting on digital satellite in 1998 on the Sky Digital platform, the station was encrypted until 2003, when all BBC channels began broadcasting free-to-air.
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There are 17 variation of BBC One:
BBC One Scotland, BBC One Wales, BBC One Northern Ireland, BBC One London, BBC One West Midlands, BBC One East Midlands. BBC One North West. BBC One East Yorkshire & Lincolnshire. BBC One Yorkshire & North Midlands. BBC One East. BBC One West. BBC One South East. BBC One South. BBC One South West. BBC One North East & Cumbria. BBC One Oxford. BBC One . BBC One Cambridge. BBC One Channel Islands. There is are national version of BBC One HD available for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Most of BBC One HD's output is 'National BBC One'. |
| Website: BBC One |
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| BBC Two |
Home to more specialist programming, including comedy, documentaries, dramas and minority interest programmes, as well as imported programmes from other countries, including non English language subtitled content.
There are four variations of BBC Two:
BBC Two England, BBC Two Scotland, BBC Two Wales and BBC Two Northern Ireland.
New BBC shows often appear on BBC Two, especially if those behind the show have not proven themselves elsewhere. A successful BBC Two show may be moved to BBC One, such as happened with Have I Got News For You.
The channel also has a reputation for screening challenging and 'prestige' drama productions, such as Boys from the Blackstuff (1982) and 1996's epic, critically-acclaimed Our Friends in the North.
BBC Two's programmes always had a "highbrow" image, compared to those on rival channels.
This perception persists in today's multichannel world so that a programme that is moved from BBC Two to BBC One will often get a much larger audience, even though no other change has been made. BBC Two is available on Freeview, Sky, Freesat and on Cable.
There is only one national version of BBC Two HD available for the whole of the UK.
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| Website: BBC Two |
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| BBC Three |
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent and new technologies. The channel is on-air from 19:00 to around 04:00 each night,[1] in order to share terrestrial television bandwidth with the CBBC Channel. Unlike its commercial rivals, 90% of BBC Three's output is from the United Kingdom and other European Union countries. 80% is original, covering all genres, from current affairs, to drama, to comedy to animation. BBC Three has a unique 60 Seconds format for its news bulletins. This was adopted so that operation of the channel could be completely automated, without the complication of dealing with variable length live news broadcasts. The current controller of the station is Zai Bennett and the Head of Scheduling is Dan McGolpin.
Targetting an audience of 16 to 34 year olds, BBC Three's programme has to compete heavily with rivals, including ITV2 and E4, for an audience that the BBC has traditionally had difficulty in attracting. In 2008 it reached 26.3% of 16-34 year olds in digital homes — the channel's highest ever such reach and above that of E4, ITV2, Dave and Sky One. On average, nine million people watch BBC Three every week, and it has a 2.6% share of he 15-34 year old audience and 1.7% of the whole population, according to BARB.
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| The channel is available on all digital platforms and broadcasts free-to-air on the Astra 1N satellite, making reception possible on all satellite receivers with the correct dish size. |
| Website: BBC Three |
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| BBC Four |
BBC Four launched on 2 March 2002, transmitting a schedule between 19:00 to 4:00. It shows "a wide variety of programmes including drama, documentaries, music, international film, comedy and current affairs ... an alternative to programmes on the mainstream TV channels."
It has a schedule dominated by repeats but is required by its licence to broadcast at least 100 hours of new arts and music programmes, 110 hours of new factual programmes and premier 20 international films each year.
BBC Four forms part of the BBC Vision group, and as a result, the channel controller is answerable to the head of this executive department: George Entwistle as of 2011. The channel direction is determined by the channels remit, set by royal charter and the corporation's governing body the BBC Trust, and by the channel controller
BBC Four is broadcast in a statistically multiplexed stream in Multiplex B that timeshares with the CBeebies channel. As a result, BBC Four broadcasts from 7 pm to about 4 am every day, with an hours down-time and promotions for CBeebies, before CBeebies channel runs from 6 am until 7 pm.
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| Website: BBC Four |
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| BBC News |
BBC News is the BBC's 24-hour rolling news television network in the United Kingdom. In May 2007 the channel became available for UK viewers to view through the BBC News website through a live stream.
Each hour consists of headlines on each quarter hour, extended at the top of the hour to form the main part of the daily schedule though these are interspaced with other programmes, generally at weekends. This will be often be displaced by rolling news coverage including reports and live interviews. Weather summaries are provided every half hour by forecasters from the BBC Weather Centre while business and sport updates are also presented generally from within the main studio.
Between 01:00 and 06:00 UK Time (UKT) the channel simulcasts with its sister channel, BBC World News, for the first 25 minutes of each hour with world news shown all through the simulcasts. Since 21 April 2008, the overnight bulletins, while produced by the BBC News Channel, have usually been broadcast from the studios of BBC World News.
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| Website: BBC News |
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| BBC Parliament |
BBC Parliament is a television channel from the BBC. Its remit is to make accessible to all the work of the parliamentary and legislative bodies of the United Kingdom and the European Parliament. It broadcasts live and recorded coverage of the House of Commons and House of Lords, Select Committees of the UK Parliament, the three devolved assemblies, being the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Welsh Assembly, and occasionally from the General Synod of the Church of England. The channel also broadcasts reports from the European Parliament and the yearly party conferences of the main UK political parties and the Trades Union Congress.
Whenever the House of Commons is in session, BBC Parliament covers the chamber live. Additionally, the House of Lords is shown on the channel on the same day and following day when it in session, in sections that fit around the Commons. Whenever both Houses are in recess, but a devolved assembly is constituted, the channel will provide live coverage of its work. Thus, when taken together with both live and recorded coverage from the other bodies it covers, BBC Parliament's schedule is dominated by direct broadcasts of the legislative and political institutions - whether they be plenary, quasi-plenary (such as Westminster Hall), or in committees - that affect British public life. However, BBC Parliament shows a variety of other recorded programmes, taken from across the BBC's national and international channels. The channel also carries some American programming from C-SPAN.
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| Website: BBC Parliament |
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| BBC Alba |
BBC Alba is a joint-venture Scottish Gaelic language digital television channel which is broadcast by the BBC throughout the United Kingdom on satellite, online and Virgin Media on Demand. It is also available live on Virgin Media and Freeview in Scotland.
The name Alba is the Gaelic word for Scotland and reveals the channel's other owner, MG Alba.
The station is unique in that it is the first channel to be delivered under a BBC licence by a partnership and is also the first multi-genre channel to come entirely from Scotland with almost all of its programmes made in Scotland. The channel partners are MG Alba and the BBC.
On-air for up to seven hours a day, BBC Alba broadcasts throughout the UK on satellite (Sky and Freesat).
BBC Alba was added to Virgin Media's cable television service on 18 May 2011 but is only available in Scotland, with select content made available through their on-demand service across the UK. Some programmes from the last seven days can be viewed online on BBC iPlayer and the channel can also be watched live through iPlayer.
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| After being approved by the BBC Trust, it has been broadcast on Freeview, in Scotland only, since 8 June 2011, making it available to all post-switchover households in Scotland. The channel is funded and operated jointly by MG Alba and the BBC. Whilst the partnership runs the channel, Gaelic programming on BBC Two Scotland will continue at least until digital switchover takes place. The Gaelic Digital Service will also include BBC Radio nan Gàidheal during downtime hours (alongside simulcasts of BBC Radio Scotland & BBC Radio Five Live) and online content. |
| Website: BBC Alba |
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| CBBC |
CBBC is a BBC television channel aimed at 6 to 12 year olds. It complements the CBBC programming that continues to air on BBC One and BBC Two. Launched on 11 February 2002, it broadcasts from 7am to 7pm on Freeview, cable, IPTV and digital satellite, occupying the same bandwidth as, but a different channel position from BBC Three. CBeebies is its sister service for younger children.
CBBC Extra is a free interactive television service from CBBC provided by the BBC Red Button. It is accessible from the CBBC channel by pressing red and then selecting CBBC Extra from the main menu. It can also be accessed from any other BBC channel by pressing red and going to page number 570. The service differs across digital platforms, for example Sky viewers can access a video loop. Its availability on Freeview is dependent upon BBC Red Button not showing other interactive services, such as major sports events coverage. The service offers numerous features including a CBBC Quiz, Horoscopes, Agony Uncle Chris, viewer content and jokes and other interactive elements.
The CBBC website provides a wide range of activities for viewers aged 6–14, such as games, videos, puzzles, printable pages, pre-moderated message boards and frequently updated news feeds.
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| It contains pages for the majority of its current programming with various content on each. There are also micro-sites from Newsround and Sportsround, providing children with news and sport, as well as the CBBC iPlayer to replay CBBC programmes for up to seven days. |
| Website: CBBC |
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| CBeebies |
CBeebies is the brand used by the BBC for programming aimed at children 6 years and under. It is used as a themed strand in the UK on terrestrial television, as a separate free-to-air domestic British channel and used for international varients supported by advertising, subscription or both. The brand was first launched on 11 February 2002.
CBeebies offers a mix of entertainment and educational programming. The channel's schedule is deliberately the same every weekday, with a different schedule at weekends, so that children can know what is on instinctively. The schedule also includes signed programmes, shown in the UK between 14:00 and 17:00 on weekends. The international channels also show many programmes broadcast on the UK channel, however some include programmes unique to that service.
In the UK, CBeebies is operated by the BBC Children's division and part of BBC North. The division is also responsible for CBBC and overall strategic responsibility for all of the BBC's domestic services for children rests with the Director of Children's.
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| The direction of the domestic CBeebies channel itself rests with Kay Benbow, the current Controller of the channel and responsible for commissioning all CBeebies content across BBC television, online, interactive TV, and radio. She took over from the previous controller Michael Carrington in 2010. Internationally, CBeebies is owned by BBC Worldwide, who promote and operate the brand. |
| Website: CBeebies |
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