BBC Domestic Television, BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three, BBC Four, BBC News 24, CBBC, CBeebies, BBC Parliament

BBC 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. The British Broadcasting Corporation operates several television networks, television stations and related programming services in the United Kingdom.
As well as being a broadcaster, they also produce a large number of their own programmes in-house, forming one of the world's largest television production companies.
Our UKTV joint venture with Virgin Media Television, offers UK audiences a portfolio of ten channels, including UKTV Gold and UKTV Style.

The BBC also opperates a number of international TV channels. BBC World, BBC Prime, BBC America and BBC Food plus a new bouquet of thematic channels - BBC Entertainment, BBC Knowledge, BBC Lifestyle, CBeebies and BBC HD, which are in the process of being rolled out around the world.
The BBC Canada and BBC Kids channels are broadcast in Canada, through a joint venture with Alliance Atlantis, while Animal Planet Canada is broadcast through a joint venture between BBC Worldwide, DCI and Canadian Television (CTV).
In partnership with Foxtel and FremantleMedia, BBC Worldwide broadcasts the UK.TV channel to audiences in Australia and New Zealand.
In partnership with Discovery Communications Inc (DCI) the BBC deliver the international Animal Planet and People + Arts channels.

For more information on the BBC's overseas channels, see BBC Overseas.

BBC Television History

1936 to 1939

What is now known as BBC One was the world's first regular television service. It began broadcasting from Alexandra Palace in London on November 2, 1936, to just a few hundred viewers in the immediate area. It was reaching an estimated 25,000-40,000 homes before the outbreak of the Second World War caused the service to be suspended. The VHF broadcasts would have provided an ideal radio beacon for German bombers homing in on London, and the engineers and technicians of the service would be needed for the war effort, in particular the RADAR programme.

1946 to 1964

In 1946 TV transmissions resumed from Alexandra Palace. BBC One shows popular programming, including drama, comedies, documentaries, game shows and soap operas, covering a wide range of genres and regularly competes with ITV to become the channel with the highest ratings for that week. BBC One is the home to the BBC's main news bulletins, currently being shown at 1pm, 6pm and 10pm.

1964 to 1967

The BBC Television Service was renamed BBC1 in 1964, after the launch of BBC2 (now BBC Two), the third television station (ITV was the second) for the UK; its remit, to provide more niche programming.
The channel was due to launch on 20 April 1964, but was put off the air by a massive power failure that affected much of London, caused by a fire at Battersea Power Station. A videotape made on the opening night was rediscovered in 2003 by a BBC technician. In the end the launch went ahead the following night, hosted by an announcer holding a candle. BBC2 was the first British channel to use UHF and 625-line pictures, giving higher definition than the existing VHF 405-line system.

1967 to Present day

In December 1967 BBC Two became the first regular television channel in Europe to broadcast in colour, using the German PAL system that is still in use today although being gradually superseded by digital systems. (BBC One and ITV began 625-line colour broadcasts simultaneously on November 15, 1969). Unlike its contemporaries, BBC Two does not have the usual soap opera or standard news programming, but rather a breadth of programming that is eclectic, fun and diverse (although if a programme has high audience viewing figures, it is often eventually repositioned to BBC One). The different remit of BBC2 allowed its first controller, Sir David Attenborough to commission the first heavyweight documentaries and documentary series such as Civilisation, The Ascent of Man and Horizon.

National and regional variations also occur within the BBC One and BBC Two schedules. England's BBC One output is split up into fifteen regions (such as South West and East), which exist mainly to produce local news programming, but also occasionally opt out of the network to show programmes of local importance (such as major local events).
The nations of the United Kingdom (Wales and Scotland, and the province of Northern Ireland) have been granted more autonomy from the UK network; for example, programmes are mostly introduced by local announcers, rather than by those in London. BBC One and BBC Two schedules in the UK nations can vary immensely from BBC One and BBC Two in England.

Programmes, such as the politically fuelled Give My Head Peace (produced by BBC Northern Ireland) and the soap opera River City (produced by BBC Scotland), have been created specifically to cater for viewers in their respective nations, who may have found programmes created for English audiences irrelevant. BBC Scotland produces daily programmes for its Gaelic-speaking viewers, including current affairs, political and children's programming. BBC Wales also produces a large amount of Welsh language programming for S4C, particularly news, sport and other programmes, especially the soap opera Pobol y Cwm ('People of the Valley'). The UK nations also produce a number of programmes that are shown across the UK, such as BBC Scotland's comedy series Chewin' the Fat, and BBC Northern Ireland's talk show Patrick Kielty: Almost Live.

The BBC is also renowned for its production of costume dramas, such as Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and contemporary social dramas such as Boys from the Blackstuff and Our Friends in the North. The BBC has come under pressure to commission more programmes from independent British production companies, and indeed is legally required to source 25% of its output from such companies by the terms of the 1990 Broadcasting Act. Programmes have also been imported mainly from English-speaking countries: notable examples include The Simpsons from the United States and Neighbours from Australia. Because of the availability of programmes in English, few programmes need use sub-titles or dubbing unlike much European television.

The BBC also introduced Ceefax, the first teletext service, starting in 1974. This service allows BBC viewers to view textual information such as the latest news on their television. CEEFAX has not made a full transition to digital television, instead being replaced by the new interactive BBCi service.

BBC Domestic TV Channels

The BBC opperates eight domestic channels:

BBC One

The BBC's main channel, broadcasting mainstream comedy, drama, documentaries, films and the home of their television news, sport and children's programmes.
There are 17 regional variation of BBC One:
BBC One Scotland, BBC One Wales, BBC One Northern Ireland, BBC One London, BBC One West Midlands, BBC One East Midlands. BBC One North West. BBC One East Yorkshire & Lincolnshire. BBC One Yorkshire & North Midlands. BBC One East. BBC One West. BBC One South East. BBC One South. BBC One South West. BBC One North East & Cumbria. BBC One Oxford. BBC One . BBC One Cambridge. BBC One Channel Islands.
Most of BBC One's output is 'National BBC One.

Click HERE, for more information on BBC One.

BBC Two

Home to more specialist programming, including comedy, documentaries, dramas and minority interest programmes, as well as imported programmes from other countries, including non English language subtitled content.
There are four regional variations of BBC Two:
BBC Two England, BBC Two Scotland, BBC Two Wales and BBC Two Northern Ireland.
New BBC shows often appear on BBC Two, especially if those behind the show have not proven themselves elsewhere. A successful BBC Two show may be moved to BBC One, such as happened with Have I Got News For You.

The channel also has a reputation for screening challenging and 'prestige' drama productions, such as Boys from the Blackstuff (1982) and 1996's epic, critically-acclaimed Our Friends in the North. BBC Two's programmes always had a "highbrow" image, compared to those on rival channels. This perception persists in today's multichannel world so that a programme that is moved from BBC Two to BBC One will often get a much larger audience, even though no other change has been made.

Click HERE, for more information on BBC Two.

BBC Three

BBC Three, launched on February 9, 2003, replacing BBC Choice, (eleven months after the launch of BBC Four), the channel is described by the BBC as an outlet for "New drama, talent, British comedy, top films and accessible news". The channel is on-air from 19:00 to 04:00. In order to share terrestrial digital bandwidth with the CBBC channel. The unique '60 second news' format was adopted so that operation of the channel could be completely automated, without the complication of dealing with variable length live news broadcasts.
The channel's idents (developed by Lambie-Nairn) feature a range of cute orange cone shaped creatures ('the blobs') provided by Aardman Animations.

Click HERE, for more information on BBC Three.

BBC Four

BBC Four is available on Freeview, satellite and cable in the UK. The successor to an earlier digital channel called BBC Knowledge, BBC Four began on March 2, 2002.
The channel broadcasts a mixture of art- and science documentaries,
The channel broadcasts a mixture of art and science documentaries, vintage drama (including many rare black-and-white programmes), and non-English language productions such as films from the Artificial Eye catalogue and the French thriller Spiral.
On weekdays at 19.00, the channel shows a 30-minute global news programme called World News Today, simulcast with and produced by BBC World.

Click HERE, for more information on BBC Four.

BBC News 24

BBC News 24 is the BBC's 24 hour rolling news television channel in the United Kingdom. The channel launched on 9 November 1997 at 17:30. As a major part of the BBC News department, the channel is based at and broadcast from the News Centre within BBC Television Centre in West London.
BBC News 24 launched as part of the BBC's foray into digital domestic television channels, becoming the first competitor to Sky News which had been running since 1989. Since then, with several relaunches, an increase in funding and resources fom the BBC and improvements in digital television technology, the channel has been able to diversify content, with two minute looped bulletins available to view via BBCi, BBC News Online and the BBC's mobile website, alongside individual weather and sport bulletins.

Click HERE, for more information on BBC News 24.

BBC 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, Select Committees, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly, and occasionally from the General Synod of the Church of England. The Channel also broadcasts reports from the European Parliament. Before being taken over by the BBC, the channel was known as The Parliamentary Channel, at first operated by United Artists Cable and funded by a consortium of British cable operators. The Parliamentary Channel launched as a cable-exclusive channel in 1992. The channel was purchased by the BBC in 1998, retitled 'BBC Parliament', and relaunched under the new name on 23 September 1998.

Click HERE, for more information on BBC Parliament.

CBBC

CBBC is the brand for the BBC's children's television output aimed at children over six, across BBC ONE, BBC TWO and the CBBC Channel. CBeebies is the brand used for output aimed at under-sixes.
Children's BBC and its contraction, CBBC, is the brand for the BBC's children's television output aimed at children over six, across BBC One, BBC Two and the CBBC Channel. It launched on 9 September 1985. CBeebies is the brand used for output aimed at under-sixes.

Internally, CBBC acts as a microcosm of the rest of the BBC. It produces drama programmes, news, entertainment, educational programmes and contemporary factual output. It is based in the East Tower of the BBC Television Centre, with some output coming from Scotland and Bristol as well. The controller of the division from 2000 to 2003 was Nigel Pickard and June to October 2005 was Alison Sharman, when she left suddenly to join ITV. The new controller of CBBC is Richard Deverell who was appointed in February 2006, the job effectively split in two with Anne Gilchrist as Creative Director, CBBC to oversee the creative side of things. At the same time as this announcement the department was renamed BBC Children's. It was felt that CBBC as a departmental name did not convey the full range of output produced; including CBBC, CBeebies, Online and Interactive services.

Click HERE, for more information on CBBC.

CBeebies

.CBeebies is dedicated to preschoolers. Packed full of their favourite characters, CBeebies offers 13 hours of programmes every day which encourage your child to play along and learn. It's also completely advert free and with a dedicated website and interactive service, at CBeebies it's "Playtime All the Time!"The schedule on CBeebies is the same every weekday, with a different schedule (often with different programmes) at the weekends. Between 15:00 and 18:00 on weekends, all programmes are signed. The schedules change each month and last for the entire month.
Between 6pm and 7pm, CBeebies has a bedtime hour to help prepare children for bed. The programs are calm, often involving stories, such as 64 Zoo Lane, Step Inside, The Story Makers and The Roly Mo Show. It also features a celebrity reading a bedtime story at the end.

Click HERE, for more information on CBeebies.