Strategy, Positioning and Projection in Digital Television: Channel Four and the Commercialization of Public Service Broadcasting in the UK

2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 774-799 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgina Born
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Digital Television ◽  
Television Channel ◽  
Public Service Broadcasting ◽  
The Uk

scholarly journals ‘More than a Television Channel’

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
Hannah Andrews
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Digital Television ◽  
Test Case ◽  
Commercial Television ◽  
Television Channel ◽  
Television Industry ◽  
Commercial Viability ◽  
Distribution Company ◽  
The Uk

Obliged by act of Parliament to ‘innovate and experiment’, Channel 4 has, since its birth in 1982, been the UK’s most pioneering commercial television broadcaster. Its arrival broadened the meaning, function and operations of public service broadcasting in the UK, with a particular focus on minorities and pushing boundaries, political and creative. In the late 1990s, though, it was under increasing threat from specialist pay-TV services that could more accurately target its audiences. As a commercially funded channel with public service responsibilities, Channel 4 was under increasing pressure to be financially independent and fulfil a challenging remit. Its response to a threatened income and increasing competition was to diversify its portfolio into various media related businesses, particularly taking advantage of the arrival of digital television to expand its offer. The subtitle of the Corporation’s 2000 Annual report, ‘More than a Television Channel’ indicates the confidence, optimism and boldness with which this expansion was approached. The rapid expansion of the channel’s portfolio in a time of relative confidence in the commercial viability of the television industry was to be reversed only a few years later, when, after it failed to produce the returns it was designed for, 4Ventures was drastically scaled back, and Channel 4 refocused its efforts on the core broadcast channel. Channel 4 therefore offers a test case in the limits of convergence as a strategy for survival for British broadcasters at the arrival of digital television. This paper focuses specifically on the areas of Channel 4’s strategy that pertained to one of the broadcaster’s particular strengths: film culture. It explores one of the film offshoots of 4Ventures: FilmFour Ltd, the film finance, production, sales and distribution company and how its failure to find a commercial hit mirrors the general problems for a commercial public service broadcaster in expanding to become a convergent television company.

The Purposes of Broadcasting – Revisited

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Petley
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Significant Part ◽  
Public Service Broadcasting ◽  
Conservative Government ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Uk

This chapter focuses on a report on the future of broadcasting in the UK commissioned in 1960 by the then Conservative government. It suggests that the most significant part of the report for current debates about the future of the BBC in particular, and of public service broadcasting in general, is its robust and combative dismissal of the populist approach to television — an approach which thoroughly infused many of the attacks on the report and which has become a hallmark of the many onslaughts on public service broadcasting in the intervening years. Today, we desperately need an analysis of both the strengths and weaknesses of public service broadcasting as it currently exists, as well as a blueprint for its future, which is as profound, challenging, well-informed, and intellectually self-confident as was the report when it was published in 1962.

Devolution and Communications Policy in Scotland

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Schlesinger
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Political Class ◽  
Communications Policy ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
Public Service Broadcasting ◽  
Scottish Parliament ◽  
The Media ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Media Concentration

This chapter illustrates how ‘most of the Holyrood political class has been reluctant to explore the boundaries between the devolved and the reserved’, even on less life-and-death issues such as broadcasting. Conversely, it also tells of at least one post-devolution success story for classic informal pre-devolution-style ‘Scottish lobbying’ in Westminster. Scotland is presently one of the UK's leading audiovisual production centres, with Glasgow as the linchpin. The capacity of the Scottish Parliament to debate questions of media concentration but also its incapacity to act legislatively has been observed. There are both political and economic calculations behind the refusal to devolve powers over the media via the Communications Act 2003. Ofcom now has a key role in policing the terms of trade for regional production that falls within a public service broadcaster's target across the UK. The BBC's position as the principal vehicle of public service broadcasting has come increasingly under question. The Gaelic Media Service set up under the Communications Act 2003 has a line of responsibility to Ofcom in London. Scottish Advisory Committee on Telecommunications (SACOT) determined four key regulatory issues needing future attention by Ofcom.

scholarly journals Public Service Media, Old and New: Vitalizing a Civic Culture?

1999 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Dahlgreen
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Civic Culture ◽  
Digital Television ◽  
Commercial Television ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Service Broadcasting ◽  
Social Fragmentation ◽  
Service Project ◽  
Democratic Character

Abstract: By the mid-1990s, the crisis in public service broadcasting in Sweden had passed and a new stability had emerged. In this situation, the two non-commercial television channels share the airwaves-and the public-chiefly with the new commercial terrestrial channel, TV4. This channel manifests a form of "popular public service." Yet the new stability is being challenged by social and cultural developments in Sweden, especially various forms of social fragmentation. The main argument is that a key role of public service broadcasting must be to enhance the democratic character of society. This can best be achieved by promoting what is called a civic culture, and the text discusses what this entails. The discussion concludes with some reflections on the emergence of digital television and how it could best further the public service project. Résumé: Au milieu des années 90, la crise dans la radiodiffusion de service public en Suède prend fin et une nouvelle stabilité s'instaure. À ce moment-là, les deux chaînes de télévision non-commerciales partagent les ondes-et le public-principalement avec TV4, une nouvelle chaîne terrestre commerciale. Cette dernière offre une forme de «service public populaire». Aujourd'hui, cependant, certains développements sociaux et culturels, surtout sous diverses formes de fragmentation sociale, sont en train de bouleverser cette nouvelle stabilité. L'idée principale est qu'un rôle clé de la radiodiffusion de service publique doit être de mettre en valeur la nature démocratique de la société. La meilleure façon d'accomplir cet objectif est de promouvoir ce qui s'appelle une culture civique, et l'article discute de ce qu'une telle culture comporterait. La discussion prend fin avec certaines observations sur l'émergence de la télévision digitale et la manière dont celle-ci peut faire avancer le projet de service au public.

scholarly journals Public Service Broadcasting: The challenge of representing ethnic minority audiences

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-51
Author(s):  
Gurvinder Aujla-Sidhu
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Minority ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Target Audience ◽  
Radio Station ◽  
Director General ◽  
Public Service Broadcasting ◽  
Media Construction ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Uk

This paper examines the problems the BBC has in engaging and representing minority audiences. The Director General of the BBC, Tony Hall, has claimed that he wants the future BBC to “represent every family and community in the UK” (June 2014). Not an easy feat when the BBC’s own research indicates that it is failing to attract ethnic minority audiences (BBC Service Review 2012). Critics such as Hall (1990) have suggested the problem is the media construction of “race” as an issue and its definitions. The paper will focus on the BBC Asian Network, a radio station which was almost closed down in 2010, ostensibly because it was the most expensive BBC radio service to operate, and had very low listener figures. Producers and Editors explain the issues they face in attracting and retaining the target audience.

Children and Public Service Broadcasting

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Livingstone ◽  
Claire Local
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Television Viewing ◽  
Children's Television ◽  
Online Content ◽  
Public Service Broadcasting ◽  
On Demand ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Television Plays

Much has been said about the future of public service content, the growth of multiple platforms, new market and regulatory pressures, and changing audience preferences and practices, among other widely debated topics. However, little attention has been paid to the role that public service television plays in educating, entertaining, and broadening the horizons of children in the UK. This chapter focuses on how public service television can better serve a child audience that spends on average at least 35 hours per week consuming broadcast, on-demand, and online content. It discusses how children still view public service television on a television set; whether children's television viewing really in decline; the case for online provision of children's public service television; the case for online provision for children of other public service content; and the case for enhancing the ‘discoverability’ of children's public service content.

Television and Public Service: A Brief History1

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Service Broadcasting ◽  
Broadcasting Policy ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Uk ◽  
British Culture

This chapter traces the history of public service television. The history of British public service broadcasting policy in the 20th century is characterized by a series of very deliberate public interventions into what might otherwise have developed as a straightforward commercial marketplace. The creation of the BBC, the launch of an ITV network required to produce public service programming, and the addition of the highly idiosyncratic Channel 4 gave the UK a television ecology animated by quality, breadth of programming and an orientation towards serving the public interest. At each of these three moments, the possibilities of public service television were expanded and British culture enriched as a result. The 1990 Broadcasting Act and the fair wind given to multichannel services may have ended the supremacy of the public service television ideal. However, public service television has survived, through the design of the institutions responsible for it, because of legislative protection, and as a result of its continuing popularity amongst the public.

Public Service Television in Wales

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caitriona Noonan ◽  
Sian Powell
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
English Language ◽  
Limited Range ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Public Service Broadcasting ◽  
News Sources ◽  
Culture History ◽  
Informed Citizenry ◽  
Broadcasting Service ◽  
The Uk

This chapter discusses the role of public service broadcasting and its broadcasters in Wales. Public service broadcasting plays a crucial role in enhancing citizens' understanding of their culture, history, and political system. In Wales particularly, there is a limited range of news sources about devolved politics. A 2016 survey in Wales found that many readers relied on news produced in England, or UK-wide news, which has limited information about Welsh affairs. Therefore, while the provision of an effective public service broadcasting service is crucial throughout the UK, it is central to the future of a well-informed citizenry and publicly accountable government in Wales. One of the biggest changes in television provision in Wales relates to English-language programming. With the significant decrease within both the BBC and ITV in terms of both output and spend, there has been a narrowing of programmes and genres in Wales.

Debating ‘Distinctiveness’: How Useful a Concept is it in Measuring the Value and Impact of the BBC?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Goddard
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Public Value ◽  
Public Service Broadcasting ◽  
Cultural Life ◽  
The Uk

This chapter considers the concept of distinctiveness in public service broadcasting. The notion of distinctiveness is relatively new in regulatory terms. The words ‘distinctive’ or ‘distinctiveness’ do not appear at all in the 2007 Charter and only once (requiring the BBC to enrich ‘the cultural life of the UK through creative excellence in distinctive and original content’) in the accompanying Agreement. Distinctiveness can be taken to mean original rather than imitative, foregrounding quality and public value, antipopulist, and different from other channels' programming. Hence, although these might all be worthy aspirations for a public service broadcaster, it appears that distinctiveness is a rather elastic term and at times a contradictory one.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document