Public service broadcasting

Industries - Public service broadcasting

The British television industry is largely driven by public service broadcasting - the traditional TV channels that still account for the majority of TV viewing in this country.

These channels are regulated by Ofcom and have to deliver a certain amount of specific content in order to fulfil the terms of their license.


Public service broadcasting: notes

Public service broadcasting refers to broadcasting intended for public benefit rather than to serve commercial interests.

The media regulator Ofcom requires certain TV and radio broadcasters to fulfil certain requirements as part of their license to broadcast.

All of the BBC's television and radio stations have a public service remit.

The history of the BBC

The BBC was created in 1922 in response to new technology – the radio (or wireless as it was called then).

The BBC was set up to “inform, educate and entertain” – which is still its mission statement to this day. 

The BBC funding model: license fee

All BBC content (and some of Channel 4’s funding) comes from the License Fee, which costs £150.50 a year. 

You need a TV Licence to:

- watch or record live TV programmes on any channel

- download or watch any BBC programmes on iPlayer – live, catch up or on demand.

Some politicians want to scrap the license fee and change the BBC’s funding model.

Channel 4

Channel 4 is an important part of UK public service broadcasting. Read full details of Channel 4's remit here - there is plenty of important information regarding the channel's commitment to public service broadcasting and its unique funding model.

"Channel 4 is a publicly-owned and commercially-funded UK public service broadcaster, with a statutory remit to deliver high-quality, innovative, alternative content that challenges the status quo.

Channel 4 reinvests all profits back into programmes, at zero cost to the taxpayer. A ‘Robin Hood’ model of cross-funding means programmes that make money pay for others that are part of the PSB remit but that are loss-making e.g. News and Current Affairs." 

Opposition to public service broadcasting

Many people in Britain see public service broadcasting as a good thing – but not rival commercial broadcasters.  

James Murdoch, son of Rupert, has criticised BBC news. He says that free news on the BBC made it “incredibly difficult” for private news organisations to ask people to pay for their news.

Some politicians have argued that the BBC should not produce programmes such as Strictly Come Dancing so commercial broadcasters such as ITV or Sky can attract larger audiences in primetime.

Public service broadcasting: blog task

Create a new blogpost called 'Public service broadcasting' and complete the following tasks:

Ofcom report

Read the first few pages of this Ofcom report into Public Service Broadcasting in 2017.

1) How does the report suggest that TV viewing is changing?

• People are increasingly viewing content in a variety of different ways, both on the television set and on other devices. Young adults are watching a substantial amount of non-PSB content, and behavioral changes are happening not just in this group, but among those up to the age of 45.

2) What differences are highlighted between younger and older viewers?

• Between 2015 and 2016, average daily viewing among children and 16-24 year old each fell by 10 minutes, whereas viewing by over-64s increased by 2 minutes.

3) Does the report suggest audiences are satisfied with public service broadcasting TV channels?

• Overall, 78% of regular or occasional viewers of any PSB channel claim to be satisfied with PSB broadcasting, significantly higher than in 2015 (73%). 

4) Public service broadcasting channels are a major aspect of the UK cultural industries. How much money did PSB channels spend on UK-originated content in 2016? 

• They Spent on new UK content at peak time stood at £1.6bn in 2016

Goldsmiths report

Read this report from Goldsmiths University - A future for public service television: content and platforms in a digital world.

1) What does the report state has changed in the UK television market in the last 20 years?

• ITV has been transformed over the past 25 years as a result of the changes introduced by the 1990 Broadcasting Act and the greatly increased competition it now faces in a multi channel world. 

2) Look at page 4. What are the principles that the report suggests need to be embedded in regulation of public service broadcasting in future?

• Principles of independence, universality, citizenship, quality and diversity need to be embedded into the regulation and funding of an emerging digital media landscape.

3) What does the report say about the BBC?

• BBC is the most important part of the television ecology, but the model of universality underpinning its public service credentials is under threat. The BBC has been contracting in real terms and it is hard to sustain the case that it is damaging competitors. 

4) According to the report, how should the BBC be funded in future?

• With a more progressive funding mechanism such as a tiered platform-neutral household fee, a supplement to Council Tax or funding via general taxation with appropriate parliamentary safeguards. 

5) What does the report say about Channel 4?

• Channel 4 occupies a critical place in the public service ecology – supporting the independent production sector and airing content aimed specifically at diverse audiences. 

6) How should Channel 4 operate in future?

• Channel 4 should not be privatized also should significantly increase its provision for older children and young adults and restore some of the arts programming that has been in decline in recent years.

7) Look at page 10 - new kids on the block. What does the report say about new digital content providers and their link to public service broadcasting?

• Believe that the growing contribution to a digital media ecology made by these cultural institutions should be boosted by a specific public intervention.

Final questions - your opinion on public service broadcasting

1) Should the BBC retain its position as the UK’s public service broadcaster?

• Yes.

2) Is there a role for the BBC in the 21st century digital world?

• No.

3) Should the BBC funding model (license fee) change? How?

• Yes and they do this by using a more tiered platform-neutral household fee, a supplement to Council Tax.

Introduction to Representation

Taken

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPJVJBm9TPA&safe=true

1) The people and groups found in the Taken trailer are; a American dad who's daughter has been taken along with her best friend, the wife, best friends family, kidnappers in Paris and a man being tortured.

2) The dad is the most dominant in his portrayal, the reason is because of the screen time given to him in the trailer was quite large and this also applies to his daughter and his wife but the reason he's the most dominant in his portrayal is because of his voice over the action montage. The rest of the characters are mainly portrayed alternatively due to just being the there to add to the plot, however this can not be said for main kidnapper who we only see for a glance, but is because even though he has so little screen time in the trailer (a flash of him) it is done purposefully so to add impact to his character.

3) Stereotypes found within the trailer are the perfect little family, as well as the male being predominantly in charge and the females being weak frail characters that need looking after, seen from the daughter and father in the trailer.

4) The Taken trailer could have offended or have alienated certain groups because it shows how men have to be tough and strong whilst women are displayed as being weak and frailer than them which is why groups like the LGBT+ and feminist may feel offended or alienated by the film. 

5) Mainstream films and television texts such as Taken often use stereotypes because even though the times are constantly changing these stereotypes actually used to be the norm for a lot of people and these people like things like this and feel comfortable with these stereotypes and make up most of the viewing audience for the mainstream films and television texts such as Taken, which is why they so often use stereotypes.

No Offence

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9_lAFLVqME&safe=true

1) A group of bobbies (British police) go above and beyond to bring down the criminal rabble in a crumbling cop-shop and chavs.

2) The group of bobbies and chavs are portrayed dominantly, the reason this is done so was to show the viewing audience the main cast and to show the show is humorous, whilst the alternative portrayal of the criminal rabble in Britain are done so to show how they are insignificant compared compared to the group of bobbies.

3)Stereotypes in the trailer are that British people are chavs.

4)The No Offence trailer could have offended or have alienated certain groups because it shows highbrow British people the chavy side of their homeland, which they might try to avoid.

5) Mainstream films and television texts such as No Offence often use stereotypes because they want to get to a more traditional and loyal audience, however in this case they had done it to add a comedic effect.

Theories

1) "The cultivation theory" (Gerbner), the idea that films don’t show what we want to see, but makes  us want to see what it wants through exposure of what they want multiple times.Plus tv is a medium of socialisation, so we get taught how to act through what we see.

2)The regulatory framework of contemporary media with a focus on PSB (Public Service Broadcasting.For an example The killing looks at gender stereotypes and women’s rights helps people become aware of these things through their show.

3)"Cultural Industries theory" from Hesmondhalgh is the idea that the cultural i industry includes vertical and horizontal integration. Vertical integration is when a business like a clothing shop also owns the manufacturing company that produces the wool for their business and horizontal integration is when the the shop promotes their business through tweets. Also synergy is the coming together of multiple elements.

4)Stuart Hall’s "Reception theory" is about encoding and decoding.Encoding is about how the creator of a product, show, play etc, etc wants you to react whilst decoding is about any other view point.Reviews of The Killing from The Times and The Guardian show  ending and decoding:

• The Times -"Probably the best crime drama in the world”.
• The Guardian - "Classy and Compelling”.

Taaha and Lewis Media Montage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oB1e3SwRrU&safe=true

Narrative Strand

A narrative strand is a story which focuses on a certain character. In a single narrative strand the story focuses only on a single hero or heroine in the story for instances like superman or Spiderman. A multiple narrative strand focuses on multiple characters for example X-men.

The different types of narrative structures in short stories:

• Linear narration - linear structures are the most common of the narrative structures.
• Flashbacks and streams of consciousness. Short stories written on nonlinear narrative structures are not concerned with chronological sequencing of events.

• Parallel and Framing Structures...
• Circular stories.

The Killing

Steve Neale - Genre is instances of repetition and differences.

• Female lead in film Noir and bleak view of humanity (female detective with with dull natural lighting look out of the window of her car with heavy rain outside - metaphor for a dull view of humanity)
• Sexualisation in film Noir but with the male gender instead (male sex doll at the start).

Todorov - The theory of equilibrium and distribution.

• The lead actress cancels her flight to catch the killer (her plan to start anew, in a new place with her son and boyfriend was disrupted the missing girl case she’s working on).
• The father of the girl that’s missing going to work happily but, then finding out his daughters missing (the pitch perfect life of the victim family is shown with the scene of her father and mother messing about which is further empathised by the orangish lighting in the background, which is mise en scene, however is thrown in disruption when the mother tells the father their precious daughter is missing).

Strauss - The theory of binary opposition

• We know everything about the detective but, nothing about the killer - The known vs The unknown.
• The detectives home life is great whereas the victims family is in disraught - Happiness vs sadness.

Knight - The prolonging of the inevitable

• The police trying to find out weather or not the heroine in the story is alive or not.
• The council man not confronting the mole in his part, his lover.

The killing

In the killing we see how "mise en scene" shows character through the use of costumes and lighting, an example of this is when the female lead is shown with normal, almost formal attire in dim lighting which shows how the she's serious about her job and is a women in power not a damsel in distress like in your typical film Noire, showing a clear following of Neale’s theory of genre.

Also the "editing" in the killing in the beginning is quite fast and uses a lot of jump cuts to show the intensity of the scene of the naked women being chased through the woods almost as if a rapid beating heart further increasing tension.Another thing about the editing in the beginning is that after the jump cuts in the chase they editors would jump to the opening credits and in the background you would see an indistinct image of something, these cuts would continue for a while until the image became more distinct and in the end it’s an image of a fingerprint.This reveal of the the print is slow almost as if to show that the story of the show will be like this, slow, but revealing at the same time.

Another thing to mention in the Killing is the "sound" especially with the chase of the women when she's running away from her purser, is that the sound is quite muffled and ragged adding an almost out breath feeling increasing the intensity of the scene, not only that, when we see her being able to catch her breath after hiding behind a tree the sound quiets down almost as if the calm before the storm(when she's caught) further increasing the suspense before the climax, which follows Knight’s theory of suspense.