List of BBC related topics

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The subject of the BBC as the broadcasting service of the United Kingdom, is associated with many inter-related articles in this encyclopedia. This alphabetical Index is intended to allow readers quick access to any or all of these subjects by providing a link to the article with the first few lines reproduced from the top of that article by way of its description.

Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

[edit] A

• Alexandra Palace: Alexandra Palace was built on a hill in Muswell Hill in North London in 1873 as a public entertainment centre. It is now a conference centre operated by a charitable trust. It was nicknamed "The People's Palace", or "Ally Pally", and in 1936 became the headquarters of world's first regular public television service, operated by the BBC
• America: BBC America is the BBC Worldwide owned-and-operated cable television network in the United States, which was launched on March 29, 1998.
• Asian Network: BBC Asian Network is a BBC national radio station based in Birmingham reflecting Asian (in the British context, meaning those countries from the former Indian Empire, now India, Bangladesh, Pakistan) life, culture and music in the UK. Produced by BBC Birmingham from their Mailbox studios, it broadcasts nationally on DAB and digital TV via satellite, cable and Freeview. It is also available in the Midlands via AM, in the Birmingham area and Leicester (which has some variation in programming from the Birmingham frequency).

[edit] B

• Band: The BBC Big Band, sometimes called the BBC Radio Big Band, is a British band run under the auspices of the BBC.
• Birmingham: BBC Birmingham is one of the oldest regional arms of the BBC. It was the first region outside of London to start broadcasting both the corporation's radio (in 1922) and television (in 1948) transmissions from the Sutton Coldfield television transmitter. For many years, BBC Birmingham was based at the famous Pebble Mill studios, but in 2004 moved to the brand-new Mailbox facility in the centre of the city.
• Bristol: BBC Radio Bristol is the BBC Local Radio service for the English city of Bristol and surrounding area. Launched in September 1970, it broadcasts from its studios in Bristol on 94.9, 95.5, 104.6 FM, 1548 AM and DAB.
• British Broadcasting Company: British Broadcasting Company, Ltd. was a British commercial company formed on October 18, 1922 by British and American electrical companies doing business in the United Kingdom. Its original office was located on the fifth floor of the General Electric building in London. On December 14, 1922, John Reith was hired to become the Managing Director of the company. On December 31, 1926, the company was dissolved and its assets were transferred to the Crown Chartered British Broadcasting Corporation.
• British Broadcasting Corporation: The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was formed in 1927 by means of a royal charter from the Crown. (For the prior history of the BBC before 1927, see British Broadcasting Company.) Today the BBC is the national publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It both produces programmes and broadcasts on television, radio and the Internet. Its primary domestic services on television include BBC One and BBC Two, the news channel and BBC News 24 and on radio: Radio 1 and Radio 4. In addition the BBC operates the BBC World Service on radio and a television world service funded by and operated in cooperation with the British Foreign Office.
• Broadcasting House: Broadcasting House is the headquarters of the BBC in London, England. Situated in Portland Place, it is normally home to Radio 2, 3, 4, 6 Music and BBC 7. Architect G Val Meyer designed the building, which was officially opened on May 14, 1932 and is now Grade II* listed.

[edit] C

• Cambridgeshire: BBC Radio Cambridgeshire is the BBC Local Radio service for the English county of Cambridgeshire. It broadcasts from its studios in Cambridge on 96 and 95.7 FM and on DAB.
• Canada: BBC Canada is a general entertainment channel available on cable and satellite TV. It is a joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Canadian broadcaster, Alliance Atlantis, along with BBC Kids. Owing to Canada's broadcasting regulations, BBC Canada must carry a quota of Canadian programming, which means that in addition to BBC programmes, it also carries Canadian shows such as Due South and Street Legal.
• Choirs
  • The BBC Symphony Chorus is one of the UK's leading amateur choruses. It frequently works with BBC Symphony Orchestra and is the resident choir at the BBC Proms.
  • The BBC Singers are Britain's only full-time professional chamber choir.
• Commercial Service: BBC Worldwide Limited is the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in 1995. BBC Enterprises had been operating the commercial exploitation of BBC programmes and other properties for the previous twenty years, having been a successor of BBC Exploitation, a department set up to oversee the commercial exploitation of programme properties through books, toys and the like in the early 1960s.
• Computer: The BBC Micro, affectionately known as the Beeb, was an early home computer. It was designed and built by Acorn Computers Ltd for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
• Controversies: BBC controversies - The BBC has been the subject of many controversies that have been widely reported elsewhere which can be documented as to their source within this article. Although the BBC has generally sought to distance itself from controversy, it has generated controversy due to its unique position within British society. The following documented subjects reflect some of the controversial issues in which the BBC has become involved. The reporting of the controversy does not imply either agreement or disagreement with any aspect of the controversy itself, merely that the controversy has taken place and that it has been widely reported and previously documented.
• Crown Castle UK: until 1997, the BBC used to own and operate its own transmitters. In 1997 BBC Transmission was privatised. The bulk of the network of transmitters was sold to and is now leased back from Crown Castle UK.

[edit] D

• Director-General: Director-General of the BBC.
• Drama: BBC television drama - The British Broadcasting Corporation has been a producer and broadcaster of television drama since even before it had an officially-established television broadcasting network in the United Kingdom. As with any major broadcast network, drama forms an important part of its schedule, with many of the BBC's top-rated programmes being from this genre. Several BBC productions have also been exported to and screened in other countries, particularly in the United States PBS network's Masterpiece Theatre strand and latterly on the BBC's own BBC America cable channel.

[edit] E

[edit] F

• Foyle: BBC Radio Foyle is a BBC radio station which serves Derry/Londonderry, named after the River Foyle which flows through the city. It is an opt-out from the main BBC service for Northern Ireland, BBC Radio Ulster.

[edit] G

• Golders Green Hippodrome was built in 1913 as a 3000 seat music hall to serve North London. Taken over by the BBC in the 1960s as a television studio, it is more recently known as a radio studio and multipurpose concert venue, home of the BBC Concert Orchestra. In 2003, the BBC left the Grade II listed building, and it is presently vacant and detoriorating awaiting its fate.
• Governors: The Board of Governors of the BBC is a group of twelve people who together regulate the BBC and represent the interests of the public, in particular those of viewers and listeners.

[edit] H

• Herefordshire: BBC Hereford and Worcester is the BBC Local Radio service for the county of Herefordshire, England.

• Home Service: original name for Radio 4 from 1939 until 30 September 1967.

• Humberside: BBC Radio Humberside is a BBC Local Radio service covering the area of the former English shire county of Humberside, which has now been returned to Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. Opened in 1971, it broadcasts from its studios in Hull and Grimsby on 95.9 FM, 1485 AM and DAB.

[edit] I

• Internet: The bbc.co.uk website, formerly BBCi (and before that BBC Online), includes a comprehensive news website and archive. The website allows the BBC to produce sections which complement the various programmes on television and radio, and it is common for viewers and listeners to be told website addresses for the bbc.co.uk sections relating to that programme. The site also allows users to see and hear many of the BBC's television and radio services using streaming media. According to Alexa's TrafficRank system, in March 2005 bbc.co.uk was the 12th most popular English Language website in the world.
• Interactive: BBCi is the brand name for the BBC's interactive digital television services, which are available through Freeview (digital terrestrial) as well as satellite and cable. Unlike Ceefax, BBCi is able to display full colour graphics, photographs and video, as well as allow the viewer to interact with the programme. Recent examples include the interactive sports coverage for football and rugby football matches and an interactive national IQ test. All of the BBC's digital television stations, with the exception of BBC Parliament on digital satellite, allow access to the BBCi service. However, the amount of content available on the digital television BBCi service does not currently match the amount available on Ceefax, which is still available on analogue terrestrial television.

[edit] J

• Japan: BBC Japan is a television channel from the BBC available via satellite in Japan, which launched on December 1, 2004. Similar in format to BBC Prime, BBC Japan shows such BBC programmes as Blackadder and Fawlty Towers, with many of them subtitled in Japanese.

[edit] K

• Kent: BBC Radio Kent is the BBC Local Radio service for the county of Kent, England.

[edit] L

• Leeds: BBC Radio Leeds is the BBC Local Radio service for the English metropolitan county of West Yorkshire. Opened in 1968, it broadcasts from its studios in Leeds on 92.4, 95.3 FM, 774 AM and DAB.
• Leicester: BBC Radio Leicester is the BBC Local Radio service for the English counties of Leicestershire and Rutland. It broadcasts from its studios in Leicester on 104.9 FM and DAB. It was the very first BBC Local Radio station, first broadcasting on 8 November 1967.
• Licence (TV): In the United Kingdom, these fees are set by Parliament and go directly to the funding of the BBC, enabling it to run without the need for funding by advertisements. The licence fee, initially for radio sets (exempt since 1971), was mandated by the 1904 Wireless Telegraphy Act. The fee was originally 10 shillings (£0.50) and in 2004 was £121 for colour TV and £40.50 for monochrome TV. There are concessions for the elderly (free for over 75s) and blind people (50% off).
• Light Programme: Broadcast mainstream light entertainment and music between 29 July 1945 and 30 September 1967. Replaced by Radio 1 and by Radio 2.
• Lime Grove Studios: Lime Grove Studios was a film studio complex built by the Gaumont Film Company in 1915 situated in a street named Lime Grove, near Hammersmith, west London and described by Gaumont as "the finest studio in Great Britain and the first building ever put up in this country solely for the production of films".
• Local Radio: BBC Local Radio is the BBC's regional radio service for England and the Channel Islands, consisting of 40 stations. Radio Leicester was the first to launch on 8 November 1967.

[edit] M

• Monitoring: BBC Monitoring is a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation that monitors the mass media worldwide. It is based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. BBC Monitoring is funded by subscriptions from governments and enterprises throughout the world. It does not receive any licence fee money. BBC Monitoring has its own subscription-only website at www.monitor.bbc.co.uk.

[edit] N

• Natural History Unit: BBC Natural History Unit is a department of the BBC, dedicated to making programmes with a natural history or wildlife theme. Based in Bristol.
• News: BBC News and Current Affairs (sometimes abbreviated BBC NCA) is a major arm of the BBC responsible for the corporation's news gathering and production of news programmes on BBC television, radio and online.
• Northern Ireland: BBC Northern Ireland (sometimes called BBC NI) is a regional television station based in Northern Ireland and which broadcasts programmes which are slotted into the BBC network for special broadcast within Northern Ireland. It is based in Broadcasting House in Belfast city centre, not to be confused with the BBC's main radio headquarters at Broadcasting House in London.

[edit] O

• Orchestras
  • BBC Concert Orchestra: The BBC Concert Orchestra is based in London. With around fifty players it is the only one of the five active ensembles which is not a full scale symphony orchestra. It is also the most populist, playing a mixture of light classical music and popular numbers.
  • BBC Midland Radio Orchestra: Disbanded in the late 1970s, this ensemble (previously called the BBC Midland Light Orchestra) performed popular repertoire similar to the BBC Radio Orchestra, but was smaller in size. It was based at the BBC Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingham.
  • BBC National Orchestra of Wales: The BBC National Orchestra of Wales is the main full scale professional orchestra in Wales.
  • BBC Northern Ireland Orchestra: Formerly the leading orchestra in Northern Ireland, it was disbanded in 1981 and went on to form part of an enlarged Ulster Orchestra.
  • BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra: The predecessor ensemble of the BBC Philharmonic.
  • BBC Opera Orchestra: The predecessor ensemble of the BBC Concert Orchestra. It was disbanded in 1952.
  • BBC Philharmonic: The BBC Philharmonic is a professional symphony orchestra based in Manchester, United Kingdom.
  • BBC Radio Orchestra: Disbanded in the early 1990s, the BBC Radio Orchestra performed a range of popular music and film themes. Regular conductors of the BBC Radio Orchestra included John Fox, Ronnie Aldrich, John Gregory, Neil Richardson, Roland Shaw, Stanley Black, Grant Hossack, Ron Goodwin, Nick Ingman, Johnny Douglas etc, who would conduct their own orchestral arrangements. They were the top arranger / conductors of their day.
  • BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra: The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra is a professional ensemble in Scotland, based in Glasgow.
  • BBC Symphony Orchestra: The BBC Symphony Orchestra is the principal orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and one of the leading orchestras in Britain.

[edit] P

• Parliament: BBC Parliament is a British television channel from the BBC. It broadcasts live and recorded coverage of the British House of Commons and House of Lords, the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly. It also rebroadcasts some material from the equivalent US channel, C-Span. Its nightly political programme is known as 'The Record'. It was previously known as the Parliamentary Channel.
• Peak programme meter: This small but perfectly formed item of industrial design by BBC engineers dates back to 1932 and is still used to this day.
• Pebble Mill Studios: Pebble Mill Studios are located in the leafy suburbs of Birmingham, England. Opened by HRH Princess Anne on the 10th November 1971, Pebble Mill has remained a landmark ever since. The land for Pebble Mill was acquired by BBC Birmingham in the 1950s but plans for the site weren't approved until 1967, the same year that construction of the studios began.
• Programming (TV): Television Programming of the BBC.
• Prime: BBC Prime is the BBC's general entertainment TV channel in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. A version of the channel was launched in Asia on December 1st, 2004. It broadcasts via satellite and cable, for 18 hours a day, with the remaining six hours being used for educational programmes for BBC Learning.
• Publications: Radio Times is the BBC's weekly television and radio programme listings magazine. It was founded in 1923, and originally carried details of BBC radio programmes in response to a newspaper boycott of radio listings. It was at one time the magazine with the largest circulation in the UK.

[edit] Q

[edit] R

• Radio: BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company, Ltd.
  • Radio 1: BBC Radio 1 is a British radio station, specialising in popular music aimed at a young audience (children, teenagers and young adults). Radio 1 was launched at 7am on September 30, 1967 as a direct response to the popularity of illegal pirate radio stations such as Radio Caroline.
  • Radio 2: Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations. It broadcasts throughout the UK on FM radio between 88 and 91 MHz from its studios in Broadcasting House. Programmes are also relayed on DAB, Sky Digital, Cable TV, Freeview and the Internet.
  • Radio 3: BBC Radio 3 is a domestic UK BBC radio station, which devotes most of its schedule to classical music. It was launched as The BBC Third Programme in 1946. Its name was changed on 30 September 1967 when, with the launch of BBC Radio 1, the three other national radio channels were also given numbers and, logically enough, Radio 3 was launched. It incorporated a service on the Third Programme's wavelength which had previously been known successively as Network Three, the Third Network and the Music Programme, which tended to play less challenging music than the Third Programme and did not include the Third Programme's speech output. Radio 3 also absorbed the adult education material previously carried on the frequency under the name "Study Session", and the Saturday afternoon sports coverage which was known as "Sports Service", although this was moved to Radio 2 in April 1970.
  • Radio 4: BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station which broadcasts a wide variety of chiefly spoken-word programmes including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It is broadcast on 92 - 95 MHz FM and 198 kHz longwave; and via DAB, satellite, Freeview channel 74 and the Internet.
  • Radio 5: BBC Radio Five Live is the BBC's radio service providing live BBC News, phone-ins, and sports commentaries. It is transmitted via analogue radio on 693 and 909 kHz AM in the mediumwave band, frequencies that had since 1978 belonged to BBC Radio 2, and on digital radio, digital satellite and digital terrestrial television. The station broadcasts from the News Centre at BBC Television Centre.
  • BBC Allied Expeditionary Forces Programme The BBC Allied Expeditionary Forces Programme was a radio station in the mid-1940s.
  • BBC Forces Programme The BBC Forces Programme was a BBC radio station from 7 January 1940 until 26 February 1944
  • BBC General Forces Programme The BBC General Forces Programme was a BBC radio station from 27 February 1944 until 31 December 1946.
  • BBC Home Service The BBC Home Service was a British national radio station between 1939 and 1967.
  • BBC National Programme The BBC National Programme was a BBC radio station from the 1920s until the outbreak of World War II.
  • BBC Regional Programme The BBC Regional Programme was a BBC radio station from the 1920s until the outbreak of World War II.
  • BBC Light Programme The Light Programme was a BBC radio station broadcasting mainstream light entertainment and music. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the longwave frequency -- which until 1939 had been used by the BBC National Programme -- of the wartime BBC General Forces Programme, and closed at 02:02 on 30 September 1967.
  • BBC Third Programme The BBC Third Programme was the third national radio network broadcast by the BBC, has since become Radio 3, but was originally known (at least within the BBC) as C.
• Radiophonic Workshop: The BBC Radiophonic Workshop, the sound special effects unit of the BBC was created in 1958 to produce sound effects for radio and was closed around 1996. It was based in Maida Vale in London.
• Reith, John (Baron Reith of Stonehaven): The first Director-General of the BBC, and one of the most influential figures in the corporation's history.
• BBC Resources Ltd: In the late 1990's, a wholly owned subsidiary company was created absorbing some 1100 technical staff and much of the technical equipment and facilities used in programme production.

[edit] S

• Scotland: BBC Scotland (BBC Alba in Gaelic) is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a significant amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters. Based at Queen Margaret Drive in Glasgow, BBC Scotland co-ordinates two of the country's five public television stations: BBC ONE Scotland and BBC TWO Scotland, as well as national radio networks, BBC Radio Scotland and the Gaelic language BBC Radio nan Gaidheal.
• Shakespeare: The BBC Television Shakespeare was a set of television adaptations of the plays of Shakespeare, produced by the BBC between 1978 and 1985.
• Stations (Radio): Radio Stations of the BBC.
• Stations (Television): Stations of the BBC.
• Swindon: BBC Radio Swindon is the BBC Local Radio service for the English town of Swindon. It broadcasts from its studios in Trowbridge (which it shares with Radio Wiltshire) on 103.6 FM and DAB.

[edit] T

• Television: BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which began in 1936. The British Broadcasting Corporation has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927.
  • BBC One (or BBC1 as it was formally styled) is the oldest television station in the United Kingdom, and indeed, the world. It is the primary channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation, and first broadcast as the 'BBC Television Service' on November 2, 1936, although the BBC had been broadcasting experimental and test transmissions in a variety of formats since 1929. The station held a complete monopoly on television broadcasting in the UK until ITV was launched in 1955.
  • BBC Two (or BBC2 as it was formerly styled) was the second UK television station to be aired by the BBC.
• Television Centre: BBC Television Centre (sometimes abbreviated TVC or TC) in London is home to much of BBC television output and, since 1998, almost all of the corporation's national TV and radio news output by BBC News.
• Third Programme: The BBC Third Programme was the third national radio network broadcast by the BBC, has since become Radio 3, but was originally known (at least within the BBC) as C. The other two were the Home Service (mainly speech based) and the Light Programme, dedicated to light music, usually cover versions of popular music of the day played by the "in-house" BBC orchestras. The Home Service is now known as Radio 4 and the Light Programme is Radio 2. The Third Programme continued as a separate evening service on the same frequency after the inception of Radio 3 in 1967, but was absorbed into Radio 3 in April 1970.
• Three Counties: BBC Three Counties Radio is the BBC Local Radio service for the English counties of Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire (referred to as "Beds, Herts and Bucks"). It broadcasts from its studios in Luton on 95.5 FM in Bedfordshire, 103.8 FM in Hertfordshire and 104.5 FM in Buckinghamshire.
• Timeline: This is a timeline of the history of the British Broadcasting Corporation.

[edit] U

[edit] V

[edit] W

• Wales: BBC Wales (or BBC Cymru) is the regional branch of the British Broadcasting Corporation for Wales, and is based at Broadcasting House in Cardiff, not to be confused with Broadcasting House in London, which is the headquarters of BBC Radio. The channel debuted in 1964 to much fanfare (snappy, succinct television commercials told the area that "Wales gets its very own TV service in 1964!").
• World (television): BBC World is the British Broadcasting Corporation's 24-hour international current affairs TV channel with BBC News, documentaries, lifestyle programmes and interviews, and was launched in January 1995. Internationally, it competes with the US network CNN International, and also with Sky News in Europe.
• World Service (radio): The BBC World Service is one of the most widely recognised international broadcasters of radio programming, transmitting in 43 languages to around 150 million people throughout the world. The English service broadcasts 24 hours a day. Unlike the BBC's main radio and television services, which are primarily funded by a licence fee, the World Service is funded by the British Government through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, although it remains politically neutral.
• BBC Worldwide: BBC Worldwide Limited is the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in 1995.

[edit] X

[edit] Y

[edit] Z