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In many countries (including the United Kingdom) the amount of commercials that can be broadcasted per hour on terrestrial broadcast is limited by law or other

In many countries (including the United Kingdom) the amount of commercials that can be broadcasted per hour on terrestrial broadcast is limited by law or other regulations. The UK is special in that the biggest broadcasters (BBC, ITV, Channel 4) are all publicly owned. Edit: as others have pointed out, ITV is not publicly owned, but Channel 4 (and obviously BBC) are.

polshaw 14y ago
>The UK is special in that the biggest broadcasters (BBC, ITV, Channel 4) are all publicly owned. No, no, no. Only the BBC is 'publicly owned' (e: ok and channel 4 is although commercial- the point was definitely not ITV). They do have some regulatory requirements, though.
- handelaar 14y ago
  Do tell us who you think owns Channel 4.
andyjohnson0 14y ago
ITV is not publicly owned. Channel 4 is though [1]. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_Four_Television_Corporation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_Four_Television_Corpora...
josephlord 14y ago
I would also add Sky as one of the biggest broadcasters, certainly by revenue. They are commercial pay TV with some advertising broadcasting on their own satellite platform but with some of their channels also available on cable and terrestrial. Not everyone has the Sky channels. Yes BBC is fully public corporation of it's own unique type (Corporation by Royal Charter - I think). Largely license fee funded with the rest coming from its commercial arm selling content (mostly overseas) and also books, magazines and back catalogue content in the UK. Channel 4 is a normal company but government owned. Funded by ad revenue. ITV is mostly ad funded and fully commercial. It used to be a group of regional companies (a bit like US affiliates) but they have all merged to one big company.
- DrJokepu 14y ago
  Due to my job, I work a lot with these broadcasters, especially Channel 4. From what I can tell, even though they are commercially funded, the folks over there in Horseferry Road try to take their "publicly owned" status seriously and try to act with the "public interest" (whatever that means) in mind. For example, I know that at least unofficially, they try really hard to help and support small, independent producers.
MichaelApproved 14y ago
The US used to be one of those countries until Ronald Reagan signed a bill removing restrictions. "June 28, 1984: President Ronald Reagan signs 'The Cable Communications Act' into law. During his first term in office, President Ronald Reagan approved "The Cable Communications Act," groundbreaking legislation that, among other things, lifted time restrictions on television advertisements. The stage was now set for the long-form infomercial." http://news.yahoo.com/crazy-tv-products-evolution-infomercial-20101220-095800-280.html http://news.yahoo.com/crazy-tv-products-evolution-infomercia...

polshaw 14y ago

>The UK is special in that the biggest broadcasters (BBC, ITV, Channel 4) are all publicly owned. No, no, no. Only the BBC is 'publicly owned' (e: ok and channel 4 is although commercial- the point was definitely not ITV). They do have some regulatory requirements, though.

handelaar 14y ago
Do tell us who you think owns Channel 4.

andyjohnson0 14y ago

ITV is not publicly owned. Channel 4 is though [1]. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_Four_Television_Corporation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_Four_Television_Corpora...

josephlord 14y ago

I would also add Sky as one of the biggest broadcasters, certainly by revenue. They are commercial pay TV with some advertising broadcasting on their own satellite platform but with some of their channels also available on cable and terrestrial. Not everyone has the Sky channels. Yes BBC is fully public corporation of it's own unique type (Corporation by Royal Charter - I think). Largely license fee funded with the rest coming from its commercial arm selling content (mostly overseas) and also books, magazines and back catalogue content in the UK. Channel 4 is a normal company but government owned. Funded by ad revenue. ITV is mostly ad funded and fully commercial. It used to be a group of regional companies (a bit like US affiliates) but they have all merged to one big company.

DrJokepu 14y ago
Due to my job, I work a lot with these broadcasters, especially Channel 4. From what I can tell, even though they are commercially funded, the folks over there in Horseferry Road try to take their "publicly owned" status seriously and try to act with the "public interest" (whatever that means) in mind. For example, I know that at least unofficially, they try really hard to help and support small, independent producers.

MichaelApproved 14y ago

The US used to be one of those countries until Ronald Reagan signed a bill removing restrictions. "June 28, 1984: President Ronald Reagan signs 'The Cable Communications Act' into law. During his first term in office, President Ronald Reagan approved "The Cable Communications Act," groundbreaking legislation that, among other things, lifted time restrictions on television advertisements. The stage was now set for the long-form infomercial." http://news.yahoo.com/crazy-tv-products-evolution-infomercial-20101220-095800-280.html http://news.yahoo.com/crazy-tv-products-evolution-infomercia...