Task 5
- 1. Structure of the BBC Task 5 Unit 25, 26 Benjamin karrass
- 2. What is the BBC? The BBC stands for the British Broadband Organisation , it is a public broadcaster which is actually the biggest in Britain and one of the Oldest. The BBC is based in the broadcasting house in London. As the Broadcast is so big, many people end up getting employed, it employs over 20,950 staff in total, 16,672 of whom are in public sector broadcasting. The BBC is established under the Royal Charter, and works under an agreement with the secretary of state for Media, Culture and Sport. This allows the Royal Charter to put a filter on everything that is broadcasted, this will make sure that it is all acceptable for viewing on TV and which shows/Movies should be shown after the Watershed (9pm-5am), they also make sure everything broadcasted stays within their rules and regulations. The company is fully funded by an annual TV licence, paid by all british households, organisations who use different equipment which may be used to record live TV. The royal charter has the job of ensuring its audience is informed on current affairs in the world, educated and entertained.
- 3. What is the BBC? Over time As the BBC is such a big company is has created other platforms such as BBC Worldwide, this allows people all over the world to watch the BBC on their TV, BBC Worldwide allows over 28 languages to be broadcasted over to different countries. Over time As the BBC is such a big company is has created other platforms such as BBC Worldwide, this allows people all over the world to watch the BBC on their TV, BBC Worldwide allows over 28 languages to be broadcasted over to different countries. The BBC radio started straight after the first World War in 1922, the BBC was actually established back in 1922 as a private company. The original charter gave the BBC a monopoly, this allowed them to broadcast all over Britain.
- 4. Ownership The New BBC Board is led by non-executive chairman, Sir David Clementi. The BBC chairman also has many other non-executive directors alongside other executive directors, For example the BBC’s Director-General and Editor-in-Chief, Tony Hall. The BBC is actually owned by HM Government, they make sure that everything broadcatest is ok to be aired on TV. They are to make sure that all decisions are made correctly to allow things to be broadcasted to the people in their government, this is like a committee of decision makers. Technically we as household owners own the BBC as we fund most of the company, as we pay for the BBC they then deliver quality content back to us.
- 5. Ownership BBC Trust is the governing body of the BBC, they make the decisions in all the best interests of the TV Licensing Fee payers, they also protect the independence of the BBC. The BBC Trust allows people the share their opinions and decide on what people may be interested to see on TV or on a BBC channel. They make sure that the BBC live up to fulfilling the main goals each TV Programme should fill. The BBC’s Royal Charter and Agreement set out all the rules which each BBC Trust employee must follow. As the BBC Trust makes sure that each programme follows all the rules, they also need to make sure that if a programme does not follow one of the 3 main tasks, Rona Fairhead, chairman of the BBC Trust and her 12 trustees who govern the licence fees can actually shut down that programme. They can also give warnings to the Programme to allow it to start fulfilling these factors. The BBC trust offers a issue which has licence to every BBC service, this also makes sure the BBC Trust expects the BBC to deliver and how much money can be spent. As there is now no such thing as the BBC Trust, it has actually become the BBC Board, it is techannaly the same thing as BBC Trust but with another name.
- 6. Ownership- Tony Hall Tony Hall is that Director General of the BBC, he was born in 1951 who went and studied at Oxford University. After Oxford Hall joined the BBC but only as a trainee back in 1973, later he started to work on production and become a producer, he worked on productions, such as, Today, the radio 4 early morning news channel. Tony Hall then became an editor of the nine o’clock news on BBC News at the age of 34. Hall then became the Director of BBC News and Television in 1990 and, combining TV and radio. However later in 2012 he was appointed as the BBC Director-General, he is till the Director- general today as he took the office back in April 2013.
- 7. Ownership- David Clementi David Clementi was born on the 25th of February 1949 and is an English business executive. He is currently BBC’s Chairman, this was appointed to him back in early 2017. Before he was given the role of the Chairman of the BBC he was also the Chairman of Virgin money in 2011 until 2015. Clementi graduated from Harvard business school and wanted to pursue a career in the finance industry, this then accumulated into his getting an appointment as the deputy Governor of the Bank of England.
- 8. Regulatory Bodies: The office of communications is the communications regulator in the UK. They regulate the TV, radio and video-on-demand sectors, fixed-line telecoms, mobiles and postal services. Ofcom has a code for television and radio, covering standards in programmes, sponsorship, product placement in television programmes, fairness and privacy. Broadcasters must make sure that all the rules follow the code, as they could be caught and sanctioned. Firstly, Ofcom may receive complaints the public viewers if they are not happy with some content that may be broadcasted. For example, if the content includes offensive material, people may complain to Ofcom. Ofcom will then look at the complaints, if they find that the broadcaster has included some of these features which breaks the code, they could be fined and/or cancel the show. Ofcom makes sure what programmes should be broadcasted before and after the watershed as some programmes may include inappropriate language. For example, one show that gets broadcasted before the watershed is Bargain Hunt, however Mrs Brown’s Boys is broadcasted after the watershed as it contains inappropriate language for younger viewers.
- 9. Regulatory Bodies: Recently the BBC have been accused of breaching broadcasting standards from a recent interview on Radio 4, this includes "not sufficiently challenging" the former chancellor of the exchequer. The BBC have said that the item broke its guidelines and said Lord Lawson should have been challenged "more robustly". This is the first time where Ofcom have found the BBC in breach since taking over the regulation of the company in 2017. In the Law and communications act 2003, Ofcom need to follow all these rules to make their service fair, It includes making sure that the BBC must have all their content both fair and challenged which also does not take offense to anyone. The Law states that Ofcom’s principal duty is to further the interests of citizens, and of consumers, where appropriate by promoting competition. Ofcom is also funded by its fees from the industries which it regulates, such as, the BBC. Ofcom is there to supervise its content and make sure its audience is safeguarded from specific content in the media, this includes offensive material. As Children are influenced with what adults do it is Ofcom's responsibility to make sure that children don't see mature content on Tv without permission, this may include a pin code on the TV.
- 10. Funding The BBC main source of funding is from The Public, they are funded by their TV Licenses which are paid by UK households. In 2013, BBC Cross-Media Reach Survey by GfK found that each household pends around 40p per day with the BBC. This would be 6p an hour, we also found that each household spends an average of 6.2 hours spent with the BBC. In 2013/14 the BBC had around £3.7 billion To spend on their Programmes, however another £1.3bn ws made Via commercial and other income for the broadcaster. Over the years the licensing fee for UK households have risen. Back in 2002, the BBC made around 2.68 billion from licensing fees. With colour TV’s people now need to pay around £145 a year, compared to Black And white Tv’s where people only needed to pay £49 a year. If people don't pay this fee they may be fined up to £1000. The BBC has its own Store on the BBC website. On the BBC shop, people are able to buy different TV series, programmes or films. All available items would be shows from the BBC francise. There are a selection of genres to buy different BBC shows from, it also allows the Public to browse different shows they may like to buy.
- 11. Funding From the money which the BBC make from licensing fees, they need to carry out certain responsibilities. For example, they need to collect all the licensing fee money as efficiently as possible, after they would need to then output it as cost efficient as possible for the BBC. Also they need to always make sure they maximise the funding from other sources. As the BBC makes its money via the UK households TV licence fees, they also make a lot of their money from merchandise through TV shows broadcasted on the BBC. The BBC use funding such as, selling formats, merchandises, product placement, DVD sales from the BBC Store, CDs and DVDs and selling books and magazines. For example a well known BBC series is Dr Who. BBC decided to sell Dr, Who merchandises such as DVDs, t-shirts, comic figures and toys to gain audience views. Synergy also increases revenue, combines talent and technology and reduces costs as the company can eliminate processes as the industry can expand on a popular programme and not have to create another programme but just expand on the current programme. Finally, BBC also used another type of media platform, spin-offs such as The Sarah Jane Adventures, Doctor Who Extra and Torchwood.
- 12. Funding Merchandise can be sold in many places such as Forbidden planet in London, this shop sells many products from shows and movies which fans would want to purchase. Websites are also used to sell merchandise such as another show named, In the Night Garden, this show is was roadcated on Cbeebies through 2007-2009. If children want to buy merchandise from the show they can visit their website which sells toys and teddies from the cbeebies show. Another way which the BBC may be funded is if other companies use an of their product, this includes companies such as netflix. If Netflix aired a show from the BBC they would be entitled to pay the BBC. If another country wants to make a show based on a BBC production they would need to pay the BBC, For example, Top Gear started as a british BBC programme but then turned into an american show named Top Gear America. Shows such as strictly come dancing also fund the BBC as people need to vote which costs money, also people will pay for tickets to see the show live. Another example of a selling format is Strictly Come Dancing, this started as a British show which has now been bought by many countries and is now shown from all over the world in their own format. This has been one of BBC’s Biggest Selling Format to date.
- 13. Funding Lastly one other way which the BBC is funded is using different product placement through the programmes aired on the BBC. this is where companies add other shows or references in its own show to grab a larger audience and promote different products. This may include shows such as eastenders promoting different food brands which then makes the audience want to try the type of foods. Back in 2011 Ofcom changed its guidelines to allow product placement on TV channels they regulate.
- 14. Synergy The BBC use different platforms to increase the ways of getting funded from different products. Synergy is the creation and promotion of a product or brand which has been created across different media platforms. This may be a programme which turns into a video game or even a book. Each element prompts another, it helps gain popularity with a number of different people, it also allows there to be a larger audience and variety of ages for the BBC product. One big example of synergy used in the BBC is Dr Who, as stated before Dr Who has become a Video Game, book, magazine, and audio soundtrack. Dr Who is run by the BBC, the series has been running for over 50 years and as stated before Dr Who has become a Video Game, book, magazine, and audio soundtrack plus many other different products. Another example of a BBC Programme which has used synergy is the BBC Tv Programme, Red Dwarf, this show has become a book, Video Game and website.
- 15. Synergy One other Big use of Synergy from the BBC is their own brand of magazines. The BBC create many different magazines which relate to a certain type of audience. For example, the BBC have created magazines such as, History, Focus, Top gear and Radio Times. Each magazine can appeal to a type of audience weather it be young people or older people, it can also relate to people who may be into technology or cars. The BBC have created magazines for everyone to enjoy. The BBC must Release a number of different products when it comes to synergy as they need it to relate to a wider audience. Each of their products must cator each type of audience.
- 16. Products and Services Each and every BBC product and services must take out a range of its audience, Everyone shown in the BBC must be show respectfully, no one in the BBC should be discriminated, the BBC must cover for everyone through their products. For example, in the BBC they are targeted around both young and older audiences, they target for a wide range of an audience. Programmes such as, BBC NEWS is aired here as its suitable for all ages and is watched by a large range of different people. Other shows such as eastenders and Dr Who are also broadcasted on BBC one which target’s everyone. Other channels such as BBC are targeted for more of an older audience as the channel doesn't start till later at night, Programmes such as ‘Family Guy’ and ‘Bad Education’ are broadcasted on here, this shows that the channel has a more teenage target audience as the shows include mature content. However BBC Two Targets an older and more mature audience as shows such as, ‘The Antique Roadshow’ and ‘Flog It’. These programmes may interest people 50 or above. The BBC also has channels for a more younger audience such as children, Both CBBC and Cbeebies broadcast shows for a younger audience and are also turned off after a certain time, this may be the times where the children may not be awake. CBBC is a service that has been created and run by BBC. CBBC provides a product such as children programmes like, The Dumping Ground, Horrible History, The Sarah Jane Adventures, Blue Peter and Friday Download. CBBC targets young children from ages of 8 years old up to 14 years old
- 17. Products and Services Other products and services are created for the audience in the BBC, these include websites. Some BBC websites are created to help its audience, an example is BBC Bitesize, this website is created to help its audine become educated and help them with subjects they need help with in school. BBC Bitesize help Children in school revise and prepare for their exams, this shows that this website has its own target audience of teenagers compared to another website, such as, BBC sports, this website focuses on a more mature and older audcnei who are interested in sports and want to know the latest news. BBC have also created apps such as, BBC News, this allows its audience to download it and use it anywhere, another app is BBC iplayer. BBC iplayer allows anyone with a TV Licence to watch any BBC shows on demand anywhere they are. There are many genres and channels which the audience can view when using this app. BBC iplayer is also a website which can be viewed on may other platforms too, such as, Tv’s and tablets. As BBC iplayer is an app it allows the BBC to stop airing certain shows as they can be viewed online for others to watch. For example the BBC is no longer a channel on Tv but can still be viewed by its audience on the BBC Iplayer app/Website.
- 18. Products and services BBC iplayer is being used by more and more people nowadays as you don't need a Tv to be able to view channels and shows on the BBC. BBC iplayer is one other the world's leading public service broadcaster with a variety of different people watching it. However the majority of the audience are young adults and adults. BBC Worldwide is a main commercial arm the helps to support the BBC public service and maximise profits on its behalf. They do this through investing in, commercialising and showcasing content from the BBC around the world. By showing the BBC content around the world, this will allow BBC to gain more audience views and receive revenue from different countries to allow the content to be shown in their country. Another famous subsidiaries is BBC Films. BBC Films is an industry that creates original films that are then presented on the BBC company. The industry creates British oriented films and presents the films to the British audience who pay the TV fee. Furthermore, BBC Films allows the British audience to watch films that they can watch then having to pay extra for another company that sells films for them to watch, so BBC Films provides the films that can benefit the audience and not have to pay extra as they already pay a TV license and give the audience another option to watch instead of just watching TV programmes.
- 19. Products and services BBC radio’s can also relate to a wide number of people, not only this but it relates to how the BBC channels work. For example as stated before each channel has its own specific audine, This is the same for Radios. Radio 1 is for all ages with modern music, Radio 1xtra focuses on a younger teenage audience. Radio 2 plays music more for an adult audience with old music back in the 70-80s. Lastly Radio 3 relates to a more older audience with composers being played through the day. Other radio channels like Radio Asia focuses on asian music for a audience who may listen to that type of music.