There are several different types of mass media in the United Kingdom: television, radio, newspapers, magazines and websites. The United Kingdom is known for its large music industry, along with its new and upcoming artists. The country also has a large broadcasting, film, video games and book publishing industries.
The United Kingdom has a diverse range of providers, the most prominent being the publicly owned and funded British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
The main BBC public service broadcasting channels accounted for an estimated 28.4% of all television viewing; the three main independent channels accounted for 29.5% and the increasingly important other satellite and digital channels for the remaining 42.1%.Ofcom "Communication Market Report 2010", 19 August 2010, pp. 97, 164 and 191, retrieved 17 June 2011. Sales of newspapers have fallen since the 1970s and in 2009 42% of people reported reading a daily national newspaper.. In 2010, 82.5% of the United Kingdom population were Internet users, the highest proportion amongst the 20 countries with the largest total number of users in that year..
The BBC's largest competitors are ITV plc, which operates 13 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network, the Sky Group and the publicly owned and commercially funded Channel Four Television Corporation.
Regional media is covered by local radio, television and print newspapers. Reach plc (formerly Trinity Mirror) operates 240 local and regional newspapers. The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has overall responsibility over media ownership and broadcasting.
Organisations The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the national broadcaster of the United Kingdom. Headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, it is the world's oldest national broadcaster, and the largest broadcaster in the world by number of employees, employing over 22,000 staff in total, of whom approximately 19,000 are in public-sector broadcasting. The BBC is established under a royal charter and operates under its agreement with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Its work is funded principally by an annual television licence fee which is charged to all British households, companies, and organisations using any type of equipment to receive or record live television broadcasts and iPlayer catch-up. The fee is set by the British Government, agreed by Parliament, and is used to fund the BBC's radio, TV, and online services covering the nations and regions of the UK. Since 1 April 2014, it has also funded the BBC World Service (launched in 1932 as the BBC Empire Service), which broadcasts in over 40 languages and provides comprehensive TV, radio, and online services in Arabic and Persian.
The BBC operates several television channels nationally and internationally. The main two in the UK are BBC One and BBC Two, where each English region, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have variations of the channel (excluding BBC Two in Scotland where it is BBC Scotland). Others include youth-focused channel BBC Three, cultural and documentary channel BBC Four, news channels BBC News and the BBC World News, parliamentary channel BBC Parliament, Scottish Gaelic-language channel BBC Alba, and two children's channels, CBBC and CBeebies. The BBC has ten radio stations serving the whole of the UK, a further seven stations in the "national regions" (Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland), and 39 other local stations serving defined areas of England. These are BBC Radio 1, offering new music and popular styles and being notable for its chart show; BBC Radio 2, playing adult contemporary, country and soul music amongst many other genres; BBC Radio 3, presenting classical music and opera, jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts. The station broadcasts the BBC Proms concerts, live and in full, each summer in addition to performances by the BBC Orchestras and Singers. There are regular productions of both classic plays and newly commissioned drama. BBC Radio 4, focusing on current affairs, science, history, factual and other speech-based programming, including drama and comedy; and BBC Radio 5 Live, broadcasting 24-hour news, sport and discussion programmes.
In addition to these five stations, the BBC runs a further five stations that broadcast on DAB and online only. These stations supplement and expand on the big five stations, and were launched in 2002. BBC Radio 1Xtra sisters Radio 1, and broadcasts new black music and urban tracks. BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra sisters 5 Live and offers extra sport analysis, including broadcasting sports. BBC Radio 6 Music offers alternative music genres and is notable as a platform for new artists. BBC Radio 4 Extra, provided archive drama, comedy and children's programming. The final station is the BBC Asian Network, providing music, talk and news to this section of the community.
As well as the national stations, the BBC also provides 40 BBC Local Radio stations in England and the Channel Islands, each named for and covering a particular city and its surrounding area (e.g. BBC Radio Bristol), county or region (e.g. BBC Three Counties Radio), or geographical area (e.g. BBC Radio Solent covering the central south coast). A further six stations broadcast in what the BBC terms "the national regions": Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. These are BBC Radio Wales (in English), BBC Radio Cymru (in Welsh), BBC Radio Scotland (in English), BBC Radio nan Gaidheal (in Scottish Gaelic), BBC Radio Ulster, and BBC Radio Foyle, the latter being an opt-out station from Radio Ulster for the north-west of Northern Ireland.
For a worldwide audience, the BBC World Service provides news, current affairs and information in over 33 languages, including English, around the world and is available in over 150 capital cities. It has an estimated weekly audience of 192 million, and its websites have an audience of 38 million people per week. The service is funded by a Parliamentary Grant-in-Aid, administered by the Foreign Office. BBC Online operates numerous sub sites that focus on different knowledge genre centred around the topics of science, nature and wildlife, arts and culture, religion and ethics, food, and history and language. For example, BBC Food contains recipes featured on various BBC cookery programmes, BBC History shares an interactive timeline of key events and individuals, BBC Nature contains a database of nature and creatures, and the language site teaches phrases and more in 40 languages. Included in this range was the well received Your Paintings website that catalogued every painting in public ownership for view. Other BBC services include BBC Music, BBC Film, BBC Earth, BBC Weather, BBC Learning, BBC Schools, BBC Research, BBC Archives, BBC Sounds, and BBC Culture.
The Channel Four Television Corporation is another publicly owned media company founded in 1982. Unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is instead funded entirely by its own commercial activities. It consists of 12 channels including Channel 4, Film4, E4, and its own streaming service.
Sky is a broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services. Sky's flagship product is Sky Q and its flagship channels are Sky Showcase, Sky Max, Sky Arts, and Sky Atlantic. UKTV, is a multi-channel broadcaster, wholly owned by BBC Studios. It was formed on 1 November 1992 through a joint venture between the BBC and Thames Television. It is one of the United Kingdom's largest television companies. UKTV's channels are available via a digital satellite or cable subscription in the UK and Ireland. The Dave, Drama and Yesterday channels are also available on Freeview and Freesat, two free-to-air television services in the UK. Most programmes on the channels are repeat broadcasts of productions from the BBC Archives. Other players in the United Kingdom media include ITV plc, which operates 11 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network..
News UK is the current publisher of newspapers such as The Times and The Sunday Times.. Reuters is an international news organisation founded and based in England. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide and is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
Media centres London
London dominates the media sector in the United Kingdom as national newspapers, television and radio networks are largely based there. Notable centres include Fleet Street and BBC's Broadcasting House. Specialist local paper City A.M. is a free, business-focused newspaper published in print Monday to Friday. It is typically available from around 6am at London commuter stations and is handed out at key points in the City, Canary Wharf and other central London locations.
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is also a significant national media hub. Notable centres include MediaCityUK a 200-acre (80ha) media production facility in Salford.
The Guardian national newspaper was founded in Manchester in 1821, and was known as the Manchester Guardian until 1959. In the 1950s, coinciding with the growth in television, the Granada Television franchise was set up by Sidney Bernstein. Consequently, the Granada Studios were the first purpose-built television studios in the United Kingdom. The franchise produced television programmes such as Coronation Street and the Up Series.
The BBC currently has two of its six major business divisions based here BBC North Group that comprises a number of important departments including BBC Breakfast, BBC Children's, BBC Sport, BBC Radio 5 and BBC North West. The other division is BBC Future Media. In addition ITV has two major divisions of its business based here ITV Studios responsible for UK and international network production and ITV Granada its regional service provider. The University of Salford also has a media campus and research center based at Media City.
Other key centres Edinburgh and Glasgow, and Cardiff are important centres of newspaper and broadcasting production in Scotland and Wales respectively.D. William, UK Cities: A Look at Life and Major Cities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (Godfrey Mwakikagile, 2010), , pp. 22, 46, 109 and 145.
Print Freedom of the press was established in Great Britain in 1695. Founded by publisher John Walter in 1785, The Times is the first newspaper to have borne that name, lending it to numerous other papers around the world, and is the originator of the widely used Times Roman typeface, created by Victor Lardent and commissioned by Stanley Morison in 1931. Newspaper and publishing magnate Alfred Harmsworth played a major role in "shaping the modern press" – Harmsworth introduced or harnessed "broad contents, subordinate regional markets, independence from party control" – and was called "the greatest figure who ever strode down Fleet Street."Lord Beaverbrook, Politicians and the War, 1914–1916 (1928) 1:93.
The Economist was founded by James Wilson in 1843, and the daily Financial Times was founded in 1888. Founding The Gentleman's Magazine in 1731, Edward Cave coined the term "magazine" for a periodical, and was the first publisher to successfully fashion a wide-ranging publication. Founded by Thomas Gibson Bowles, Vanity Fair featured caricatures of famous people for which it is best known today.