BBC Prime

Type	Encrypted Satellite & Cable television network
Availability	Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia
Founder	BBC Worldwide
Owner	BBC
Launch date	January, 1995
Website	www.bbcprime.com

The old BBC Prime logo used until 1997

BBC Prime is the BBC's general entertainment TV channel in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. It was launched in January, 1995, and began broadcasts in Africa in March, 1999. A version of the channel was launched in Asia on December 1st, 2004. It is funded by subscription available either as part of a satellite package or as a stand-alone channel. As it may carry advertisements in some world regions, it is not available in the United Kingdom as, under the terms of the BBC's Charter, its domestic services cannot show advertising. Image File history File links Bbcprime. ... Artists impression of a Boeing 601 satellite, as configured for digital television transmission by SES Astra Satellite television is television delivered by way of communications satellites, as compared to conventional terrestrial television and cable television. ... Coaxial cable is often used to transmit cable television into the house. ... A television network is a distribution network for television content whereby a central operation provides programming for many television stations. ... World map showing Europe Political map (neighboring countries in Asia and Africa also shown) Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... World map showing the location of Asia. ... BBC Worldwide Limited is the wholly-owned commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in 1995. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, invariably known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest public broadcasting corporation in the world. ... Website - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Image File history File links Bbc. ... Image File history File links Bbc. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, invariably known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest public broadcasting corporation in the world. ... A television station is a type of radio station that broadcasts both audio and video to television receivers in a particular area. ... World map showing Europe Political map (neighboring countries in Asia and Africa also shown) Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... World map showing the location of Asia. ... Pay television, or pay-TV, usually refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by both analogue and digital cable and satellite, but also increasingly by digital terrestrial methods. ...

The channel broadcasts drama, comedy and lifestyle programmes via satellite and cable. In the past, it had allocated six hours per day for educational programmes from BBC Learning; this practice was abandoned in August 2006 "with the intention of improving the relevance and appeal of the channel to the widest audience" [1]. Artists impression of a Boeing 601 satellite, as configured for digital television transmission by SES Astra Satellite television is television delivered by way of communications satellites, as compared to conventional terrestrial television and cable television. ... Coaxial cable is often used to transmit cable television into the house. ...

When it first launched, BBC Prime also carried programming from the former ITV company Thames Television, as BBC Worldwide had a joint venture, known as European Channel Management, with Thames' parent comany, Pearson. This venture was later dissolved, and programmes like The Bill were no longer carried. Owing to rights issues, much of the current programming on BBC Prime is from the Corporation's archive. ITV (Independent Television) is the name given to the original network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC. In England, Wales and southern Scotland, the channel has been rebranded to ITV1 by ITV plc, the owners of the... Thames Television was an British television production company, and between 1968 and 1992, it was the weekday ITV company serving London. ... BBC Worldwide Limited is the wholly-owned commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in 1995. ... Pearson plc LSE: PSON;NYSE: PSO is a London-based media conglomerate. ... The Bill is a long-running British television police procedural shown on ITV1, at 8PM on Wednesdays and Thursdays. ...

The channel's emphasis on archive programming caused considerable annoyance to many British expatriate viewers, who had much preferred the mix of BBC One and Two previously offered by BBC TV Europe and BBC World Service Television. An expatriate (in abbreviated form expat) is someone temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of their upbringing and/or legal residence. ... BBC One (or BBC1 as it was formerly styled) is the oldest television station in the world. ... BBC Two (or BBC2 as it was formerly styled) was the second UK television station to be aired by the BBC and Europes first television channel to broadcast regularly in colour (from 1967), envisaged as a home for less mainstream and more ambitious programming. ... BBC TV Europe was a BBC subscription-funded television service available on satellite and cable in continental Europe. ... BBC World Service Television was the name given to the BBCs international satellite television channels between 1991 and 1995. ...

Consequently, many people in mainland Europe bought viewing cards to receive full broadcasts of BBC One and Two from the UK, which prompted GBC in Gibraltar to end terrestrial retransmission of BBC Prime in 1999. Even after the BBC switched to broadcasting unencrypted on a satellite with a much weaker signal, many people in Spain and elsewhere could still receive these signals, particularly those who already had large satellite dishes. // Telecommunications Until 1990, telephone services were operated by the Gibraltar Telephone Department. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, invariably known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest public broadcasting corporation in the world. ... Astra 2D is one of a group of satellites operated by SES Astra, located at 28. ...

BBC Prime is broadcast alongside BBC One and Two in the Netherlands, which have long been available on cable television, together with BBC World. It is also available on digital terrestrial television (DTT) in the Netherlands, as well as the Faroe Islands and Malta. In February 2006, BBC Worldwide secured a slot for the channel in the Swedish DTT network. Coaxial cable is often used to transmit cable television into the house. ... BBC World is the BBCs 24-hour international, news and information television channel, launched on January 1995. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Digital television. ...

The BBC argues that most of BBC Prime's viewers are not British, and often may not have English as a first language, hence the availability of subtitles in Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Czech, Polish, Romanian, Hungarian, Italian, Hebrew and Serbian. In printed material In printed material, a subtitle is an explanatory or alternate title. ... Hebrew (עִבְרִית or עברית, ‘Ivrit) is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Jewish communities around the world. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ...

Similarly, some programmes on BBC Prime in Africa are different from the European service, as many have already been licensed to South African broadcasters, and the service does not show BBC Learning.

In Asia the programming is completely different to take account of time zones and cultural differences, with subtitles in local languages like Chinese, Thai, and Korean. BBC Prime's Asian service is available in Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, and South Korea, but will become available on cable and satellite services in other countries in the region, including the Philippines and Taiwan.

Among the more contemporary BBC programmes shown on BBC Prime are Top of the Pops and EastEnders, the latter of which debuted in Asia in January 2006. Top of the Pops was a long-running British music chart television programme and indeed the longest-running music show in the world shown each week on BBC and now licensed for national versions around the world. ... EastEnders is a popular BBC television soap opera, first broadcast on 19 February 1985 and continuing today. ...

A similar channel, called BBC Japan, launched in Japan on December 1st, 2004, but ceased broadcasting on April 30, 2006, owing to problems with its local distributor. BBC Japan is a television channel from the BBC available via satellite in Japan. ...

The recent programming schedules for BBC Prime are showing their lack of support in Europe, as they are repeating programmes on a daily basis. BBC Learning (1.00 - 6.00 CET) has been discontinued, and the previous evening´s programmes are repeated again. [2]

BBC Entertainment

See main article: BBC Entertainment BBC Entertainment is the name of a BBC-branded general entertainment channel operated by the Corporations commercial arm, BBC Worldwide. ...

In September 2006, it was announced that the channel was to be rebranded as BBC Entertainment, as part of a new group of international BBC channels. The channel will be broadcast from 8 October in Asia and replaces BBC Prime on StarHub (Channel 76), UBC (Channel 58), Skylife (Channel 334) and Now TV (Channel 529). In other markets BBC Prime will be replaced by the end of the year. BBC Worldwide's Managing Director of Global Channels, Darren Childs said: "BBC Prime will disappear as a brand. It is something we can do better. It was too non-specific. BBC Entertainment will do what it says on the tin."[3] Look up September in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... BBC Entertainment is the name of a BBC-branded general entertainment channel operated by the Corporations commercial arm, BBC Worldwide. ... StarHub Cable Vision Limited is the sole cable television operator in Singapore. ... Please wikify (format) this article as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... For the television station in Surrey, British Columbia, see NOWTV/CHNU-TV now TV (now 寬頻電視) is a 24-hour pay-TV service provider in Hong Kong SAR. It is transmitted through its Broadband (Netvigator) Modem: IPTV. Launched in September 2003, it is operated by the leading Hong Kong fixed-line... BBC Worldwide Limited is the wholly-owned commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in 1995. ...

External links

• bbcprime.com
• Asian Webpage
• Gooya (UK) directory of world TV channels