Television

B

1

BBC

In Britain, the dominant institution from the 1930s to the 1950s was the BBC, which had its roots in the British state’s conception of broadcasting as a public service, rather than as a commercial enterprise. This notion stressed the provision of information and education, as much as entertainment. The BBC had a royal charter, giving it a monopoly on programme production, and guaranteeing its income via the collection of radio and later television licences by the Post Office. To this day, the BBC carries no advertising.

B

2

ITV

In 1955 the British government opened a second channel for commercial TV (ITV—Independent Television), but this was still a heavily public service-oriented system. Fourteen regional franchises were allocated, with strict conditions attached: the successful companies would have to show a responsiveness to local conditions and a commitment to impartiality in order to maintain their franchise upon renewal in 1968, 1980, and 1992. Whereas the BBC was non-profit-making, and had to put its resources back into programmes, the commercial companies that bid for the ITV franchises were obliged to pay dividends to shareholders, and could use TV profits to subsidize other parts of their businesses. Arguably, the fact that audiences had to be as large as possible to attract advertisers meant that ITV programmes could not be as adventurous as some of those made by the BBC.

B

3

Channel 4

In 1982 a new mix of public-service broadcasting and commercial interests was introduced in Britain, with the launch of Channel 4. This involved a new system of programme production. Previously, programmes were made by the BBC or by the ITV franchise-holders, but Channel 4 makes none of its own programmes. Rather, it commissions programmes from independent production companies, and it has an obligation under its charter to show programmes for minorities not adequately catered for by the existing two BBC channels (BBC2 was launched in 1964) and ITV. New companies sprang up, mainly in London, to service Channel 4, and by the early 1990s, the BBC itself was obliged by law to commission much of its output from these independents. A fifth independent station, Channel 5, began transmission in March 1997.

C

Public Service Broadcasting

Public-service broadcasting is not the same thing as state broadcasting, but nor is it independent of the state. The British TV system relies on “arm’s length” regulation. The governors of the BBC and the authority controlling ITV have autonomy, but they are appointed by the state, and are made up of “the great and the good”. Regulations require broadcasters to be impartial and to produce programmes of quality, but these are terms that are open to different interpretations. At times, political pressure by the ruling party can be strong, especially in times of war or national crisis.

D

TV in France

The case of the TV system in post-war France suggests that state broadcasting involves much more direct forms of control than public-service systems. In the early 1960s, the Minister of the Interior would communicate with senior executives in Radio Television France, the only TV channel at the time, on a daily basis. Only in the mid-1970s was the system reformed to allow competition between channels, and a greater distance between government and broadcasters.