November 2003
A Public Service Christmas?: Provision of public service programming on BBC 1, BBC 2, ITV, Channel 4 & Five from 1992 to 2002
Marina Amoroso and Jamie Cowling
Introduction and Summary According to the BBC, ‘vegetating on the sofa in front of the box after a huge Christmas dinner is as much a festive tradition as carols and mistletoe.’1 According to regulators the public service broadcasters’ mission “to educate, inform and entertain” applies as much at Christmas as any other time. But do schedulers and ultimately viewers agree? The UK is experiencing a step change in the British television environment. Increasing competition from new channels on multichannel television has led to accusations that the public service broadcasters are “dumbing down” the schedules and are increasingly reliant on a diet of US imports and entertainment programming, thereby pushing current affairs, the arts and religious broadcasting out of the schedules. In 1992, only 11 per cent of UK households had multichannel television, but that number has been steadily increasing. This years’ Christmas will mark the first time that a majority of UK households (over 50 per cent) have multichannel television. (see figure 1 for 1992 – 2002 data).2
Figure 1
Percentage of UK Homes with Multichannel Access 1992 - 2002
50% 46% 45%
40% 40% 35%
30% 26% 25% 23% 20% 17% 15%
10% 11% 5%
0% 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002
Source: ITC Multichannel Quarterly; 13 Dec 2002.
1
The rules and bodies that govern British broadcasting have been radically shaken by the new Communications Act (2003). This is the last Christmas for the anciene regulatory regime operated by the Independent Television Commission (ITC) and the Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC) before the new Communications Regulator Ofcom assumes its powers on 29 December 2003.
Our research examines the provision of different genres by the public service broadcasting channels, BBC1, BBC2, ITV, C4 and Five, from 1992 to 2002.3 Our analysis enables us to examine the choice of programmes available to viewers across channels and the diversity of genres provided. The research takes a snapshot of television schedules from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day from 1992 to 2002. The snapshot enables us to establish general trends in the provision of different genres over time and the impact of increasing competition on the television market.
The Communications Act (2003) requires Ofcom to conduct a Public Service Television Broadcasting Review (PSTBR), the first of which will be concluded by the end of 2004, to assess the performance of the public service broadcasters in meeting the public service television remit set out in the Act (see Appendix 1).
Our analysis reveals a few surprising findings. The public service broadcasters have been accused of dumbing down and chasing ratings. We have found, that at least over the Christmas period, this is not true. Whilst imported content and films make up a large percentage of the Christmas schedules for all of the public service broadcasters, and a surprisingly large percentage for BBC1, taken together imported content and films (which are often one and the same thanks to Hollywood) are falling as a proportion of the total schedule. Our analysis also goes some way to revealing the implicit strategy behind the channel controllers. BBC1, ITV and Five, are mainstream general entertainment channels. They do find some room for other genres, such as religion, but concentrate on more popular fare. Channel 4 and BBC2 broadcast the lion’s share of the factual content available to viewers over Christmas.
Our analysis also partially reveals the limitations of this form of research, namely content analysis,which is similar (but not identical) to that employed by the old regulators. Our analysis does show when certain genres are broadcast (see below but not shown) but it fails to include viewing data. Whilst we would like to have included viewing data, the UK viewing dat (unlike most countries) is unavailable to the general public even if it is 10 years old. Perhaps crucially, our genre-based approach is unable to establish programmes that are of a high quality and appreciated by viewers. Under our approach a programme on performing dogs, for example, which is listed in Radio Times as a documentary is counted as such despite its (potentially) low educational value.4 Secondly, our approach also fails to identify what viewers really value in public service content. Viewers may not value a great deal of arts programming at Christmas time, but they may highly value a high quality drama series made in the UK with domestic talent. In our forthcoming publication, Public Service Communications (13 January 2004), we present a framework that addresses these issues.
2
Figure 2 – Programming content for all channels by genre in 2002
Percent of Programming Content for all Channels by Genre 2002 (Total 255 hrs)
Regional 1% News/Current Affairs 3% Children’s TV Sport Films 16% 3% 34%
Religion 2%
Music/Art 6%
Factual/Documentary/ Drama Educational Entertainment/Comedy 8% 15% 12%
Conclusion Taken in the round this is a good news story for those who value the traditional public service genres – more factual content, more (domestic) children’s television, less imported programmes. On the other hand, a more detailed analysis shows that the different public service broadcasters are taking a different approach to their remit – factual content on BBC2 and Channel 4, and entertainment and drama on ITV and BBC1. Our main findings are set out below.
Key Findings:
• As a percentage of the total hours broadcast each year, the public service broadcasters are showing more drama, children’s television and factual programmes over the Christmas period.
• The public service broadcasters are showing less films and music/arts programmes than they were in 1992.
• All of the public service broadcasters combined, from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day in 2002, only broadcasted 5 hours of religious programming.
• BBC1 broadcasted the largest amount of foreign content of any of the public service broadcasters from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day in 2002. • Whilst in 1992 foreign content made up just under 60 per cent of ITV’s schedules, by last year under 30 per cent of ITV’s schedule was filled with foreign content.
3
• ITV and BBC1 consistently devote the least time to music/arts programming during the period examined.
• Our study gives some support to the notion that music/arts and factual/documentary programming is being pushed from BBC1 and ITV onto Channel 4 and BBC2.
4
Analysis by Genre
Imported Content
Figure 3 – Total percentage of foreign content broadcast by all channels per year
Total Percentage of all Channels' Foreign Content per Year 1992 - 2002
60%
52.5%
50% 48.3%
44.4% 40.1% 40.0% 40%
t n
e 32.2% c r 30% e P
20%
10%
0% 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 Year Total Foreign Content for All Channels
Imported content is a significant part of the Christmas television schedules for all broadcasters. Figure 4 below shows each channel’s foreign content as a percentage of the total hours broadcast in each year examined. In 2002, around a quarter of Channel 4 (24.8 per cent) and ITV’s (26.6 per cent) schedules were imported content, and approximately a third of BBC2 (36.5 per cent) and Five’s (30.1 per cent) schedules were imported content. In 2002 BBC1 broadcast the most imported content, over 40 per cent of the total hours examined in this study. However, ITV, BBC2, Channel 4 and Five have all cut the amount of imported content broadcast during the Christmas period. The only channel to have slightly increased the total amount of imported content during the period of the study is BBC1 from 40 per cent of the schedule in 1992 to 42.9 per cent in 2002. Most imported content for all broadcasters is primarily US films and children’s programming.
5
Figure 4 – Each channel’s percentage of total hours broadcast of foreign content by year
Each Channel's Percent of Foreign Content per Year 1992 - 2002
70%
60%
50% t BBC 1 n 40% e BBC 2 c r ITV e
P Four 30% Five
20%
10%
0% 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 Year
Figure 5 – Programming content trends for all channels
Programming Content Trends for all Channels 1992 - 2002 45%
40%
35%
30%
t 25% n e c r e
P 20%
15%
10%
5%
0% 1992 (Total 220 hrs) 1994 (Total 207 hrs) 1996 (Total 209 hrs) 1998 (Total 258 hrs) 2000 (Total 253 hrs) 2002 (Total 255 hrs) Year
Films Drama Series Entertainment/Comedy Factual/Documentary/Educational Music/Arts Religion Sport Childrens TV News/Current Affairs Regional
6
Films Films are the mainstay of the Christmas television schedules. However, the amount of hours devoted to films, as a proportion of the total hours broadcast by all channels, declined from 39.4 per cent in 1992 to 33.2 per cent in 2002. Figure 6 below shows the total hours devoted to film broadcast by each channel during the period of our analysis.
Figure 6 – Hours of film programmes broadcast by channel per year
Hours of Film Programmes by Channel per Year 1992 - 2002
40
35
g 30 n i m m a 25 r g BBC1 o r BBC2 P
f 20 ITV o Four s r Five u o 15 H
10
5
0 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 Year
There has been a steep decline in the total hours of film content that ITV broadcasts over the Christmas period. In 1992 ITV broadcast 34 hours of films, but by 2002 this had declined to only 13 hours, the lowest of any public service broadcaster. In 2002, Five broadcasted more films than any other public service broadcaster over the Christmas period. The approximate congruence between figure 4 and figure 6 indicate that a large proportion of foreign content on the public service broadcasters are U.S. movies.
7
Children’s Television The hours devoted by the public service broadcasters to children’s television over the Christmas period have increased sharply during the period of our analysis. In 1992, 11.6 per cent of the total hours broadcast by all the public service broadcasters was devoted to children’s television, but by 2002 this had increased to 16.3 per cent.
Figure 7 – Hours of children’s programmes broadcast by channel per year
Hours of Children's Programmes by Channel per Year 1992 - 2002
25
20 g n i m 15 BBC1 m a r BBC2 g o
r ITV P f Four o
s 10 r Five u o H
5
0 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 Year
Figure 7 above shows the total hours of children’s programming broadcast by each channel per year. BBC1 broadcasted more children’s programming than any other broadcaster. BBC1 broadcast 17.6 hours of children’s programming in 2002, an increase of 4 hours over the 1992 figure. The majority of the BBC’s children’s output, approximately 59 per cent, is domestic content. Five has a significant commitment to children’s television, as they broadcasted 12.3 hours in 1998 and 10.1 hours in 2002, and has increased the choice and diversity of content available for children and young people over the Christmas period. Further, Five has a high percentage of domestic content for children’s programming, approximately 74 per cent.
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Entertainment/Comedy From Morecambe and Wise to Only Fools and Horses entertainment and comedy programming is synonymous for many with Christmas television (British Council 2003).5 However, our analysis demonstrates that entertainment and comedy content is only the third most popular genre when taking the schedule as a whole. Entertainment and comedy content represents between 12.4 per cent (1994) and 15.5 per cent (2000) of the total programming broadcast by the public service broadcasters during the period examined (figure 5). Yet this does not tell the whole story. Entertainment and comedy programmes are usually scheduled at peak viewing times across all of the broadcasters.
Figure 8 – Hours of entertainment/comedy programmes broadcast by channel per year
Hours of Entertainment Programmes by Channel per Year 1992 - 2002
14
12
10 g n i BBC1 m m 8 BBC2 a r g ITV o r P
Four f o 6 Five s r u o H 4
2
0 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 Year
Figure 8 above shows the hours of entertainment and comedy programmes broadcast by the public service broadcasters per year from 1992 to 2002. BBC2 has consistently broadcast the least entertainment and comedy programming during the period studied. BBC1 has reduced the amount of entertainment/comedy programmes broadcast from 11 hours in 1992 to only 8 hours in 2002. This potentially reflects the increasing amounts of children’s and factual/documentary content on the main BBC channel.
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Factual/Documentary/Educational The fourth largest genre as a proportion of the schedules analysed on the public service broadcasters during 2002 was factual/documentary/educational content. In 2002, 12.3 per cent of the total broadcast hours of all channels examined was devoted to factual/documentary/educational content. Whilst the results are skewed due to the large amount of time devoted to programmes on the Queen’s Jubilee in 2002, our analysis shows a steady increase from 1992 to 2002 in the amount of factual/documentary/educational programmes broadcast. Figure 9 below shows the hours of factual/documentary/educational programmes broadcast by each channel per year.
Figure 9 – Hours of factual/documentary/educational programmes broadcast by channel per year
Hours of Factual Programmes by Channel per Year 1992 - 2002
16
14
12 g n i 10 m BBC1 m a r BBC2 g o r 8 ITV P f Four o s
r Five u 6 o H
4
2
0 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 Year
As figure 9 above demonstrates, BBC2 broadcasts by far the largest amount of factual, documentary and educational programming of all the public service broadcasters. In 2002 BBC2 broadcast 14 hours of factual content double the amount of entertainment content broadcast in the same year. ITV and BBC1 consistently broadcast the least factual content during the period of our analysis. This reflects the channel’s commitment to other forms of public service content such as drama. Further, as the chart indicates, both ITV and BBC1 did not produce any hours of factual programming in 1992; however this can be attributed to the fact that they chose to broadcast religious programming instead. This is illustrated best in figure 13 where both ITV and BBC1 are tied for broadcasting the greatest amount of religious programming for 1992.
10
Music/Arts Music and arts programmes represent a surprisingly large proportion of the public service broadcasters’ Christmas schedules. However, the proportion of the schedules devoted to music and arts content reached an overall high water mark in 1994 across all channels, and has since declined to represent only 5.9 per cent of the total hours broadcast in the year 2002. Whilst many would believe that this would be an effect of Five entering the market in 1998, our analysis illustrated below in figure 10 clearly demonstrates that this is not the case. All five of the channels have at some point since 1998 increased their broadcasting hours for music and arts.
Figure 10 – Hours of music and arts programmes broadcast by channel per year
Hours of Music and Arts Programmes by Channel per Year 1992 - 2002
14
12
10 g n i
m BBC1 m 8 a BBC2 r g
o ITV r P
Four f o 6 Five s r u o H
4
2
0 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 Year
Figure 10 shows that there has been a marked decline in the amount of music and arts programming on BBC1, BBC2 and ITV during the years of our analysis. BBC2’s commitment to music and arts programming has declined from 9 hours total in 1992 to only 4 total broadcasting hours in 2002. Further, the only channel to maintain a consistent commitment to music and arts programming is Channel 4.
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Drama The aggregate amount of drama programmes shown by public service broadcasters increased slightly from 1992 to 2002. In 1992, 6.8 per cent of all programmes on channels 1 through 4 were drama. By 2000, this figure climbed to a high of 9.3 per cent of all programming, but in 2002 drama programmes accounted for only 8.2 per cent of all content.
Figure 11 – Hours of drama programmes broadcast by channel per year
Hours of Drama Programmes by Channel per Year 1992 - 2002
8
7
6 g n i 5 m BBC1 m a r BBC2 g o
r 4 ITV P f Four o s r Five u 3 o H
2
1
0 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 Year
Figure 11 shows the hours devoted to drama by channel per year. ITV devotes the largest amount of its schedule to drama reflecting its strong track record in this area. The increase in time ITV devotes to drama programmes may also account for some of the decline evident in imported content. It is interesting to note that BBC2 hardly broadcasts any drama content at all over the period of our analysis.
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News Current/Affairs News and current affairs is only a small part of all broadcasters’ Christmas schedules. This is of course not only confined to television broadcast news but also to print and radio news. Radio Times defines the Queen’s speech, somewhat bizarrely, as current affairs and therefore it is included in the table below. Figure 12 below illustrates the hours of news and current affairs broadcasting by channel per year.
Figure 12 – Hours of news and current affairs programmes broadcast by channel per year
Hours of News Programmes by Channel per Year 1992 - 2002
4.0
3.5
3.0 g n i m 2.5 BBC1 m a r BBC2 g o
r 2.0 ITV P f Four o
s 1.5 r Five u o H 1.0
0.5
0.0 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 Year
As figure 12 demonstrates, ITV accounts for most of the news broadcasts among all of the public service broadcasters. However, their 1996 peak in news coverage should be explained in more detail. That year, ITV launched a Christmas special where they spent 1.5 hours over a series of five shows, visiting with Royal Navy troops around the world. This special ‘current affairs’ broadcast contributed heavily to ITV’s peak in news programming during 1996. Without this event, ITV would have broadcast a total of 2 hours of news programmes during 1996, an amount much more in line with their other years’ news coverage.
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Religion Is Christmas a time for religious broadcasting? Figure 13 below illustrates the hours of religious programming by channel per year. Whilst our analysis does not allow a comparison with other times in the year, anecdotal evidence would suggest that there is more religious broadcasting at Christmas than any other time in the year. Religious content represents between 1.6 per cent (1994) and 3 per cent (2000) of all yearly programming for the public service broadcasters.
Figure 13 – Hours of religious programmes broadcast by channel per year
Hours of Religion Programmes by Channel per Year 1992 - 2002
4.0
3.5
3.0 g n i m 2.5 BBC1 m a r BBC2 g o r 2.0 ITV P f Four o s r 1.5 Five u o H 1.0
0.5
0.0 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 Year
BBC1 and ITV were tied for broadcasting the greatest amount of religious programming - 2 hours - in 1992. However, as we mentioned previously, this religious programming compensated for their lack of factual, documentary and educational programming in (see ‘Factual’). Similarly, BBC1 broadcast the greatest amount of religious content in 2002 with 2.2 hours of programming. Yet despite that fact, religious programming remained the second-least broadcasted genre among all channels in 2002, as it only comprised 2 per cent of all 2002 content.
14
Regional Programming Although regional programming is encouraged upon public service broadcasters, it remains primarily the responsibility of ITV. Figure 14 below illustrates that whilst this is certainly the case, BBC1 has also broadcast strong amounts of regional programmes from 1992 to 2002.
Figure 14 – Hours of regional programmes broadcast by channel per year
Hours of Regional Programmes by Channel per Year 1992 - 2002
3.5
3.0
2.5 g n i m BBC1 m
a 2.0 r BBC2 g o r ITV P f Four o
1.5 s r Five u o H 1.0
0.5
0.0 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 Year
Between 1992 and 2002 regional content on BBC1 increased from 1.1 hours to 1.5 hours respectively. On the other hand, ITV only increased its regional content from .5 hours in 1992 to .6 hours in 2002, yet along the way they increased their regional broadcasts dramatically. The year 1996 marked the peak of regional broadcasts across all channels, as regional content accounted for 2.5 per cent of all 1996 programmes. This peak is especially noticeable in figure 14 with ITV. ITV’s 1996 peak reached 3.3 hours and is attributable to the regional news magazine programmes that were broadcast that year alongside lengthy hours of traditional regional news programming.
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Sports The vast majority of the sports broadcasts over the Christmas period from 1992 to 2002 are racing (Channel 4) and football (BBC1 and later ITV). Figure 15 below illustrates the hours of sports broadcasting by channel per year.
Figure 15 – Hours of sports programmes broadcast by channel per year
Hours of Sport Programmes by Channel per Year 1992 - 2002
10
9
8
g 7 n i m BBC1
m 6 a r BBC2 g o r 5 ITV P f Four o 4 s r Five u o 3 H
2
1
0 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 Year
As is evident in the table above, sports broadcasting has decreased as a whole across all channels from 1992 to 2002. Our analysis indicates that in 1992, sports programming accounted for 6.8 per cent of all programming content over the Christmas holidays, but by 2002 sports programmes only comprised 2.7 per cent of all content. The greatest decline can be seen in Ch4’s sport broadcasts. In 1992, Ch4 broadcast 9 hours of sports, whereas in 2002 they only broadcasted 3 hours of sport. This drop indicates a 60 per cent decline in Ch4’s sport broadcasting between 1992 and 2002. BBC2 followed a similar pattern, dropping from 5 hours of sports in 1992, to 0 hours of sports programming in 2002. On the other hand, ITV has steadily increased their sports content over the Christmas holidays. In 1992, ITV did not broadcast any hours of sports programming, but by 2002 they had increased that amount to 2.1 hours of sports content.
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Methodological Note
Channels and Dates Covered
Dates* Channels** Sources*** 24th – 26th December BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Four Radio Times, 19/12/92 1992 pp. 118-135 24th – 26th December BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Four Radio Times, 24/12/94 1994 pp. 138-155 24th – 26th December BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Four Radio Times, 21/12/96 1996 pp. 92-98, 123-133 24th – 26th December BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Four, Radio Times, 19/12/98 1998 Five pp. 136-153 24th – 26th December BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Four, Radio Times, 23/12/00 2000 Five pp. 92-109 24th – 26th December BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Four, Radio Times, British 2002 Five Universities Film & Video Council, “TRILT: Television and Radio Index for Learning and Teaching”. www.trilt.ac.uk
* Our research analysed only programs that began during the hours of 07:00 and 00:00 (7:00 am – midnight) for each day that is listed. For example, programs that began at 23:00 on Christmas Day, but did not end until 01:00 on Boxing Day morning, were included in our data. On the other hand, programs that began at 06:00 but did not end until 08:00 were not included in our data.
** It is important to note that Channel Five began broadcasting on March 30, 1997, and thus the data for 1998, 2000, and 2002 represents more hours of total programming than in 1992, 1994, and 1996.
*** Special thanks to the British Universities Film & Video Council (BUFVC) for generously sharing their collection of Radio Times magazines from 1992 to 2000. We collected data on 2002 programming from BUFVC’s online database, “TRILT”, which provided a comprehensive list of all Radio Times listings. TRILT can be accessed at www.trilt.ac.uk.
‘Imports’ An important note should be made about the origination of programmes. In analysing our data we categorized programmes as to whether they were foreign or domestic productions. Domestic production we defined as programmes made within the UK or within the greater European Union. We defined foreign production as programmes that were made outside of the UK and European Union. Thus, in our report, the term ‘imports’ refers to foreign programmes produced outside of the European Union.
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Categorisations During the course of this research it was necessary to classify programmes into distinct genres. We are aware of the fact that programmes frequently do not fit nicely into defined genres, and they may in fact straddle multiple genres, such as ‘religion’ or ‘documentary’. For the purposes of our research we classified programmes in two different phases. During the first phase, while coding the programmes, we categorised them into seventeen different genres. This helped identify very specific programs like ‘regional news’ and ‘children’s educational’. During the second phase of analysing the data, we consolidated the existing seventeen genres into a more-workable ten genres. The ten generic classifications that we use for the purposes of this report are: ‘films’, ‘drama’, ‘entertainment’, ‘factual’, ‘arts’, ‘religion’, ‘sport’, ‘children’s television’, ‘news’, and ‘regional’. These genres were chosen for analysis because they represent the key areas of content that the Communications Act 2003 has stipulated Public Service Broadcasters carry as part of their license agreement (2003 Chapter 21, Part 3, Chapter 4).
‘Films’ Programmes are classified as films if they were denoted as such in the Radio Times listing. On the whole, films were easy to identify because of this reason. Further, many of these programmes had running times of at least 100 minutes, which indicated that they were the appropriate length for a feature-length film. The difficulty of classifying a programme as a film arose when the programmes were non-fictional and were not listed in the Radio Times as a film, nor were they found online in the Internet Movie Database. In this instance, the programmes were not classified as films, but as documentaries.
‘Children’s Television’ The genre of ‘Children’s Television’ was another category that was consolidated from more specific genres. In our first analysis phase of coding the data, we categorized programmes into ‘Children’s comedy’, ‘Children’s drama’, ‘Children’s entertainment’, and ‘Children’s informational/educational’. For the purposes of our analysis and this report we combined these four genres into one generic one of ‘Children’s Television’. Therefore, children’s cartoons such as The Magic Roundabout and Arthur (Ch4 and BBC1), children’s drama such as War Game (Ch4), pre-school and children’s entertainment such as The Hoobs and Animal Express (Ch4 and Five), and children’s educational programmes such as Sesame Street (Five) are all included under the category of ‘Children’s Television’.
‘Entertainment’ The category of entertainment was one of the seven genres that we consolidated for the purposes of our analysis. During coding, we had originally classified programmes as either ‘entertainment’ or ‘comedy’. Yet for the sake of clarity we combined these two groups under the label ‘entertainment’. Therefore, sitcoms like Friends (Ch4), reality shows like The Osbournes (Ch4), game shows like The Weakest Link and Demolition (BBC2 and Five), and comedy shows like The Morecambe and Wise Show and V Graham Norton (Five and Ch4) are all included in our collective category ‘entertainment’. As is evident, this allows for a wide variety of programme content under the title ‘entertainment’, but we believe that the
18 similarities these programmes have to each other is far greater than the similarities they share to other categories such as ‘drama’ or ‘art’.
‘Factual’ The category of ‘factual’ was another genre that we consolidated for the purpose of our analysis. During coding, we had originally classified programmes as ‘factual/documentary’ or as ‘educational’. However, it is very hard to distinguish what type of programme is merely factual or instead educational. In this sense, interpretation is open to the viewer. Any person who is educated by a documentary could claim that the programme was educational. On the other hand, the producer would argue that the programme is a documentary, and not educational, as the education genre is only reserved for programmes fit for use in schools. As a result, the defining line between factual/documentary and educational programmes became very blurry. Thus for accuracy and clarity, we combined both categories under the heading ‘factual’, as this was a much more definite category and it allowed for viewer interpretations.
‘Arts’ It should be noted that programmes classified under ‘arts’ are primarily musical programmes. For example, high-art such as Christmas Choir Carols and performed Operas are both included in this category. On the other hand, mass-art such as live pop-star concerts, music award celebrations, soundtrack performances and music videos are also included under the title ‘arts’. Programmes that were not included in this category include documentary shows on the making of a music artist, or the backstage of a concert. Programmes such as these were included in the ‘factual’ genre and not in the ‘arts’ genre.
‘Drama’ To classify programmes as drama we used a general definition that included soap operas, drama series, and police series. For example, East Enders (BBC1), Coronation Street (ITV), and Bull (Ch4) are included in our drama category.
‘News’ Classifying programmes as ‘news’ was fairly straightforward; however it was also a category that was consolidated from multiple genres. Due to the fact that our analysis spans the days surrounding the Christmas Holiday, we created a separate category for the Queen’s message. We classified her ten-minute message as ‘royal broadcast’ during the first phase of coding the data. However, keeping the category of ‘royal broadcast’ does not add to the findings of our report, and therefore we felt it worthwhile to combine ‘royal broadcast’ with the category of ‘news and current affairs’. It is important to note that ‘news and current affairs’ applied only to news broadcasts that were shown nationally, and not to regional news programmes. Therefore, the genre of ‘news’ now encompasses both the Queen’s message to her loyal subjects, and national news and current affairs.
‘Religion’ Programmes included in the religion category were difficult to classify because they frequently took the shape of other genres. For example, a programme on religion in Africa could easily be labelled as ‘factual’ or as ‘religion’. When this was the case we tended to label it as factual, because the programme description
19 almost always referred to it as a documentary. Therefore, we ensured that the programmes we classified as ‘religion’ had a distinct religious purpose to them. In this sense, broadcasts of midnight mass or Christmas prayer were classified as ‘religion’. Meanwhile, choir carols were classified as ‘arts’.
‘Regional’ The category ‘regional’ was consolidated from the two categories of ‘regional news’ and ‘regional other’. Programmes included under ‘regional news’ were simply what they were described as. Programmes classified under ‘regional other’ were those that were geared specifically to a local or community audience, and broadcast to just that audience.
‘Sport’ Classifying programmes as ‘sport’ was fairly straightforward. Any sporting event, whether horse racing, football, car racing, cricket, rugby, or American football was classified as ‘sport’. Further, any roundup of the day’s sporting activities or events was classified under ‘sport’ rather than under ‘news’. However, this does not include the few minutes of sport time allocated in a national or regional news broadcast.
‘Repeats’ As has been done in the past, we also categorized programmes as to whether they were repeats or first-run. Our data for years 2000 and 2002 seemed trustworthy, as all five channels appeared to consistently note if the programme was a repeat. However, our data for the 1990’s seemed questionable. We believe that some of the channels did not consistently reveal if a programme was a repeat or not, especially in the area of children’s programming. Further, it was difficult to consistently discern if a film was a first-run or repeat on terrestrial television, because channels would only sometimes advertise the film as a ‘television premiere’. Even then, there was no definition of what a ‘television premiere’ was; e.g. whether it applied to only terrestrial channels, or terrestrial and multi-channel stations. Since a very high percentage of programmes were films and children’s programming, for the sake of accuracy in reporting we have not included data on whether the programmes were repeats or first-run.
Other Considerations With regards to the general body of the data, it is necessary to note a few events that may have lead to a distortion in results. Firstly, the year 2002 was Queen Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee. Over the 2002 Christmas holiday there were five hours of documentaries broadcast on the Queen’s life, as a special tribute to Her Majesty during the 50th anniversary of her reign. We have categorized these documentaries as ‘factual’, however it should be noted that these five hours of documentaries would not have been broadcast in 2002 were it not the Golden Jubilee.
Further, channel Five was launched on March 30th in 1997, and thus does not appear in our data for 1992, 1994, and 1996. Therefore, when looking at our data, it must be taken into consideration that there are more hours of programming in 1998, 2000, and 2002 than there are in 1992, 1994, or 1996.
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Appendix 1
The Communications Act 2003 - The Public Service Broadcasting Remit and framework for the Public Service Television Broadcasting Review Available: http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2003/30021--i.htm#265
(3) The review and reporting obligations for a period are-
(a) an obligation to carry out a review of the extent to which the public service broadcasters have, during that period, provided relevant television services which (taking them all together over the period as a whole) fulfil the purposes of public service television broadcasting in the United Kingdom; and
(b) an obligation, with a view to maintaining and strengthening the quality of public service television broadcasting in the United Kingdom, to prepare a report on the matters found on the review.
(4) The purposes of public service television broadcasting in the United Kingdom are-
(a) the provision of relevant television services which secure that programmes dealing with a wide range of subject-matters are made available for viewing;
(b) the provision of relevant television services in a manner which (having regard to the days on which they are shown and the times of day at which they are shown) is likely to meet the needs and satisfy the interests of as many different audiences as practicable;
(c) the provision of relevant television services which (taken together and having regard to the same matters) are properly balanced, so far as their nature and subject-matters are concerned, for meeting the needs and satisfying the interests of the available audiences; and
(d) the provision of relevant television services which (taken together) maintain high general standards with respect to the programmes included in them, and, in particular with respect to-
(i) the contents of the programmes;
(ii) the quality of the programme making; and
(iii) the professional skill and editorial integrity applied in the making of the programmes.
(5) When-
(a) determining the extent to which any of the purposes of public service television broadcasting in the United Kingdom are fulfilled, and
(b) reviewing and reporting on that matter,
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OFCOM must have regard to the desirability of those purposes being fulfilled in a manner that is compatible with subsection (6).
(6) A manner of fulfilling the purposes of public service television broadcasting in the United Kingdom is compatible with this subsection if it ensures-
(a) that the relevant television services (taken together) comprise a public service for the dissemination of information and for the provision of education and entertainment;
(b) that cultural activity in the United Kingdom, and its diversity, are reflected, supported and stimulated by the representation in those services (taken together) of drama, comedy and music, by the inclusion of feature films in those services and by the treatment of other visual and performing arts;
(c) that those services (taken together) provide, to the extent that is appropriate for facilitating civic understanding and fair and well-informed debate on news and current affairs, a comprehensive and authoritative coverage of news and current affairs in, and in the different parts of, the United Kingdom and from around the world;
(d) that those services (taken together) satisfy a wide range of different sporting and other leisure interests;
(e) that those services (taken together) include what appears to OFCOM to be a suitable quantity and range of programmes on educational matters, of programmes of an educational nature and of other programmes of educative value;
(f) that those services (taken together) include what appears to OFCOM to be a suitable quantity and range of programmes dealing with each of the following, science, religion and other beliefs, social issues, matters of international significance or interest and matters of specialist interest;
(g) that the programmes included in those services that deal with religion and other beliefs include-
(i) programmes providing news and other information about different religions and other beliefs;
(ii) programmes about the history of different religions and other beliefs; and
(iii) programmes showing acts of worship and other ceremonies and practices (including some showing acts of worship and other ceremonies in their entirety);
(h) that those services (taken together) include what appears to OFCOM to be a suitable quantity and range of high quality and original programmes for children and young people;
(i) that those services (taken together) include what appears to OFCOM to be a sufficient quantity of programmes that reflect the lives and concerns of different
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communities and cultural interests and traditions within the United Kingdom, and locally in different parts of the United Kingdom;
(j) that those services (taken together), so far as they include programmes made in the United Kingdom, include what appears to OFCOM to be an appropriate range and proportion of programmes made outside the M25 area.
(7) In carrying out a review under this section OFCOM must consider-
(a) the costs to persons providing relevant television services of the fulfilment of the purposes of public service television broadcasting in a manner compatible with subsection (6); and
(b) the sources of income available to each of them for meeting those costs.
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Acknowledgements We are very grateful to the ippr media policy project supporters; BBC, BECTU, Endemol UK, Five, the ITC, ntil and Oftel without whose support our work would not be possible.
1 Available: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/2595011.stm 2 The ITC estimated that by June 2003 multichannel penetration would stand at 49.8 per cent of UK households. ITC (2003) ITC Multi Channel Quarterly Quarter 2 2003 London: ITC 3 All figures refer to the period examined in our content analysis, Christmas Eve - Boxing Day inclusive in time period 0700 - 0000, and as such provide a snapshot of Christmas television from 1992 - 2002. This allows us to examine the general trends in the provision of Christmas TV by the public service broadcasters. All percentages are expressed as a proportion of the total television broadcast during the research period. See methodological note for full details of the analysis. 4 We accept that a documentary on performing dogs may well educate the audience in the ways and means of performing dogs. We maintain, however, that whilst our opinion is subjective this has little or no educational value. 5 See British Council’s trend report for December 2003. Available: http://www1.britishcouncil.org/japan/japan-trenduk/japan-trenduk-december-contents/japan- trenduk-december-entertainment.htm
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