MASS-MEDIA IN GB
Education for what is now termed media literacy has been developing in the UK since at least the
1930s.
Analogue terrestrial television in the United Kingdom is made up of two chartered public
broadcasting companies, the BBC and Channel 4 and two franchised commercial
television companies, (ITV and Five).
There are five major free-to-air analogue channels:
BBC One
BBC Two
ITV
Channel 4
Five.
The BBC is funded by public money accrued from a television license fee gathered from all UK
households with a television set. This fee is legally compulsory and failure to pay it is punishable
by prosecution, resulting in a fine or imprisonment.
There are exceptions to paying, for homes with a pensioner (person over 65 years old). It
is cheaper for those with a black & white TV or eyesight that is impaired. It is currently
set at £135.50 , but is not set in stone.
The fee chargeable is limited by the government and regulatory authorities. The BBC
provides two analogue channels, BBC One (consisting of a network of local BBC
stations) and BBC Two.
Channel 4 is similarly chartered to the BBC, with a remit to provide public service
broadcasting and schools programs, however it runs commercial advertisements to
provide a revenue stream. It produces a single analogue channel, currently branded as
Channel 4.
The ITV franchise transmits one analogue channel known as ITV (consisting of a
network of local ITV stations) and Five transmits one analogue channel also.
All the major analogue broadcasters provide additional channels on the free-to-air
Freeview digital television service, and all of these channels can be accessed via a cable
or satellite provider, such as Virgin Media or BSkyB.
Freesat, a satellite-based free-to-air service similar to Freeview, has been reported to be
planned by a consortium led by the BBC.
In the UK the BBC has eight digital channels:
BBC One (also available on analogue)
BBC Two (also available on analogue)
BBC Three
BBC Four
BBC Parliament
BBC News
CBBC Channel
CBeebies
ITV plc (which owns eleven ITV franchises) has eight digital channels:
ITV1 (also available on analogue)
ITV2
CITV Channel
Channel 4 has nine digital channels:
Channel 4 (also available on analogue)
Channel 4+1
E4
E4+1
More4
Film Four
Film Four +1
4Music (Formerly 'The Hits')
Five has five digital channels:
Five (also available on analogue)
Fiver (formerly Five Life)
Five USA (formerly Five US)
Fiver +1
Five USA +1
The first British television channel was launched by the BBC in 1932 and called simply
The BBC Television Service. The service used Baird's 30-line system and these
transmissions continued until 11 September 1935.
On 2 November 1936 the BBC began broadcasting a dual-system service.
This service is described as "the world's first regular high-definition public television
service“.
The BBC Television Service held a complete monopoly on television broadcasting in the
UK until ITV was launched in 1955.
There are many hundreds of radio stations in the United Kingdom, the most prominent of
which are the national stations operated by the BBC.
Recent advances in digital radio technology have enabled the launch of several new
stations by the Corporation.
BBC Radio 1 broadcasts pop music output on FM and digital radio, with live music
throughout the year.
BBC Radio 2 is the UK's most listened to radio station, featuring presenters Terry Wogan
and Jonathan Ross, with a mix of music from the last thirty years.
BBC Radio 3 is a serious classical station, broadcasting high-quality concerts and
performances. At night, it transmits a wide range of jazz and world music.
BBC Radio 4 is a current affairs and speech station, with news, debate and radio drama.
It broadcasts the daily radio soap The Archers, as well as flagship news programme
Today
BBC Radio Five Live broadcasts live news and sports commentary with phone-in
debates and studio guests
BBC 6 Music transmits predominantly alternative rock, with many live sessions. Shaun
Keaveny presents the morning show
BBC 1Xtra broadcasts rap, RnB and drum'n'bass.
BBC 7 uses the BBC's large archive of speech programming to broadcast classic comedy
and drama, mainly originally from Radio 4.
The BBC also provide 40 local radio services, mainly broadcasting a mix of local news
and music aimed at an older audience.
Also available nationally are three national commercial channels, namely Absolute
Radio, Classic FM and talkSPORT.
Newspapers are traditionally categorized into two types in the United Kingdom.
Broadsheets which are larger in size and are seen as being more intellectual and
upmarket;
tabloids which are smaller in size and seen as being more downmarket than broadsheets,
containing more stories about celebrities or gossip
However, some broadsheet papers, such as The Times and The Independent have
recently switched to a smaller size, preferring to call themselves compact rather than be
stigmatised by the tabloid label.
A large range of magazines are sold in the UK covering most interests and potential
topics. Famous examples include Private Eye, Hello!, The Spectator, the Radio Times
and NME.
