Before the advent of digital television in the UK, five main television channels dominated British television. With the increasing popularity of digital television, all are expanding and offering a portfolio of digital-only channels to viewers.
The BBC is the world's oldest and biggest broadcaster, and is the country's first and largest public service broadcaster. The BBC is funded by a television licence fee that all households with a television must pay. 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. As well as these two analogue services, the British Broadcasting Corporation now also offers digital services BBC Three, BBC Four, BBC News 24, BBC Parliament, CBBC Channel, CBeebies, BBCi and has trialled BBC HD.
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. Unlike the BBC, ITV funds itself by showing television commercials. Despite the proliferation of channels, ITV is still the UK's biggest commercial broadcaster in the country. Its flagship analogue channel is ITV1, though it also now runs digital-only television channels ITV2, ITV3, ITV4, ITV Play, CITV and Men & Motors.
These channels were launched in 1982, and although state owned, Channel 4 is funded by its commercial activities (including advertising). The situation is more complex with S4C, as the BBC produces some programming, and the channel also has Welsh language obligations. Channel 4 has expanded into digital television, now offering E4, More 4 and Film4 on all digital platforms. S4C has also expanded, offering S4C2 in Wales. S4C has announced that once the Wales digital switch over is completed it will become a Welsh language only channel and not broadcast anything in English. This is due to the fact that Channel 4 will be available to the whole of Wales for the first time and not only to those households lucky enough to live within the range of an English transmitter.
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. RTL Group, Europe's largest television broadcaster, took full control of the channel in August 2005. Five launched two new channels, Five US and Five Life in October 2006.
All of these channels are also carried on satellite television, cable television and digital terrestrial television services.
Free-to-air analogue terrestrial networksBritish television differs from other countries, such as the United States, such that programmes produced in Britain do not generally have a long 'season' run of around 20 weeks. Instead, programmes are produced in a series, a set of episodes varying in length, usually aired over a period of a few months.
Weekday programming on terrestrial channels begin with national news programmes (along with regional news updates) on BBC One and ITV 1, with children's programming on BBC Two and Five. Channel 4, on the other hand, has a variety of morning programmes, appealing to a wide audience, including horse racing and T4, Channel 4's teen to young adult orientated channel. The morning news finishes at 09:00 for BBC One and 9:25 for ITV 1. Following this, lifestyle programming is shown. Typically, this occurs on all channels by 11:00, continuing until 16:00. Also included is a lunch time news update on BBC One and ITV 1. Following this, further children's programming is shown on BBC One, and all channels will eventually switch to entertainment programming, including soaps and game shows. Between 18:00 and 20:00, BBC One, ITV 1, Channel 4 and five all shown early evening news, with BBC One and ITV 1 following this up with late evening news after 20:00.
Prime time programming is usually dominated by further soaps - including Eastenders on BBC One and Coronation Street and Emmerdale on ITV 1 - and entertainment programming. These entertainment programmes can vary throughout the year, however weekly dramas such as Holby City, are also fixed to scheduling. Because of this, the UK can often rely more heavily on TV guides, be it with the newspaper, online on as available on information services on the television: Ceefax/Teletext/BBCi as well as built in Electrionic Programme Guides.
Weekend programming traditionally contains further children's, lifestyle programming, as well as sporting events and the occasional afternoon film. There are further battles for viewers in the weekend prime time slot, often featuring reality or talent game shows in the evening. Morning and late evening news programmes still continue on BBC One and ITV 1, yet even these can be shifted about due to delays in sporting events.
After midnight, when late evening films are shown, channels 'close down'. Before 2000, the channels simply shut, displaying news in the form of Ceefax or a test card. However, recently programming has been shown continually. BBC channels will join BBC News 24 in a multichannel simulcast. ITV 1 switches to ITV Play, a phone-in competition service. Channel 4 will show wills and, depending on the time of year, they may show live feeds of Big Brother (in the Summer) and its spin-off Celebrity Big Brother (in January). Five may show sport, from around the world, including Boxing and football from European leagues.
Programming
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. It is owned by News Corporation.
Owned by the cable provider Virgin Media and operates several channels, e.g., Living, Bravo, Trouble. 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 and the bulk of viewing is on channels provided by these broadcasters. The most watched digital channels are owned by these networks also. There are other broadcasters who have secured a notable place on British television including Discovery Channel, Viacom International and EMAP, which all 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 ITV Border, ITV Westcountry and ITV Wales analogue service switched off. 2009: ITV Granada, ITV West, and STV. 2010: ITV Central, ITV Yorkshire and ITV Anglia, 2011: ITV Meridian, ITV London, ITV Tyne Tees and UTV, and finally 2012: ITV Channel Television.
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.
Digital Networks
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