Q.4 Write a detailed note on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
Course: Broadcast Media in Distance Education
Level: B.Ed (1.5 Years)
ASSIGNMENT No. 1
Answer:
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British
public service broadcaster. Its headquarters are at Broadcasting House in
Westminster, London, and it is the world’s oldest national broadcasting organization
and the largest broadcaster in the world by several employees. It employs
over 20,950 staff in total, 16,672 of whom are in public sector broadcasting.
The total number of staff is 35,402 when part-time, flexible, and fixed contract staff are included.
The BBC is established under a Royal Charter and operates
under its Agreement with the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media, and
Sport. Its work is funded principally by an annual television license fee which
is charged to all British households, companies, and organizations using any
type of equipment to receive or record live television broadcasts and inlayer
catch-up. The fee is set by the British Government, agreed by Parliament, and
used to fund the BBC’s radio, TV, and online services covering the nations and
regions of the UK. Since 1 April 2014, it has also funded the BBC World Service
(launched in 1932 as the BBC Empire Service), which broadcasts in 28 languages
and provides comprehensive TV, radio, and online services in Arabic and
Persian.
Around a quarter of BBC’s revenue comes from its commercial
subsidiary BBC Studios Ltd (formerly BBC Worldwide), which sells BBC programs
and services internationally and also distributes the BBC’s international
24-hour English-language news services BBC World News, and from BBC.com,
provided by BBC Global News Ltd.
From its inception, through the Second World War (where its
broadcasts helped to unite the nation), to the 21st century, the BBC has played
a prominent role in British culture. It is also known colloquially as “The
Beeb”, “Auntie”, or a combination of both (as “Auntie Beeb” or “Auntie B”).
In 1927 the government decided to establish the British
Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) as a broadcasting monopoly operated by a board
of governors and director general. The BBC was funded by a license fee at a
rate set by parliament. The fee was paid by all owners of radio sets. The BBC, therefore, became the world’s first public-service broadcasting organization.
Unlike in the United States, advertising on the radio was banned.
John Reith was appointed director-general of the BBC. Reith
had a mission to educate and improve the audience and under his leadership, the
BBC developed a reputation for serious programs.
Reith also insisted that all radio announcers wore dinner
jackets while they were on the air. In the 1930s the BBC began to introduce
more sport and light entertainment on the radio.
The BBC began the world’s first regular television service in
1936. This service was halted during the Second World War and all of BBC’s efforts
were concentrated on radio broadcasting. In 1940 John Reith was appointed as
Minister of Information Writers such as J. B. Priestley, George Orwell, T. S.
Eliot, William Empson, and Charlotte Haldane were recruited by the BBC, and
radio was used for internal and external propaganda. This included broadcasting
radio programs to countries under the control of Nazi Germany. These radio programs
went out in 40 different languages.
The BBC television service was resumed in 1946 and by the
early 1950s, it became the dominant part of its activities. Its broadcasting
monopoly came to an end with the introduction of commercial television under
the Independent Television Authority in 1954. This was followed by the
introduction of commercial radio stations in 1972.
It has been claimed that BBC is the most universally
recognizable set of initials in the world. For example, by the end of the 20th
century, an estimated 150 million people were listening to BBC World Service
radio.
Related Topics
No comments:
Post a Comment
If you have any question related to children education, teacher education, school administration or any question related to education field do not hesitate asking. I will try my best to answer. Thanks.