THE MASS MEDIA LANDSCAPE OF GREAT BRITAIN
Thursday, November 5, 2009
INTRODUCTION
Who are we?
WHERE IS GREAT BRITAIN?
QUICK OVERVIEW Full name: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland Population: 61 million (UN, 2008) Capital: London Area: 242,514 sq km (93,638 sq miles) Major language: English Major religion: Christianity Life expectancy: 77 years (men), 82 years (women) (UN) Monetary unit: 1 pound sterling = 100 pence Main exports: Manufactured goods, chemicals,
foodstuffs GNI per capita: US $42,740 (World Bank, 2007) Internet domain: .uk International dialing code: +44 More media specific stats to come up later
HISTORY:
Transition from major world imperialist power at the start of the century to a 2nd degree
power of considerable economic and military strength
POLITICS
Constitutional Monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II, as the symbolic head of state and Gordon
Brown, as the Prime Minister
BRITISH CULTURE
Ethnically diverse and multicultural; prominent exporter of youth culture; rich literary and
music heritage
Welsh flag
BRITISH POPULAR CULTURE
BRITISH MASS MEDIA:
Large, complex, diverse, mature
Open in structure, participants from many countries active in almost all aspects
British media largely a single entity but distinctive regional dimensions exist too
THE BRITISH PRINT MEDIAPrint
Media
Newspapers
Magazines
Books
99% of the adult (male and female) population is literate (2008, CIA WFB)
The British press is amongst the largest and oldest in the world
BRITISH NEWSPAPERS
• Earliest known newspaper of British origin: The Oxford Gazette, 1665
• 3 sectors: Broadsheets (Quality Press), Middle Market and Red-Top Tabloids (Popular Press)
• Formats: Broadsheet, Berliner & Compact• Total sales: 11.25 m for weekly
newspapers & 12 m for Sunday titles • Regional and local newspapers comprise
98% of the total circulation• Ownership concentrated amongst 8
major media conglomerates• Newspaper sales generally on the decline
since past 40 years
Quality Press
Broadsheet
The Daily Telegraph
(est. 1855) – owned
by David & Frederick
Barclay – Conservative
Financial Times
(est. 1888) – owned
by Pearson PLC. A
business-oriented
daily. Economically liberal.
The Sunday Telegraph
(est. 1961) – owned
by David & Frederick
Barclay – Conservative
The Sunday Times
(est. 1822) – owned
by Rupert Murdoch's Ne
ws Corporation. C
entre-Right.
Berliner
The Guardian (est. 1821) —
owned by the Scott Trust; The
Guardian switched to
Berliner size on 12
September 2005. Left-of-
centre, socially liberal
The Observer (est. 1791) —
owned by the Scott
Trust; switched to Berliner size on 8 January
2006. Left-of-
centre, socially liberal
Compact
The Independent (est. 1986) – Daily compact
from May 2004. Centre-left, liberal
views.
The Times (est. 1785) – Daily
compact from November 2004. Owned by Rupert Murdoch's News
Corporation. Centre-right, Conservative.
Independent on Sunday
(est. 1990) – Sunday paper compact from October 2005.
Centre-left, liberal views.
Middle-Market
DailyDaily Express (est. 1900) —
owned by Richard
Desmond's Northern &
Shell; broadsheet until 1977, now published in the compact
format. Conservative.
Daily Mail (est. 1896) — owned by Lord Rothermere's D
aily Mail and General Trust
plc; broadsheet until 1971, now published in the
tabloid format. Conserv
ative
SundaySunday Express
(est. 1918) — owned
by Richard Desmond's Nort
hern & Shell; broadsheet until 1977, now published in the compact
format. Conservative.
The Mail on Sunday
(est. 1982) — owned by Lord Rothermere's D
aily Mail and General Trust
plc; published in the tabloid
format. Conservative.
Tabloids
Daily
Daily Star (est.
1978) - owned
by Richard
Desmond's North
ern & Shell
The Daily
Mirror (est.
1903) — owned
by Trinity Mirror.
Socialist Pro-
Labour.
The Daily Sport
The Sun (est.
1964) — owned
by News Corporation. pop
ulist.
The Morning
Star (est.
1930) — a far-left newspap
er owned
by the Peop
le's Press
Printing Society
(an indepen
dent readers'
co-operativ
e)
Sunday
Daily Star
Sunday - owned
by Richard Desmond's North
ern & Shell;
The People
(est. 1881) — owned
by Trinity Mirror
Sunday Mirror (est.
1915) — owned
by Trinity Mirror.
Socialist pro-
Labour.
The Sunday Sport
News of the
World (est.
1843) — owned
by News Corporat
ion. Populist.
BRITISH MAGAZINES
Large and expanding sector 8,800-10,000 titles covering most topics Two-third of are ‘business and professional’
titles, the rest are ‘consumer’ magazines Famous examples include Private
Eye, Hello!, The Spectator, the Radio Times and NME
1.What's On TV (3.4m) 2. Radio Times (2.6m) 3. TV Choice (1.7m) 4. TV Times (1.6m) 5. Auto Trader (1.2m) 6. TV Quick (1.0m) 7. Nuts (0.9m) 8. Zoo (0.7m) 9. The Big Issue (0.6m) 10. TV Easy (0.5m)
Weekly magazines 1. Sky Magazine
(7.5m) 2. Sky Sports (3.0m) 3. Sky Movies (2.3m) 4. National Geographic (2.0m) 5. BBC Top Gear (1.9m) 6. Saga magazine (1.7m) 7. Reader's Digest (1.6m) 8. FHM (1.6m) 9. BBC Gardeners' World (1.4m) 10. Men's Health (1.1m)
Monthly magazines
According to the National Readership Survey, these are the most-read magazines in the UK. This shows readership, and not sales, and these figures represent the
twelve months to June 2009.
PUBLISHING/BOOK INDUSTRY Oldest yet most dynamic and
considerably influential mass media in the UK
Origins: William Caxton,1476, owner of earliest known British mechanical press
Two kinds of markets : mass and literary Devise distinction between the two is
the centre of an ideological debate about the role of books
Industry has survived and strengthened despite gloomy predictions on the arrival of every subsequent new mass media
British publishing houses: Long, illustrious history, 100s in total number, publishing approx. 100,000 books per year
ELECTRONIC MEDIA IN THE UK
The UK has a strong tradition of public-service broadcasting and an international reputation for creative programme-making
Wide reach:• 60 m households (or 70% of all
UK homes) have multichannel TV sets
• 40.2 m Internet users
Electronic Media
TV
Radio
Internet
BRITISH TELEVISION• Commercial TV begun in the UK in 1955, with the launch of
IPTV• Today, out of a total of 60 m TV sets, 40.8 m households
(68%) have digitally linked TV sets Cable: 3.5 m households (Virgin Media Subscribers) Satellite : 8.3 m households (Sky Subscribers) Digital Terrestrial Television (DDT) : 9.6 m households
(Free view services)• 940 television broadcasts stations; 400 different TV
channels on offer – audience fragmentation hence a common feature
THE SWITCH TO DIGITAL
• Once dominant Terrestrial TVV now face strong competition from digital satellite, cable and DDT
• Britain's media regulator, Ofcom, has set a timetable for a switchover from analogue to digital TV broadcasting, hoping to completely turn off the analogue TV signal by 2012.
MAJOR BRITISH TV CHANNELS: BBC
Broadcasting dominated by a strong public service broadcaster which is supported by a universal compulsory television license free
BBC operates 14 different television channels (including 8 digital channels and 6 nation-wide channels), an interactive TV set-up and a datacast operation (Ceefax)
In all, attracts about a third of the total TV audience.
MAJOR BRITISH TV CHANNELS: ITV
ITV stand for “Independent TV’ Split into three commercial television
national stations – Channel 3 (digital), Channel 4 (analogue), and Channel 5 (digital)
CABLE, SATELLITE AND DTV IN THE UKCable TV: Cable companies usually provide both television
and telephone services. Few cable-specific stations - around 5 or 6 outside
London, and a further 10 or so London-specific channels.
Biggest player: Virgin Media, 3.5 m subscribers, 2nd largest pay TV service provider
Digital Satellite TV Launched: October 1998, on a platform provided
by Sky Digital, part of B Sky B. Pricing: maximum of £34.99 a month Biggest player: British Sky Broadcasting, 8.3
million subscribers, Largest pay TV service provider, offers in access of 25 channels of its own
More than a third of the BSkyB equity is owned by News Corporation
…CONTINUED…CABLE, SATELLITE AND DTV IN THE UK
Digital Terrestrial TV: Launched: November
1998, as “On Digital” on a part free, part subscription model
Re-launched in 2002 after financial crisis as “Freeview” which is now available for a one-time subscription fee of £90
Freeview is consortium of Castle Communications and BBC, offers 30 free channels
NATURE OF POPULAR BRITISH TV CONTENT
Soaps: Home-grown soap operas have long topped
the TV ratings, two of the most popular British soaps are: Eastenders : Depicts the ups and downs of life in
east London's Albert Square, produced by BBC, Coronation Street: Depicts northern-English
working-class life, produced by ITV
…CONTINUED…NATURE OF POPULAR BRITISH TV CONTENT
Reality TV Programmes which catapult ordinary people
into the public eye are enjoying a wave of popularity, popular reality TV shows include:
Britain's Got Talent, Big Brother, Strictly Come Dancing, X Factor
BRITISH RADIO
Broadcasted on AM, FM & digital platform, divided into public sector and commercial radio
Public Sector Radio: BBC: operates more than 40
stations that comprise 50% of all radio listening in the UK
Channels include: 5 national radio stations; 5 digital-only stations; the BBC World Service; regional stations in Scotland, Wales, Northern and 30 other local stations
BRITISH RADIO…CONTINUED…
Commercial Radio: Started in 1970s, now includes over 300 private stations 3 national services - (Classic FM, Virgin Radio and Talk
Sport), around 10 'regional' services (generally covering three major cities) and 170 local services
There are also over 100 temporary radio stations per year that are used for either special events (the Glastonbury Festival), football clubs (Radio Latics) or monthly stations (either used by licence-wannabies or student stations)
NEW MEDIA: INTERNET IN THE UK The Daily Telegraph was the first
newspaper to go ‘online’ in 1994, today all significant media have online presences
Big names: Guardian Unlimited, 1 million
unique users BBC Online, 10 million unique users
13.9 million UK households (57%) have internet access, of which 69% are broadband.
Government policy intends that every home in the UK will have access to online services by 2010.
MEDIA REGULATION IN THE UK Voluntary and statutory accountability
systems co-exist. Ofcom, a media regulatory body,
oversees commercial media BBC is jointly publically funded but
editorially impartial and self-regulating More than 140 pieces of legislation
have direct relevance to the media; litigation is a favored method of bringing the media to account.
Privacy not recognized as such in UK law; however, cases are brought for breaches of confidentiality.
MEDIA FREEDOM IN THE UK Freedom of expression is protected
under: 1998 Human Rights Act which enacted into
UK law the European Convention on Human Rights,
2005 Freedom of Information Act, the 1998 Act also introduced privacy as a statutory right.
British media considered free and able to report on all aspects of British life
External ‘watchdog’ bodies seeking to explore media issues include: MediaWise Trust (ethics); Campaign for
Press and Broadcasting Freedom; Campaign for Freedom of Information; the Runnymede Trust (diversity), and the London International Research Exchange.
FUTURE TRENDS/RECOMMENDATIONS National vs. Global Media? Public vs. Commercial Media? Serious vs. Tabloid Media? New vs. Old Media?
WEBLIOGRAPHY:
European Journalism Centre, www.ejc.net Media UK, www.mediauk.com CIA World Fact Book, www.ciafacts.com The Broadcasters' Audience Research Board,
www.barb.co.uk National Readership Survey, www.nrs.co.uk Wikipedia Enclyopedia, www.en.wikipedia.org BBC News Online, www.bbcnews.com Guardian Unlimited Online,
www.guardian.co.uk And a host of other websites, which we can’t
possibly list here!
BIBLIOGRAPHY: