The Television Handbook (Media Practice)

Other books in this series. The Newspapers Handbook Richard Keeble. The Photography Handbook Terence Wright. Table of contents Part 1: The Political Landscape 3. Working in Television 1. Working in a Television Studio 4. Working in Postproduction Part 3: Genre and Format 2. Schedule and Audience 3. Approaches to Narrative 4. News and Current Affairs: The public sphere 7. Music Video and Postmodernism Part 4: Idea to Image 1. By means of this discriminating ability, the educated person will be able to seek out what is valuable and reject what is not, thus gaining the means to become a better person and a more valuable citizen.

Clearly, this raises the ques- tion of how to judge what is good. It will also involve the assumption that what is ordinary, familiar and enjoyed by the majority of a population will probably be less valuable than what is enjoyed by an educated elite. So the discrimination between valuable and worthless subjects of study is parallel to, and supports, the discrimination between valuable people and worthless people. The formation of an elite collection of subjects to study goes hand in hand with the formation of an elite group of people who are more highly educated, discriminating and valuable as citizens than their ordinary contemporaries.

This set of interconnected assumptions about the value of education has had a huge impact on the kinds of attention given to television, and to the academic study of the television medium.

The Television Handbook : Jeremy Orlebar :

Television is the most pervasive audio-visual medium in contemporary society. Therefore, it is necessarily ordinary, familiar, and subject to the accusation that it is worthless because it is so available and integrated into everyday life. If such discriminations are to be made, there is also a problem 2 with how to locate the criteria that support this judgement. It seems quite 3 legitimate to claim that The Simpsons is a very important piece of cultural 4 work, because of its textual complexity, its self-awareness as television, 5 and its relevance to contemporary media landscapes and their audiences.

There is clearly an unsolved problem at 9 the moment, about how to judge the value of television in general and 10 specific programmes in particular. Competing arguments are advanced, for 11 and against the value of television and Television Studies, with no agreed 12 criteria for deciding which of these arguments is the stronger, or even the 13 more useful. We develop these ideas and debates further in subsequent chapters, and especially in relation to television drama programmes in 15 Chapter The first media related Act was the Wireless Telegraphy Act in Commercial broadcasting was started by an Act of Parliament in In the UK, successive governments have avoided a cut-throat and unfettered commercial market, such as that found in the US, by setting up broadcasting regulatory bodies to oversee all areas of broad- casting, including cable and satellite.

These bodies maintain technical and programme standards. They ensure that broadcasters provide a mix of programmes for a variety of audiences. They ensure that programmes do not offend against what is generally considered to be good taste or decency. They require that programmes are fair, and do not incite crime or racial hatred.

News should be accurate and impartial. They provide a code on the content of advertisements and regulate when and how often they can be shown. Until recently there were five different regulatory bodies covering the commercial broadcasting of radio and television, with wide ranging powers. In , the Labour Government under Tony Blair passed a new Communications Act that included the setting up of a new communications regulator for the digital age, called the Office of Communications, or Ofcom.

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The reason for its introduction was convergence in the media and telecoms industry, and the rise of cross-media companies such as AOL Time Warner and News International. The political landscape 9 Ofcom 2 3 Ofcom is the new broadcasting and telecommunications regulator, with 4 a wide brief. It replaces other broadcasting watchdogs including the Broad- 10 casting Standards Commission BSC which deals with taste and decency 11 matters on TV and radio, and the Radio Authority. It oversees telephone 12 services in the UK. It regulates the whole area of terrestrial and satellite 22 commercial television.

It regulates the use of commercials on television.

It is concerned with 24 media spectrum allocation including the allocation of mobile phone 25 wavelengths, and telephone landlines. It is formulating new rules on the 26 mergers of media companies, such as the merger between Carlton and 27 Granada. It can even comment on the way music is downloaded from 28 the internet. It will police the 9.

This is 27 per cent more than the previous five regulatory bodies cost. However, Ofcom says it now has more than statutory tasks and the extra expenditure is to cover some of its new powers. It employs people, over fewer staff than the five bodies it replaces. It is paid for mainly by the government for managing the airwaves spectrum, and by the commercial broadcasters and the telecoms companies. The BBC also contributes.


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How does it affect us? Ofcom is concerned with many aspects of the way digital data are trans- ferred. Most worryingly, it seems that Ofcom can be asked to investigate the content of television programmes where it is thought the content might affect the consumer. In the past, regu- lators have not been able to directly alter the content of programmes before transmission, but instead they have offered advice and provided guidelines. Broadcasters regularly consult the regulators to ensure their programmes do not breach programme codes. This is unlikely to change, but some people think Ofcom should flex its regulatory muscles in a variety of new ways.

Broadcasters hope the new body will encourage good programming and not stifle creativity. To find out more about Ofcom, you can consult its webpage and write, telephone or email: There is an email address dedicated to student inquiries: The political landscape 11 Convergence 2 3 Convergence is the coming together of multimedia digital technologies.

This allows for great flexi- 6 bility in delivery and storage of data. For example, a computer or a tele- 7 vision set linked to a broadband transmission system — satellite, telephone 8 line or cable — becomes an interactive communication module. It is able 9 to download music, video, sophisticated graphics, pay per view films, and 10 offer two-way interactive communication as well as receive broadcast 11 television programmes. There are potential difficulties here for a television 12 regulator as the dividing line between a television programme and other 13 internet content is blurred. Uncut films with a 15 rating cannot be 23 shown before 8.

Films 24 with an 18 rating cannot be shown before 9. In the UK, terrestrial television companies must provide some public service scheduling. This includes news and current affairs programmes and other programming that enlivens the cultural climate. Most developed countries have some degree of public service television funded by a form of licence fee and adver- tising.

All households with a television receiver are required by law to pay the licence fee. This upsets some people as it is seen as a compulsory tax. However, alternative methods of raising finance for PSB generally involve advertising or subscription fees or both. Governments do not like taxes that do not come to the treasury and are constantly looking for an alternative way to finance PSB, so far without success.

A recent Parliamentary review found that funding public service broadcasting by the licence fee was the best and most cost-effective method of maintaining the range and quality of the public service broadcasting provided by the BBC. Ofcom and public service broadcasting The terrestrial commercial television channels have a remit to provide some public service programming and to conform to the guidelines and codes set up by Ofcom.

Ofcom regulates taste and decency in all broadcasting, including BBC 3 radio and television programmes. It is already being said that Ofcom is being too heavy handed 8 in its regulation and is out of touch with modern culture. Ofcom does not 9 have the power to regulate standards of impartiality and accuracy in BBC 10 programmes. This continues to be regulated by the BBC governors. This will involve 13 detailed analysis of all the UK public service broadcasters: Broadcasters have 16 been asked to provide details of schedules, content and cost of practically 17 all the programmes they have shown in the public service sphere since 18 Ofcom is asking 6, people about what they want from public 19 service broadcasting.

Public service broadcasting is one 22 way of ensuring this. Until when Channel 4 began broadcasting there 23 was a duopoly of broadcasters — just the BBC and ITV — with light touch 24 regulation. Now with multichannel commercial television as a strong force 25 there is more regulation. The Communications Act introduced quotas 26 27 to ensure that certain types of programmes, such as arts, religious 28 programmes and current affairs, do not disappear from the schedules of 29 commercial television. Other projects offer the highest production values 35 from script writing to casting and are both popular and come within a 36 public service remit.

In devising their research into public service broadcasting Ofcom have divided PSB into four broad areas: Key public service programmes are in the areas of education, political coverage, news, the arts, religion, and the representation of diverse social groups.

It is run in the interests of its viewers and listeners. Twelve governors regulate it, appointed by the Queen with advice from government ministers. The advantage of this form of financing is that the BBC can concentrate on providing high-quality programmes, and interactive services, catering for everyone, including minority groups and organisations, without having to satisfy shareholders looking for profits.


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They also set its principal objectives, and approve strategy and policy. They are accountable to licence payers and to Parliament. BBC governors represent the public interest, and particularly the interests of viewers and listeners. The current Royal Charter and Agreement were granted in , and expire in The process of Charter renewal started in Governments continue to look at alternatives to the licence fee, and reports by Ofcom on the future funding of the BBC were sent to the government in One sugges- tion, known as top slicing, was that 5 per cent of the licence fee should be given to Channel 4 to make public service programmes.

The BBC runs eight 4 interactive national television channels, ten national radio networks, and 5 over 50 local television and radio services. Some services are on digital 6 platforms only. There is no advertising whatsoever on BBC channels, and 7 editorially the BBC is independent of any commercial or political inter- 8 ests. The BBC receives no revenue from advertising. Commercial radio 9 and television networks derive their revenue from various forms of adver- 10 tising and commercial sponsorship. The 13 BBC is also an important provider of broadcasting and media training. It supports British production skills and talent in music, drama, film, radio 15 and television.

Surveys have shown that the BBC is perceived to provide 16 excellent value for money, although it is not without its detractors. It 17 provides an astonishing range of broadcasting on radio and television with 18 two flagship national terrestrial television channels, BBC1 and BBC2. When granting consent to the BBC, in October 25 , for a permanent online service, the Department of Culture, Media 26 and Sport set out three core requirements: Modern international news rooms servicing domestic TV news and hour news channels require large amounts of video footage each day. A TV newsroom aims to get up- to-the-minute pictures on the air as soon as possible.

This is an extremely competitive business as news channels compete for the first pictures of a breaking news story. The main BBC newsroom in west London currently receives about hours of video every day. The news footage comes in to a new digital newsroom, utilising the latest technology such as the Sony XDCAM disc camcorders. The advantage of the disc camera system is that it records a preview video of the recorded pictures and sound.

This can be sent back to the newsroom at up to 50 times real time speed. The material can then be rapidly edited on a laptop, without the need to digitalise all the footage on the tape. Other hour news channels, such as Sky News, are similarly updating their newsroom technology, and providing faster and more sophisticated on-air and on-line services.

Sky News has a particularly fast rolling graphics service. Funding public service broadcasting The main terrestrial television channels available in all homes are regu- lated by Ofcom. They have to provide elements of public service broad- casting. For the commercial channels there is an obligation to provide a regular, quality news service throughout the day.

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There are other require- ments to do with programmes for minorities. A bone of contention for ITV1 is that they are required to broadcast regular religious programmes, and Ofcom has indicated that it may drop this requirement in the future. Public service broadcasting 17 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 15 16 17 Figure 3. The BBC 21 is the only public service broadcaster with no commercial funding.

It is 22 funded by the licence fee. There have been many attempts to invent an 23 alternative source of funding for what is seen by some as a retrogressive 24 compulsory tax. Other countries such as New Zealand have scrapped the 25 licence fee, and fund all channels with advertising. This has not led to a 26 better service for the viewers. Some European countries keep a smaller 27 licence fee and allow some advertising for their public service channels. This guarantees the independence of the BBC and particularly 33 its news and current affairs.

Alternative sources of funding include a 34 subscription service. This is how the public service channels in the US 35 are funded, often woefully inadequately. Another idea is to top slice the licence fee, and give some of 38 the money to other broadcasters who have a public service remit. There is the risk that public money would benefit shareholders rather than licence payers.

Another idea that is often floated is that the BBC should accept advertising. This would reduce the licence fee according to the amount of revenue generated by advertising. The main argument against this is that the revenues of the commercial broadcasters, particularly ITV, Channel 4 and Five, would be severely reduced. Other suggestions include a govern- ment grant, rather like a grant to an arts institution such as the National Theatre. It is very difficult to find a better way of funding a public service such as the BBC. There is no doubt that BBC services are very popular, reaching over 98 per cent of the UK population every week.

Surveys show that viewers prefer radio and television programmes that are not interrupted by adver- tising.

The Television Handbook

The BBC website with over 2 million pages is one of the most popular in the world, continually winning awards. This is grainy and lacks impact. Colour television with a resolution of lines was introduced in the s, 18 and the sharper picture and startling realism of colour was instantly a huge 19 success, providing not only a boost for manufacturers but also for the BBC.

Current digital technology is also generating changes in 23 all areas of television.