Crime Drama on British Television

861 Words2 Pages

Crime Drama on British Television

The relevant industry for my crime drama is obviously television. In

Britain there are five terrestrial Channels, which include BBC 1 and

2,

Independent Television ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. Each of these is

an example of an institution in the television industry with their

own

ethos, programme schedules and style.

The television industry began with BBCTV which launched in 1936 to

a minority audience and was part of the BBC’s then media monopoly.

BBC television was then and still is a Public Service Broadcaster

(PSB),

the ethos of the BBC is to inform, educate and entertain. It is funded

through a license fee which is basically a broadcast receiving tax

which

allows its programme scheduling to remain free from commercial

interests and ensures that they can be run instead, it is claimed to

serve

the public interests. This was their policy then and is their policy

now,

however it is argued isolating themselves from commercial pressures

and

isolated them from their now “entertainment spoiled” audience and the

more ‘consumer’ and culturally diverse Britain today.

ITV was launched in 1955 as direct competition for BBCTV, ITV is

however funded through commercial revenue were they receive funding

for selling airtime to advertisers. With this money they either make

or

buy programmes to fit in with their boasting ethos of it being “the

biggest” commercial television network in UK broadcasting. ITV

suggests it is the most talked about television, making a major

contribution to the UK’s culture, economy and communities”. Although

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The audience however is very broad as the channels content varies

depending on day and time, during weekdays 9 till 5 the output is

rarely

challenging or innovative in broadcasting terms all the time evident

in

programmes such as Countdown, Time Team, etc at night the more

controversial, entertaining and provocative programmes are aired and

would suit a wide age group and people of an independent nature.

This channel to me suits our project more as it is a more subversive,

provocative and risqué in terms of content and aesthetic properties

that

other channels wouldn’t consider and ultimately our drama is ideal as

it

also appeals to a wide age group, also as our drama is similar to The

Sopranos it is also a strong indication that our text would be ideal

for the

channel.

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