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Encyclopedia > British news media

The United Kingdom has a diverse range of different types of media.

Contents


Broadcasting

Television

Main article: British television British television broadcasting has a range of different broadcasters, broadcasting multiple channels over a variety of distribution media. ...


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 stations (ITV and Five). Public broadcasting, also known as public service broadcasting or PSB (though this term has a specific different meaning in the United Kingdom - see public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom) is the dominant form of broadcasting around the world, where radio, television, and potentially other electronic media outlets receive funding... Corporate logo of the British Broadcasting Corporation. ... Channel 4 is a public service television broadcaster in the United Kingdom (see British television). ... Current ITV logo. ... Five, formerly known as Channel 5, is the United Kingdoms fifth national terrestrial TV Channel. ...


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 currently set at around the £110 mark, 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 and BBC Two. A television licence is an official licence required in some countries for all owners of a television receiver. ... Viewing Figure History 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 the first British television channel to broadcast regularly in colour (from 1967), envisaged as a home for less mainstream and more ambitious programming. ...


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 4. Generally speaking, advertising is the paid promotion of goods, services, companies and ideas by an identified sponsor. ... Channel 4 is a public service television broadcaster in the United Kingdom (see British television). ...


The commercial operators rely on advertising for their revenue, and are run as commercial ventures, in contrast to the public service operators. The ITV franchise transmits one analogue channel known as ITV1 which is localised to ITV regions. Five transmits a channel, after the fact that it is the fifth and most recent analogue channel to be granted a license. Current ITV logo. ... ITV1 is a terrestrial, free-to-air television channel broadcast in the United Kingdom by the ITV network. ... Five, formerly known as Channel 5, is the United Kingdoms fifth national terrestrial TV Channel. ...


Almost all the analogue broadcasters provide additional channels on the free-to-air Freeview digital television service, and many of these channels can also be accessed via subscription to a cable or satellite provider, such as NTL, Telewest or BSkyB. Freeview is a British free-to-air digital television service broadcast from terrestrial transmitters using the DVB-T standard. ... Digital television (DTV) uses digital modulation and compression to broadcast video, audio and data signals to television sets. ... NTL NASDAQ: NTLI (the company will trade under NASDAQ: NTLID from March 6 until March 31) is a US listed company providing cable services. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into NTL. (Discuss) Telewest (formerly Telewest Broadband and Telewest Communications) was one of the two major cable companies in the United Kingdom. ... British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB - formerly two companies, Sky Television and British Satellite Broadcasting, which merged) is a company that operates the most popular subscription television service in the Ireland. ...


In 2005, NTL announced its purchase of Telewest, establishing a single dominant cable company offering cable, satellite and telephony services in the UK. The merger is widely rumoured to be intended to create an effective competitor to 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. FreeSat is a service similar to Freeview that the BBC and ITV is planning to launch in 2006 on Digital Satellite. ...


In the UK the BBC has eight digital channels:

ITV has three further channels, ITV2, ITV3, and ITV4 while Channel 4 has E4 and More4. All four of the mentioned broadcasters also have interactive services on digital. Viewing Figure History 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 the first British television channel to broadcast regularly in colour (from 1967), envisaged as a home for less mainstream and more ambitious programming. ... BBC Three, the successor of the similar BBC Choice, is a British television channel from the BBC broadcasting only on digital cable, terrestrial and satellite. ... BBC Four is a BBC television channel available to digital television (Freeview, satellite and cable) viewers in the UK. The successor to an earlier digital channel called BBC Knowledge, BBC Four began broadcasting on March 2, 2002 - its first evenings programming being simulcast on BBC Two. ... BBC Parliament is a British television channel from the BBC. It broadcasts live and recorded coverage of the British House of Commons and House of Lords, the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly. ... BBC News 24 is BBC News 24-hour news television channel in the UK, its international counterpart being BBC World. ... The CBBC Channel is a British television service aimed at 6 to 13 year olds produced by the BBC. It complements the CBBC programming that continues to air on BBC One and BBC Two. ... CBeebies is a British television channel produced by the BBC and aimed at children under 6. ... ITV2 is a free-to-air entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV plc. ... ITV3 is an entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV plc. ... ITV4 is a UK television station which launched on November 1, 2005. ... E4 is a British digital television channel launched as a pay-tv companion to Channel 4 on 18 January 2001. ... More4 is a digital television channel produced by United Kingdom broadcaster Channel 4 that launched on October 10th 2005. ...


History

The transmission mast above the BBC wing of Alexandra Palace, photographed in 2001.
The transmission mast above the BBC wing of Alexandra Palace, photographed in 2001.

The first British television channel was launched by the BBC launched 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, alternating on a weekly basis between Marconi-EMI's high-resolution (405 lines per picture) service and Baird's improved 240-line standard from Alexandra Palace in London. Six months later, the corporation decided that Marconi-EMI's electronic picture gave the superior picture, and adopted that as their standard. This service is described as "the world's first regular high-definition public television service", since a regular television service had been broadcast earlier on a 180-line standard in Germany. The outbreak of the Second World War caused the service to be suspended. TV transmissions only resumed from Alexandra Palace in 1946. Download high resolution version (472x690, 43 KB)Uploaded to illustrate BBC One. ... Download high resolution version (472x690, 43 KB)Uploaded to illustrate BBC One. ... Corporate logo of the British Broadcasting Corporation. ... Alexandra Palace from the east Alexandra Palace was built on a hill in Muswell Hill in North London in 1873 as a public entertainment centre. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ... September 11 is the 254th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (255th in leap years). ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... November 2 is the 306th day of the year (307th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 59 days remaining. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Alexandra Palace from the east Alexandra Palace was built on a hill in Muswell Hill in North London in 1873 as a public entertainment centre. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ...


The BBC Television Service held a complete monopoly on television broadcasting in the UK until ITV was launched in 1955. The station was renamed BBC1 when BBC2 was launched in April 1964. In economics, a monopoly (from the Greek monos, one + polein, to sell) is defined as a persistent market situation where there is only one provider of a kind of product or service. ... Current ITV logo. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Viewing Figure History 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 the first British television channel to broadcast regularly in colour (from 1967), envisaged as a home for less mainstream and more ambitious programming. ... For the Nintendo 64 emulator, see 1964 (Emulator). ...


Radio

Main article: Radio in the United Kingdom There are over 250 radio stations in the United Kingdom. ...

Picture of a Truetone brand old-fashioned radio
Enlarge
Picture of a Truetone brand old-fashioned radio

There are over 250 radio stations in the United Kingdom, the most prominent of which are the national networks operated by the BBC. Recent advances in digital radio technology have enabled the launch of several new stations by the Corporation. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1150x1297, 215 KB) Summary Picture of a Truetone brand old-fashioned radio Taken by Raul654 on March 25, 2004 Released under the GFDL Revision history on the English Wikipedia: 01:44, 26 March 2004 . ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1150x1297, 215 KB) Summary Picture of a Truetone brand old-fashioned radio Taken by Raul654 on March 25, 2004 Released under the GFDL Revision history on the English Wikipedia: 01:44, 26 March 2004 . ... Corporate logo of the British Broadcasting Corporation. ... Digital Audio Broadcast or DAB is a standard for digital radio broadcast developed by EUREKA as a research project for the European Union. ...

  • 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. Phill Jupitus 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. BBC Radio 1 is a British radio station, specialising in popular music aimed at the 16-24 age bracket. ... Radio Two is one of the BBCs national radio stations and is the most popular station in the UK. It broadcasts throughout the UK on FM radio between 88 and 91 MHz from its studios in Western House, adjacent to Broadcasting House in central London. ... Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE (born 3 August 1938), generally known as Terry Wogan, is a radio and television broadcaster on the BBC in the United Kingdom. ... Jonathan Ross OBE (born November 17, 1960, Leytonstone, London, England) is a British television and radio presenter and film critic. ... BBC Radio 3 is a domestic UK BBC radio station, which devotes most of its schedule to classical music. ... Jazz is an original American musical art form originating around the early 1920s in New Orleans, rooted in Western music technique and theory, and is marked by the profound cultural contributions of African Americans. ... This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station which broadcasts a wide variety of chiefly spoken-word programmes including news, drama, comedy, science and history. ... This entry is about the radio series; for other meanings, see The Archers (disambiguation). ... This article refers to the BBC Today programme, for the NBC Today Show see The Today Show Today, commonly referred to as the Today programme in order to avoid ambiguity, is BBC Radio 4s long-running early morning news and current affairs programme, which is now broadcast from 6am... BBC Radio Five Live is the BBCs radio service providing live BBC News, phone-ins, and sports commentaries. ... BBC 6 Music is one of the BBCs newest radio stations, launched on March 11, 2002 and originally codenamed Network Y. It is only available via digital media - DAB radio, the Internet and the various forms of digital television. ... Phill Jupitus (born March 6, 1962 in Newport, Isle of Wight) is a fat muso. ... BBC 1Xtra is a UK radio station from the BBC specialising in urban. ... Hip hop music (also referred to as rap or rap music) is a style of noise pollution. ... Rhythm and blues (or R & B) is a musical marketing term introduced in the United States in the late 1940s by Billboard magazine. ... Drum and bass (drum n bass, DnB) is an electronic music style. ... BBC 7 is a digital radio station broadcasting comedy, drama, and childrens programming 24 hours a day. ... BBC Local Radio is the BBCs regional radio service for England and the Channel Islands, consisting of 40 stations. ...


Also available nationally are three national commercial channels, namely Virgin Radio, Classic FM and talkSPORT. As with the BBC, digital radio has brought about many changes, including the roll-out of local stations (particularly those based in London) to a national audience. Examples of this are Kiss 100 and Xfm. Commercial radio licences are awarded by government body Ofcom, which advertises a licence for a specific area and holds a so-called beauty contest to determine which station will be granted permission to broadcast in that area. Stations submit detailed application documents containing their proposed format and the outcome of research to determine the demand for their particular style of broadcast. Virgin Radio is a British commercial music radio station based in London. ... Classic FM is the United Kingdoms first national commercial radio station, broadcasting classical music in a popular and accessible style. ... talkSPORT is a national commercial sports radio station based in London broadcasting to the United Kingdom. ... For other uses, see London (disambiguation) and Defining London (below). ... Kiss 100 is a radio station broadcasting to London on 100. ... The logo used by Xfm from launch in 1997 until the takeover in 1998. ... Commercial Radio Hong Kong is one of the two commercial radio broadcasting company in Hong Kong (the other being Metro Radio). ... The Office of Communications, usually known as Ofcom, is the UKs communications regulator. ...


Most local commercial stations in the United Kingdom broadcast to a city or group of towns within a radius of 20-50 miles, with a second tier of regional stations covering larger areas such as North West England. The predominant format is pop music, but many other tastes are also catered for, particularly in London and the larger cities, and on digital radio. North West England is one of the regions of England. ... For the 1979 song by M, see Pop Muzik. ...


Rather than operating as independent entities, many local radio stations are owned by large radio groups which broadcast a similar format to many areas. The largest operator of radio stations is GCap Media with over 40 local commercial stations, mainly of the smaller variety. It also owns Classic FM and London's most popular commercial station, Capital FM. Other owners are Emap, holding mainly large city stations in the North of England and Chrysalis Group, owner of the major Heart and Galaxy brands. GCap Media plc is a British commercial radio company formed from the merger of the Capital Radio Group and GWR Group. ... Classic FM is the United Kingdoms first national commercial radio station, broadcasting classical music in a popular and accessible style. ... The Capital Radio building in Leicester Square, London. ... EMAP plc is a British media company, specialising in the production of magazines, and the organization of business events and conferences. ... Chrysalis Group is a UK media company with music, publishing and radio divisions. ... There are three radio stations in the United Kingdom which may be known as Heart FM: Heart 106. ... Galaxy is a network of radio stations operated in the United Kingdom by Chrysalis Group. ...


Many of these stations, including all the BBC radio, are also available via digital television services. Digital television (DTV) uses digital modulation and compression to broadcast video, audio and data signals to television sets. ...


Print

Newspapers

Main article: List of newspapers in the United Kingdom // National newspapers Traditionally newspapers could be split into quality, serious-minded newspapers (usually referred to as Broadsheets due to their large size) and tabloid, less serious newspapers. ...


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; and 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. Newspaper sizes in August 2005. ... A tabloid is a newspaper — especially in the United Kingdom — that uses the tabloid format, which is roughly 23½ by 14¾ inches per spread. ... For the 1998 movie, see Celebrity (1998 movie). ... Look up Gossip in Wiktionary, the free dictionary The word gossip may refer to: the act of spreading news from person to person, especially rumors or private information: see chat the news spread through the act of gossiping While gossip forms one of the oldest and (still) the most common... The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom. ... For other uses, see The Independent (disambiguation). ...


Magazines

A bewildering 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. A collection of magazines A magazine is a periodical publication containing a variety of articles, generally financed by advertising and/or purchase by readers. ... Private eye may mean: Look up Private eye on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Private Eye a fortnightly British satirical magazine-newspaper, edited by Ian Hislop (as of 2005) A private investigator, a private detective for hire (see also crime fiction and detective fiction) Private Eye, a song by Alkaline Trio... Hello! is a weekly magazine specialising in celebrity news. ... The Spectator is a conservative British political magazine, established 1828, published weekly. ... Radio Times logo Radio Times is the BBCs weekly television and radio programme listings magazine. ... The New Musical Express (better known as the NME) is a music magazine in the UK which has been published weekly since March 1952. ...


Obscure magazines are featured on the topical news quiz Have I Got News For You, where the missing words round has a 'guest publication' - a little known magazine that is chosen for its amusing subject matter. Each week a different magazine is showcased. Have I Got News for You (sometimes abbreviated to HIGNFY) is a long-running UK television topical panel game. ...


See also



 
 

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