Unit 8 Assignment prep
Television – BBC
The BBC is located in Central London. There are several other smaller bbc companies based in places like: Manchester, Nottingham and Wolverhampton.
BBC stands for British Broadcasting Corporation.
The BBC is owned by the public body, it has since 1927.
The BBC is funded by license fee payers. They are funded by something called the BBC Trust -a governing body that make sure that the BBC deliver their mission of educating, informing and entertaining. The annual cost for the tv license for BBC is: £145.50
- List what type of programmes the BBC show:
- Is the BBC a media conglomerate? If yes explain, if no explain
Technically no because it's publicly funded and normally media conglomerates are channels which are paid through sponsorships and advertisements. However I would argue that it should be a media conglomerate because it owns a few different types of media outlets such as; radio and online services like BBC iPlayer, bbc have films, bbc has other websites such as 'bbc bite size'.
- Is the company multinational, national or local? and give your reasons.
I would say that BBC is a Multinational company because they have the channel BBC Worldwide which broadcasts the same programmes for people all around the world showing them in places such as; Belgium, Switzerland and in America.
Activity 2
Read the article on the website below and answer the following questions:
What is the ethos of the BBC?
To inform, educate and entertain.
What is the BBC for?
BBC is for the public, catering for a wide range of people -showing a diverse range of programmes that will cater for everybody. BBC are there for educating and entertaining people.
What is the future of the BBC?
-Video on demand
-People will be choosing between a variety of different channels.
-Funding? Questions about where the BBC will get their funding and the different options available in the future.
Potentially if less people are paying in my opinion the BBC might have to change their outlet and they could go private -meaning that they would no longer be payed by a public television license but rather from private sponsorships and advertisements like ITV or Channel 4.
Activity 3
Watch the You Tube video (http://youtu.be/D3X9rc0KXxU) on the BBC and answer the questions:
What is the BBC for?
-To inform, educate and entertain which it could be argued that Sky Sports News does the same without the public having to pay money towards a television license.
What does the video say that the BBC is doing incorrectly?
-That they have a tendency to stray into empire build.
-That they tend to show a lot of programmes that anyone could show, that commercial channels could show as in light entertainment -Strictly Come Dancing was the example used.
-BBC are copying ITV programmes such as: The X Factor by producing a similar version called The Voice, they are targeting programmes specifically for young people. It's trying to do more entertainment over informing and educating through their programmes.
-By focusing on the entertainment programmes the people in the video stated that the BBC are turning into a commercial channel.
-Failing to make good viewing by other programmes.
-The public are paying for a tv license but the BBC aren't appealing to a wide range of people.
Therefore the BBC aren't sticking to their original ethos.
What does the article say about the funding in the future for the BBC?
-If they are being perceived as a commercial channel they will have to start receiving private sponsorships and henceforth become a commercial channel. If they become a commercial channel then this could upset potential competition in other channels such as: ITV and Channel 4.
Activity 4
What, according to the article below, what is wrong with the BBC?
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/jan/14/itv-bbc-licence-fee-top-sliced
-According to the article, ITV said that the BBC's news provision risks the self-reinforcing dominance of a single editorial voice.
-That the BBC chase ratings and market shares by making "unnecessary" copycatting programmes.
-That there is "little point or public value" in a weak BBC New Operation.
-The broadcaster argued that despite BBC1 stating that they wanted to introduce another 'Distinctive Genre' they have filled the schedule with repeats of popular daytime shows such as: Flog It! and Bargain Hunt, making the BBC lose creativity and the idea of something new.
-'Top Slicing' -allowing other companies (such as ITV and Channel 4) to have an active part to bid for a part of the TV License.
Activity 5
Research online and answer the question below
What do you think are the advantages of having a public service broadcaster?
-It provides general variety of programming and viewing needs.
Extended question – In your opinion:
Do you think we need the BBC?
In my opinion I don't think we desperately need a channel like the BBC, it claims to have variety but I don't think it is as diverse as it says. It copies programmes like the X Factor and it focuses mainly on the entertainment as a way to get a younger audience when their original ethos was to educate, inform and entertain. This type of programme makes it practically a commercial channel and if we can get similar programmes else where why would we pay for a tv license when we can watch the other channels for free?
Do you think we should continue to fund the BBC through the TV Licence.
No I don't. I think that the channel get a lot of money when people are only really watching one type of programme. They are focusing too much on the entertainment which gains them the most money but then they aren't putting nearly enough effort into making the programmes meant to inform and educate us. They get the money so that they can compete with commercial channels and it makes the channel seem less important and irrelevant, people don't want to pay money so that a channel can use it to make programmes purely to compete with the commercial channels. If we're only giving money for the BBC to make those sorts of programmes then they should become a commercial channel as they're only producing programmes that could be shown on a commercial channel letting people watch without having to pay for a license fee.
In your opinion do you think we should have the BBC?
In my opinion I have no interest in the BBC. I think that over the years their programmes have become poorer and have began to act more like a publicity contest, choosing to copy other channels instead of creating new and creative ideas of their own. They are so focused on the entertainment but they're overlooking what made their channel interesting by only providing light programmes that don't educate people. I don't like their programme listings, the only reason I used to tune in was to watch Doctor Who but we can find these types of programmes online for free, we can watch on iPlayers for free so the need for the BBC is becoming irrelevant.
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