The Role of Television in Education: Open Circuit—National and Local

Abstract

At present there are three National Television Networks in the United Kingdom, two of them operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC1 and BBC2) and one by the Independent Broadcasting Authority. Closer examination of the situation indicates however that the BBC and the IBA operations are conducted in ways which differ widely from each other. For example, the BBC derives its income from the sale of television licences, the IBA programmes are funded from advertising revenue. Then again from the BBC side, the television planners must always bear in mind not only that they are in competition with the commercial television channel, but also that they have to work alongside the highly developed BBC radio service which operates on four channels catering for a very wide band of interests from pop music and news to classical drama. The IBA, although it is itself a public corporation with a charter similar to the BBC's, is nevertheless not a programmemaking body. It is responsible for the licensing and general overseeing of the work of programme companies.