British television

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

Thee are six major broadcasters:

Free-to-air analogue terrestrial networks:

  • BBC. The BBC is the oldest British broadcaster. Its analogue channels are BBC One and BBC Two. The BBC first began a television service, initially serving London only, in 1936. BBC Television was closed during World War II but reopened in 1946. The second station, BBC Two, was launched in 1964.
  • ITV. ITV (Independent Television) was the name given to the original commercial British television broadcasters, set up on a regional basis in 1955 to provide competition to the BBC. Almost all of these companies have now merged into a single business. Its flagship analogue channel is ITV1.
  • Channel 4 and S4C in Wales. They were launched in 1982, and although state owned, Channel 4 is funded by it's commercial activities (including advertising). The situation is more complex with S4C~, as the BBC produces some programming.
  • Five. Five (previously known as Channel 5) was the final analogue broadcaster to be launched, in 1997. Its coverage is less than that of the other analogue broadcasters.

All of these channels are also carried on satellite television, cable television and digital terrestrial television services.

Digital Networks:

  • BSkyB. BSkyB (British Sky Broadcasting) operates a satellite television service and numerous television channels e.g. Sky One, Sky Two, Sky Three, Sky Movies, Sky Sports etc. It is owned by News Corporation.
  • Flextech. Owned by the cable provider NTL and operates several channels, e.g. Living TV, Bravo, Trouble etc. It also owns 50% of the UKTV company (The other 50% is owned by the BBC).

These six broadcasters dominate british television. The terrestrial networks all operate numerous digital channels (except Five, which is set to launch two digital channels later this year) and the bulk of viewing is on channels provided by these broadcasters. The most watched digital channels are all owned by these broadcasters. There are other broadcasters who have secured a notable place on british television including Discovery Channel, MTV and EMAP, which both provide multiple channels.

No further analogue broadcasters are expected to be launched, and efforts are being made to popularise the uptake of digital television so that analogue television broadcasts can be discontinued and the bandwidth allocated can be reused. The analogue service is to be switched off over a 5 year plan starting in 2008 and finishing in 2012. 2008 will see Border, Westcountry and HTV Wales analogue service switched off. 2009: Granada, HTV West, Grampian and Scottish. 2010: Central, Yorkshire and Anglia, 2011: Meridian, London, Tyne Tees and UTV. and finally 2012 Channel TV.

With the passage of UK’s Communications Act 2003, there are no longer any foreign-ownership restrictions in the UK’s television programming services, cable and Direct-to-Home satellite television sectors. To counterbalance the removal of foreign-ownership restrictions for companies in the broadcasting sector, the UK government has increased the power of the regulatory body, which is called Ofcom.

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Digital terrestrial television

Digital terrestrial television was originally launched as a subscription-based service by a company called ONdigital, later ITV Digital, which failed commercially. The digital television service was relaunched as Freeview, a free-to-air service which is promoted by the BBC. The Freeview package includes all of the terrestrial channels mentioned above, some extra BBC channels, and a selection of the specialist channels found on the three subscription services, but not any of the premium ones such as top sport and movie channels. A more limited package of subscription channels has since been added under the name Top Up TV.

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Cable and satellite

The major competitors to the old free-to-air analogue broadcasters are the subscription-based services of the regional cable companies NTL and Telewest, and the satellite broadcaster BSkyB, whose Sky Digital system is available nationwide, as well as in Ireland.

In 2005, NTL announced the purchase of its rival Telewest, establishing a single dominant company offering telephone, digital television, and high-speed broadband in the UK. The merger is widely rumoured to be intended to create an effective competitor to BSkyB. Sky have now reacted to this move, with the purchase of Easynet, in a bid to match NTL's "triple-play" offering.

Freesat from Sky, a satellite-based free-to-air service similar to Freeview, is available from BSkyB for an initial installation charge of £150, and includes receiver, dish, viewing card, with access to all FTA and FTV* channels in the UK.

  • UK mainland address required.

Alternatively, existing Sky customers can end their ongoing subscriptions, and opt for the Free-To-View viewing card, which is inserted into the Sky Viewing Card slot; effectivley giving them the FreeSat from Sky service.

Freesat from Sky is not to be confused with the Freesat service which is yet to be launched.

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See also

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External links

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