TV and Radio Organizations

For the BC1001 'roles and processes' module we have been required to look at various organizations within the media. We have looked at a few within class but primarily have been asked to research them in our own time. The following blog will look at a selection of companies I have been looking at.

The BBC

The British Broadcasting Company, most commonly known as the BBC is a public service broadcaster established by the Royal Charter and is the largest Broadcasting Company in the world. It is funded by the licence fees of British home owne rs in the UK, and its mission is to enrich people’s lives with programmes and services, that inform, educate and entertain. Its main vision is to become one of the most creative organizations in the world. This is something the BBC has always aimed to do since it was founded in 1922, and it's since come a long way now providing 8 national TV channels as well as regional programming, 10 national radio stations, 40 local radio stations and ever expanding internet based medium.

The BBC also has international services (funded by the government) broadcasting to the world on radio, TV and online as well as a commercial arm 'BBC World Wide' which operates from a range of businesses by selling programmes and merchandise.

Managing the day to day operation of the corporation is the BBC's executive board, chaired by Director General Mark Thompson and governing the BBC is the 'BBC Trust', chaired by Sir Michael Lyons.

BBC Director General Mark Thompson

Chairman of BBC TRUST Sir Michael Lyons

It should also be noted that the BBC have strict guidelines in relation to health and safety, with guidance in certain aspects of health, safety, security and environmental management.

BBFC

The British Board of Film Classification is an independent, non-government related company that has specialized in classifying films since its establishment in 1912, as well as also classifying videos since the passing of the Video Recording Act in 1984. Whilst the BBFC's main job is to classify film's the statutory powers on film remain with the local councils who may overrule any of the board’s decisions. They can therefore pass films that the Board had rejected and vice versa or even altering categories for films exhibited under their own licensing jurisdiction.

After the 1984 Video Recording Act was passed by parliament it was stated that any video recordings that were for sale or renting purposes must be classified by the board. It was from then on that the BBFC would test suitability for viewing at home and therefore would classify films for certain ages (as shown below). It was from this point on that the BBFC would change their name from the British Board of Film Censors, to the British Board of Film Classification as they felt that classification played a far larger part in the boards work than censorship.

BBFC Certification System

U - Suitable for ages 4 and over
PG - Parental Guidance
12 - Suitable for ages 12 and over
12A - Anyone under the age of 12 needs to be accompanied by an adult
15 - Suitable for ages 15 and over
18 - Suitable for ages 18 and over
R18 - Restricted 18. Only to be shown in licensed cinemas and sold in licensed shops

BARB

The Broadcasters Audience Research Board (commonly known as BARB) is an organisation responsible for providing official measurement of television audiences throughout the UK. They commission specialist companies to provide the audience measurement services on its behalf (these include Ipsos MORI, RSMB etc.).

BARB is responsible for providing estimates for a number of people that watch Television throughout the UK. This includes the channels and programmes different people watch, as well as the type of people watching at any one time. The data collected is received second by second and is then reported on a minute by minute basis for channels received within the UK. This data is available for reporting nationally (specifically on News Broadcasts) for terrestrial, satellite and cable reception in both analogue and digital platforms.

This works by using estimates obtained from 5100 specially selected television owning households within the UK, with each person representing around 5000 of the UK population. With 25+ million TV owning households in the UK, these results definitely vary and cannot always be considered especially accurate. This is simply because not everyone can have the same taste in TV programmes and also have different lifestyles, as well as that it should also be noted that the service only covers people in private households.

RAJAR

RAJAR (or Radio Joint Audience Research) are the radio equivalent to the television measurement service BARB, operating audience measurement for the radio industry. They work for most radio broadcasters, including the BBC, UK licensed services and other commercial stations. The company is owned by RadioCentre (the CRCA), the trade body representing commercial radio stations in the UK as well as the BBC. This means that any decisions made by RAJAR need to be agreed with both parties before being approved.

Like BARB, RAJAR is primarily a research company and a lot of their time goes into finding out what audiences want and what they believe could make the stations they listened too better. To do this they interview approximately 13000 people (over the age of 15) plus around 5000 children within 50 weeks, as well as collecting a majority of surveys. Currently, there are about 340 radio stations measured by RAJAR, about 60 of them being BBC stations.

PACT

The Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television (PACT) is a trade association that specialises in promoting and representing the commercial interests of a number of independent features. These include independent television, feature film, animation as well as new media production companies. To make sure it ensures peoples interests and aspirations the organisation is fronted by a council, all of whom are elected by members of PACT.

Pact actively lobbies government and regulators on rights and other business issues and devises and executes policy initiatives across TV, film, interactive media, children's and animation programming.

Ofcom

Ofcom stands for the Office of Communications, an independent organisation that regulates the UK's broadcasting, telecommunications and wireless communication sectors. Their main aim is to set and enforce fair rules for companies within these industries to follow.

A brief outlook at their main legal duties (as set by the Communications Act 2003) are to ensure the following:-

- The UK has a wide range of electronic communication services (in particularly high speed information services like Broadband);
- A wide selection of high quality Television and Radio programmes are provided, appealing to a range of tastes and interests;
- People who watch television and listen to the radio are protected from harmful and offensive material;
- People are protected from being treated poorly and having their privacy invaded by TV and radio programmes, &
- To make sure that the radio spectrum is used fairly and in the most effective way.

Ofcom is funded by fees from the industry and a government funded grant and whilst they may answer from the government they seem keen to stress that they are not actually part of it.

Their Broadcasting responsibilities are to licence all UK commercial television and radio services. These include all current TV channels and radio stations, digital radio services such as Freeview, Sky and Virgin Media as well as all digital radio stations, internet TV services like HomeChoice, Public Teletext and finally, community radio. All of these must follow a Broadcasting Code which sets out rules that television and radio broadcasters must follow. This is all too help set standards that will protect people under the age of 18 from unsuitable material whilst at the same time allowing broadcasters to have an appropriate amount of creative freedom.

ASA

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) are the regulators of advertisements, sales promotions and any form of direct marketing throughout the UK. They make sure standards remain high by applying advertising codes. Their aim from this it to make sure that they can stop misleading, harmful and offensive advertising as well as making sure sales promotions are run fairly.

To do this they require the public’s assistance and investigate people’s complaints about offensive or misleading material. They also monitor ad’s themselves to help spot any problems as well as researching into many areas. These include research into people’s attitudes towards various advertisements as well as compliance with the advertising standards codes within specific areas of media.

The Advertising Standards Codes are separated into separate codes for TV, Radio and all other types of advertisement. This also applies to Teletext ad’s, interactive ad’s and even Television scheduling ad’s although there are some ad’s that the ASA doesn’t look into (for example, TV and radio sponsorship etc). There are specific rules for certain products and marketing techniques. These specific rules are used for alcoholic drinks, health and beauty, children, motoring, environmental claims, gambling, direct marketing and prize promotions.