Hot Topic - The BBC

What Becomes Of BBC World Service Radio? - October 20, 2010
As part of the UK government’s massive spending cuts announced Wednesday the BBC license fee of £145.50 (€160, $220) is going to remain frozen for the next six years, but the public broadcaster is losing its Foreign Office grant of some £272 million (€297 million, $412 million) that annually funds its World Service radio.

The Mad Men Of Television - October 4, 2010
Television is really quite simple. Even with a zillion channels, people choose one program after another. Sometimes they pay for their pleasure directly and sometimes indirectly. But for people on the fringes that’s not enough.

Government Double-takes On World Service - September 9, 2010
International broadcasting reaches into dark places. Metrics are obscure. Missions blur. And it’s hard to graft an answer to the head of a pin. The fight for funding requires tenacity.

Those Dirty Little Secrets - August 30, 2010
Public broadcasters generally eschew opportunities to eviscerate adversaries, those from the commercial media sector in particular, those owning newspapers in specific. It’s unkind, déclassé, even impolitic. In the UK, the knives have come out.

If Public Sector Budgets Are Getting Slashed Can Public Broadcasters Be Far Behind? The BBC Just Answered That One! - July 1, 2010
You are the public broadcaster and your pension fund that had a £470 million ($708 million; €580 million) deficit two years ago is now running a deficit close to £2 billion ($3 billion; €2.5 billion). What to do? The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) answered that one Wednesday – you change the rules so every single employee is going to end up with much less at retirement age than they had previously thought.

Create Talk And The Numbers Rise - May 14, 2010
Nothing drives ratings more than something fresh romping through the humdrum. Getting that right is no simple challenge. So when the ratings are up, there’s plenty of genius to applaud.

Back to the Basics in Serious Times - November 2, 2009
Peruse another audience survey and take a deep breath. Within those tables and graphs are signs of post-digital life. The people are voting what they know.

Channeling Politicians - August 3, 2009
Public broadcasters across Europe should be celebrating. Audience shares are recovering, in many countries, from the entry of ‘the commercials’ last century. Success, though, just brings out the critics.

See also in ftm Knowledge

The BBC

Few pure media brands transcend borders and boundries to acheive the iconic status of the BBC. The institution has come to define public service broadcasting. Yet missteps, errors and judgment questions fuel critics. The BBC battles those critics and competitors and, sometimes, itself. 72 pages PDF (February 2009)

Order here