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Capital City

Capital City

:For the fictional city, see Capital City (The Simpsons). For centers of government and politics, see Capital. Capital City is a 60-minute television show produced by Euston Films that ran for 13 episodes in 1989 on ITV. This drama focused on the lives of investment bankers in London living and working on the corporate trading floor for the fictional international bank Shane-Longman. Despite its short run in the UK, it was rebroadcast on UKTV Gold as well as a handful of PBS stations in the United States.

External links


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- [http://www.nostalgiacentral.com/tv/drama/capitalcity.htm Nostalgia Central]
- [http://www.offthetelly.co.uk/reviews/gold/capitalcity.htm Off the Telly]
- [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1133069/ Screen Online] Category:ITV television programmes Category:Drama television series

Capital City (The Simpsons)

Capital City (often written Capitol City) is a fictional state capital from The Simpsons. It is the capital of the state which both Springfield and Shelbyville is based. The city nickname is "The Windy Apple" (a portmanteau of The Windy City and The Big Apple). Principal Seymour Skinner was born in the city, and Milhouse Van Houten's mother, Luanne Van Houten, moved there after her divorce. The city is often host to major events such as concerts, sports games and United Nations Conferences. It has its own major league baseball team, The Capital City Capitals, with mascot "The Capital City" goofball. Other attractions include the Cross-town suspension bridge, the main Duff Brewery, the Capital City Stadium, and the Capital City Amphitheatre. The city is 220 miles away from Springfield, with air-routes, several roads and a railway linking the two cities. The city also has several large hotels which frequently host conventions attended by the Simpson family, and Capitol City also hosted the Superbowl and Hullabalooza. Category:Fictional towns and cities Category:The Simpsons

Capital

:This article concerns places that serve as centers of government and politics. For alternative meanings see capital (disambiguation) In politics, a capital (also called capital city or political capital — although the latter phrase has an alternative meaning based on an alternative meaning of "capital") is the principal city or town associated with its government. It is almost always the city which physically encompasses the offices and meeting places of the seat of government and fixed by law. The word capital is derived from the Latin caput meaning "head," and the related term capitol refers to the building where government-business is chiefly conducted. Seats of government in major substate jurisdictions are usually called "capitals", but at lower administrative subdivisions, terms such as county town, county seat, or borough seat are also used. As the focal point of power for the country or region, the capital naturally attracts the politically motivated and those whose skills are needed for efficient administration of government such as lawyers, journalists, and public policy researchers. Older capitals have often developed into prime economic, cultural, or intellectual centers as well. Such is certainly the case with Paris and Buenos Aires among national capitals, and Irkutsk or Salt Lake City in their respective state or province. Such concentration may be controversial. The siting of Brasília in Brazil's heartland was done in order to bring progress to the interior of the country, since the old capital, Rio de Janeiro, along with entire Southeastern Brazil was already crowded. The government of South Korea announced in 2004 it would move its capital from Seoul to Yeongi-Gongju — even though the word Seoul itself means "capital" in the Korean language. The convergence of political and economic or cultural power is by no means universal. Traditional capitals may be economically eclipsed by provincial rivals, as occurred with Thebes by Alexandria, Nanjing by Shanghai, or Edinburgh by Glasgow. The decline of a dynasty or culture could mean the extinction of its capital city as well, as occurred with Babylon and Cahokia. And many modern capital cities, such as Abuja and Ottawa, were deliberately fixed outside existing economic areas, and may not have established themselves as new commercial or industrial hubs since.

Multiple capitals

:See also: List of multiple capitals A number of cases exist where states or other entities have multiple capitals. In South Africa, for example, the administrative capital is Pretoria, the legislative capital is Cape Town, and the judicial capital is Bloemfontein, the outcome of the compromise that created the Union of South Africa in 1910. In others, the "effective" and "official" capital may differ for pragmatic reasons, resulting in a situation where a city known as "the capital" is not, in fact, host to the seat of government:
- Yamoussoukro was designated the national capital of Côte d'Ivoire in 1983, but as of 2004 most government offices and embassies were still located in Abidjan
- Sucre is still the constitutional capital of Bolivia, but most of the national government long abandoned that region for La Paz
- Amsterdam is the nominal national capital of the Netherlands even though the Dutch government and supreme court are both located in The Hague. In such cases, the city housing the administrative capital is usually understood to be the "national capital" among outsiders. For instance, Santiago is understood to be the capital of Chile even though its Congress is in Valparaiso.

Capital as symbol

With the rise of modern empires and the nation-state, the capital city has become a symbol for the state and its government, and imbued with political meaning. Unlike medieval capitals, which were declared wherever a monarch held his or her court, the selection, relocation, founding, or capture of a modern capital city is an emotional affair. For example:
- Ruined and almost uninhabited Athens was made capital of newly independent Greece with the romantic notion of reviving the glory of the ancients;
- Peter I of Russia moved his government to Saint Petersburg to give the Russian Empire a western orientation, while Kemal Atatürk did the same by ironically moving east to Ankara, away from Ottoman Istanbul;
- The selection or founding of a "neutral" city, one unencumbered by regional or political identity, represented the unity of a new state with Madrid in Spain, Washington, D.C. in the United States, and Canberra in Australia among others;
- During the American Civil War, tremendous resources were expended to defend Washington, D.C. from Confederate attack even though the small federal government could have been moved relatively easily in the era of railroads and telegraph.
- Berlin has risen from the ashes of World War II (Stunde Null) to become the new/old capital city of the third most prosperous nation in the World, Germany.

The effects of the capital

The capital city is almost always the main target in a war, as capturing it usually guarantees capture of much of the enemy government, and victory for the attacking forces. In the tradition of drama, capital cities are usually associated with high stake final battles, such as in the Lord of the Rings series where the forces of Mordor besiege the Gondorian capital of Minas Tirith; it is assumed if the city falls, Gondor falls with it. In old China, the relatively fragile dynasties could easily be toppled with the fall of their capital. In the Three Kingdoms period, both Shu and Wu fell when their respective capitals of Cheng Du and Jian Ye fell. The Ming were destroyed when the Manchus took their seat of power, and this pattern endlessly repeats itself in Chinese history. In the West, things were vastly different. The Byzantine Empire lasted for nearly 60 years after Crusaders took their capital city of Constantinople. The American revolutionaries lost their capital of Philadelphia, but survived the blow.

Largest national capital cities

Some of the largest cities in the world are not national capitals. The largest national capitals on each continent, by urban/metropolitan area population, are:
- Africa: Cairo (11,146,000)
- Asia: Tokyo (35,237,000)
- Europe: Moscow (13,600,000)
- North America: Mexico City (17,809,471)
- Oceania: Wellington (367,600)
- South America: Buenos Aires (13,349,000)

Lists of capitals


- Lists of national capitals
  - by name
  - by country (with also the largest city)
  - by continent and country
- List of historical national capitals
- List of capitals of subnational entities
- List of multiple capitals
- List of countries that have the name of their capital included in their name
- List of countries whose capital is not their largest city Category:Capitals Category:Political geography als:Hauptstadt ko:수도 ja:首都 ms:Ibu negara simple:Capital (city) th:เมืองหลวง zh-min-nan:Siú-to·

Euston Films

Euston Films was a British film and television production company. It was a subsidiary company of Thames Television, and operated from the 1970s to the 1990s, producing various series for Thames, which were screened nationally on the ITV network. The most famous Euston Films productions include Van der Valk (1972), The Sweeney (1975-78), Minder (1979-1994) and Quatermass (1979). The Sweeney series had two feature film spin-offs, Sweeney and Sweeney 2, which were also produced by Euston. The company was disbanded soon after Thames lost their ITV franchise for broadcasting on weekdays in London in 1992 and was merged with Talkback, becoming talkbackTHAMES. Category:Television production companies

ITV

:This article is about the British television network. ITV (or iTV) can also mean interactive television, whilst Independent Television may also be used in reference to the i television network in the United States. United States Independent Television (ITV) is the name given to the original network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up to provide competition to the BBC. In England and Wales the channel was recently rebranded ITV1 by ITV plc who own the regional broadcasting licences for the regions. The regional names have been kept by UTV (Northern Ireland), Scottish (Central Scotland), Grampian (Northern Scotland) and Channel TV, (Channel Islands)

History

The early years: 1954–1963

After much debate both in the British Parliament and the British Press, the Television Act became law in 1954. This Act paved the way for the establishment of a commercial television service in the UK, creating the Independent Television Authority (ITA). The ITA's responsibility was to regulate the new service, ensuring that the new service did not follow the same path taken by American television networks (which were perceived as "vulgar" by some people). For example, it was made obligatory that commercials be clearly distinguishable from programmes. The "Independent Television" service, so-called because of its independence from the BBC (which previously had held a monopoly on broadcasting in the UK), was to be made up of regions, with each region run by different companies. The three largest regions (London, the Midlands and the North of England) were subdivided into weekday and weekend services, with a different company running each. Space for commercials, shown during and between programmes was always sold on a region-by-region basis by each ITV company, and not on a nation-wide basis throughout the United Kingdom. The reason for this seemingly overcomplicated arrangement was to fulfil the 1954 Act's requirement for competition within the ITV system (as well as against the BBC) and also to help prevent any individual company obtaining a monopoly on commercial broadcasting. The ITV companies were required by the terms of their licences from the ITA to provide a local television service for their particular region, including a daily local news bulletin and regular local documentaries. However, national news bulletins, covering events in the UK and the rest of the world, were (and still are) produced by Independent Television News (ITN). Until recently, ITN was owned by all the ITV companies. Each company also produced programming that would be shown across the network (although the decision as to when or if to show each programme remained with the individual regions), with the four largest regions (known as the "Big Four"—London Weekday, London Weekend, the North of England and the Midlands) producing the bulk of this output. Each regional service had its own on-screen identity to distinguish it from other regions, since there was often a sizeable overlap between regions. The first ITV contractor to begin broadcasting was the London Weekday contractor Associated-Rediffusion, on 22 September 1955 beginning at 19.15hrs local time. On the first night of telecasts, BBC, who had held the monopoly on broadcasting in Britain, aired a special episode of their popular radio soap opera The Archers on the Home Service. In the episode, core character Grace Archer was killed in a fire, and it was seen as a ploy to keep loyal viewers and listeners away from the new station. The first full day of transmissions was 23 September 1955 when Britain's first female newsreader Barbara Mandell appeared. The London Weekend contractor, ATV London (initially known as "ABC" until the Midlands weekend contractor, Associated British Corporation, complained), began two days later. The other regions all launched later: The ITV regions initially broadcast on 405-line VHF. During the 1960s some commercial companies proposed the introduction of colour on the 405-line system, but the General Post Office insisted that colour should wait until the higher-definition 625-line UHF system became standard. ITV eventually introduced PAL colour on this system from 15 November, 1969, simultaneous with BBC1 and two years after BBC2. This did not, however, spread immediately across the UK; some regions had to wait a few more years before colour was available. Colour was available to nearly 100% of the UK from 1976, with the Channel Islands being the last region to be converted. This enabled the 405-line system to be phased out between 1982 and 1985. In general, usually a few years after their launch, the regional companies made a profit; the largest regions especially so. Roy Thomson, the Canadian founding Chairman of Scottish Television famously described the ownership of an ITV franchise as "a licence to print money". However, this was not the case with Wales (West and North) Television (WWN). Problems with the construction of their transmitter network, as well as strict provisions in their contract to produce a large amount of Welsh-language programming, meant that WWN lost a lot of money. Although WWN did receive some help from other ITV contractors, it was not enough; the company declared itself bankrupt in 1964—the only ITV company to have ever done so. The Teledu Cymru name and studio facilities were taken over by TWW, who continued to broadcast in North and West Wales using that name until 1968.

The first franchise round: 1964

Contracts to run an ITV region are not permanent. Contracts were renewed by the ITA every few years, but it was not guaranteed that the incumbent contractor would win an extension; a new company could take over instead. The ITA's new chairman, former Postmaster General Lord Hill of Luton, undertook a licence review in September 1963 before the legal limit of 10 years for an ITV contract was reached. The purpose of this review was to look at the ITV system in the light of the Pilkington Report into broadcasting in the UK, which had roundly and, it was felt, unfairly, criticised ITV; the review also took into account the promised ITV2 UHF channel, due to be launched if the Conservative Party won the 1964 General Election. The review also had the effect of showing the Authority's teeth in the face of perceived arrogance from the contractors. However, no company lost its position as the local ITV contractor for their region and all licences were extended for another three years (starting July 1964), although several companies took the opportunity to relaunch their on-screen identities and change business names and shareholdings.

The second franchise round: 1968

Unlike the 'roll-over' of contracts in 1963, the 1967 review (for contracts running from the end of July 1968) was to create dramatic changes to the structure of the ITV network. The purpose of this review was to ensure the ITV system was ready for the arrival of colour broadcasting in 1969 and also to again allow for the potential start of ITV2, should the Conservatives win any election held after 1970. Additionally, Lord Hill of Luton had failed to temper the 'arrogance' of the contractors when he made no changes in 1963/4. Indeed, it was felt by many inside the ITA that the arrogance of the companies had grown — especially Rediffusion London, whose department managers also popped up in similar roles for rival applicants, and TWW, who reapplied for their contract under both their own and WWN/Teledu Cymru's name as a tax dodge. Lord Hill had made it clear in 1966 that "all bets were off" on the next franchise round and that the regions themselves would be likely to change. Therefore, in the period between the interviews of each applicant and the announcement of the changes, the newspapers speculated wildly about the likely changes; suggestions were made of Scottish Television exiting the system, Rediffusion moving to replace Southern and various other wild ideas (although it seems clear that Scottish would indeed have exited, had TWW not been the sacrificial company chosen). In the end, the ITA made the following changes to the ITV region map:
- Any split weekday/weekend licences were removed in all regions except London.
- The North of England region was split into North West and Yorkshire regions. There were also changes to the companies running each region:
- Granada, the existing weekday contractor for the North of England region, was given a seven-day licence for the new North West region.
- Lord Thompson of Fleet was required to divest himself of most of his holding in Scottish Television.
- A new company, Yorkshire Television, was given the licence to broadcast in the newly created Yorkshire region.
- ATV won the new seven-day Midlands licence, replacing ABC at the weekend.
- ABC and Rediffusion were asked to merge by the ITA, creating Thames Television. Thames was awarded the London Weekday licence previously held by Rediffusion.
- London Weekend Television was awarded the London Weekend licence, replacing ATV in London.
- Most controversially, TWW lost its franchise for Wales and the West of England to Harlech Television, which became known as HTV on the arrival of UHF. Finally, the local programme guides produced in each region (except the Channel Islands) were abolished and a new company, Independent Television Publications was formed, taking over the London TV Times magazine and producing a national magazine with regional editions. Before the changes were implemented, Harold Wilson made the surprise move of sending Lord Hill to the chairmanship of the BBC Board of Governors and replacing him with Herbert Bowden, the Secretary of State for the Commonwealth Office, who was elevated to the peerage under the title Lord Aylestone. Aylestone reviewed the changes Hill had made, but allowed them to stand. The implementation of the ITV changes led to industrial unrest in the companies. Although there were no job losses in the system — this was an ITA stipulation — people were forced to move from Manchester to Leeds, from London to Cardiff and, perhaps less troublesome, from one part of London to another. Since this meant that staff were being made redundant (albeit with a guaranteed job to go to), the unions required redundancy payments. However, these payments led to problems in staff not receiving them who were changing company (from Rediffusion to Thames, for instance) but not location. The unions asked for payments to also be made in those cases; the companies responded by drawing the line; and wildcat strikes broke out in the week before and the week after the changes came into effect. By the Friday after the changes, a mixture of strike action and management lock-outs had taken ITV off the air and for most of August 1968 the regional network was replaced with an ITV Emergency National Service run by management. By September 1968, and with both sides claiming victory, all workers had returned to work. However, the strike left a legacy of bitterness across the ITV system that would continue to boil up occasionally during the next decade. The transition to colour broadcasting began in November 1969.

The third franchise round: 1974

Much like 1964, and very much unlike 1968, the review of contracts in 1974 produced a 'roll-over' with almost no changes. The IBA (the ITA was given the responsibility of regulating the new commercial "Independent Local Radio" (ILR) stations under the Sound Broadcasting Act 1972 and the name changed accordingly to the Independent Broadcasting Authority) took the opportunity of reassigning the Belmont transmitter in Lincolnshire from Anglia to Yorkshire Television, almost doubling the area served by the smallest of the "Big Five" companies. A degree of consolidation was allowed into the system by the IBA, for instance joint advertising sales operations. One of these, Trident Management, which handled sales for Tyne Tees Television and Yorkshire Television, was allowed to perform a reverse takeover on the two companies, creating a new entity, Trident Television. Both YTV and TTT, however, retained their own identities, boards and local management. The teletext service ORACLE was fully launched in 1974—one of the first of its kind (along with the BBC's CEEFAX).

The fourth franchise round: 1982

At the end of the 1980 the IBA reviewed the ITV broadcasting licences again, for contracts beginning on 1 January 1982. As a result, the following changes occurred:
- ATV was considered by the IBA to have not focused on their region enough, and were ordered to change in order to keep their licence. The renamed Central Independent Television took over from ATV on 1 January 1982.
- Southern Television lost their South of England licence, in favour of Television South (TVS).
- Westward Television also lost their licence (for South West England), being replaced by Television South West (TSW).
- The new nation-wide breakfast television service was awarded to TV-am with a provisional start date of May 1983
- Trident Television was ordered to sell the majority of its holdings in Yorkshire and Tyne Tees and the two companies became independent of each other again. November 2, 1982 saw the launch of Channel 4 which somewhat built on the ITV network for its funding.

The Broadcasting Act of 1990

Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Party government spent much of the 1980s privatising and deregulating British industry. Commercial broadcasting was no exception. The Broadcasting Act 1990 paved the way for the deregulation of the British commercial broadcasting industry, which was to have many consequences for the ITV system. As a result of this Act, the Independent Broadcasting Authority was abolished, and was replaced by two new "light-touch" regulators: Independent Television Commission (otherwise known as the ITC) and the Radio Authority. The small Cable Authority was also abolished and its powers transferred to the ITC. The main change caused by the Act was to the system of licence allocation; the "beauty contest" where applicants needed to show good programming ideas and fine financial controls was replaced by highest-bidder auctions to determine the winner of each ITV regional franchise. The auction element of the ITV franchising process was very controversial; the press and the existing ITV companies lobbied to have it changed and the ITC agreed to introduce a "quality threshold" to prevent high bidders with poor programme plans from joining the system. ITN, the news provider for ITV, no longer had to be exclusively owned by ITV companies. The legal name of the ITV network was changed to "Channel 3", although the network is still generally referred to as ITV by the general public and the media. Additionally, Channel 4, which had previously been an independent subsidiary of the IBA, was now to become a Government-owned corporation patterned after the BBC. It would also begin to sell its own advertisement space — a function previously provided by each ITV company as a return for subsidising the channel. One further change in the 1990 Act related to the way the ITV networking system was run. Since the 1960s, the Independent Television Companies' Association's Programme Controllors' Committee, representing the "Big 5" network companies (Thames, LWT, Central, Granada, and Yorkshire) had decided which programmes had aired in network programme timeslots. This had the effect of excluding other ITV companies, as well as independent production companies. Following lobbying by independent producers, as well as TVS, the Act required that ITV's scheduling be performed by a nominated person independent of the regional companies,and that a 25% threshold of independent production be required. This led to the creation in 1992 of the ITV Network Centre, a central body in charge of the network schedule, with for the first time, a single ITV Director of Programming. Ahead of the 1990 Act ITV had introduced its first official corporate logo and national on-air identity in September 1989, however it had only been used by less than half the then companies.

The fifth franchise round: 1993

The results of the Channel 3 franchise auction in 1991 for licences beginning 1 January 1993 were:
- Television South West lost the South West England franchise to Westcountry Television.
- Thames Television lost the London Weekday franchise to Carlton Television. However, Thames, although it has lost its broadcasting licence, still produces programmes for ITV, such as The Bill and the successful reality television programme Pop Idol.
- TVS lost the South of England franchise to Meridian Broadcasting.
- TV-am lost the National Breakfast television to Sunrise Television, who changed their name to GMTV before launch due to a dispute with BSkyB over the "Sunrise" name.
- ORACLE lost the National Teletext franchise to Teletext Ltd. All other existing ITV companies retained their regional franchises. Television South West and TVS attempted to obtain a judicial review of the ITC's decisions and of the wording of the 1990 Act. Accordingly, the ITC held off awarding the contract to Westcountry until the review was completed. As the contract with Meridian had already been agreed, the court felt unable to conduct a review of that decision. The review of the south-west franchise process took several months but was decided in favour of the ITC (and therefore against TSW).

Consolidation since 1993

The relaxation in the franchise ownership rules as a result of the 1990 Act meant that mergers between ITV companies were now possible (even more after the Broadcasting Act 1996, which relaxed the rules even further). This was quickly taken advantage of by the larger companies—Carlton Communications, Granada and (to a lesser extent) Scottish Television:
- 1993:
  - Yorkshire Television and Tyne Tees re-merged, creating Yorkshire–Tyne Tees Television plc.
- 1994:
  - Carlton Television buys Central Independent Television.
  - MAI (later United News and Media—UNM) buys Anglia Television.
  - Granada takeover of LWT takes place.
- 1996:
  - Carlton buys Westcountry Television.
  - United News and Media purchases HTV.
- 1997:
  - Granada acquisition of Yorkshire–Tyne Tees Television plc.
  - Scottish Media Group (SMG) acquires Grampian Television.
- 1999:
  - Carlton drop the Central & Westcountry names from their on-air presentation.
- 2000:
  - Granada acquires Anglia, Meridian and HTV from UNM; Granada then sells HTV to Carlton to comply with the then-current regulatory requirements.
- 2001;
  - Granada acquires Border from Capital Radio Group who bought it in 2000 to obtain the portfolio of radio stations then owned by Border. In 1998 the Independent Television Association and Network Centre formally merged, becoming "ITV Network Limited". A new lower-case ITV network logo was introduced at the same time. Carlton and Granada attempted to merge twice in the 1990s, creating a new company that would own all the Channel 3 licences in England and Wales (and the English-Scottish Border). In October 2003, the Government announced that it would no longer prevent a merger from taking place, subject to safeguards being set in place to ensure the continued independence of the Scottish Media Group, UTV and Channel Television. The merger of the two companies finally took place at the end of January 2004, and the new company—named ITV plc—started trading on 2 February, with former Carlton shareholders owning 32% and Granada shareholders owning 68% of the new shares in the company. The choice of the name "ITV plc" was controversial, since it could imply that the company runs the entire network, and an agreement had to be reached with SMG, UTV and Channel before the name could be used. Granada and Carlton have also been criticised in the past for using the ITV name to brand their failed pay television service, ITV Digital, and the ITV Sports Channel.

Adapting to multi channel television

Although still the major force in UK commercial television, ITV's share of the TV viewing audience has been falling for years, particularly since the start of competition by satellite television and cable, and more recently Digital Terrestrial Television. As a result, the ITV companies have tried to adapt by launching several extra channels. Digital Terrestrial Television ITV plc has launched several channels using the "ITV" brand: ITV2 launched in 1998 carrying a mix of imported and homemade programming, ITV News Channel launched by ITN but later owned by ITV plc, ITV3 launched in 2003 showing "classic" programming and ITV4 launched in 2004 targeting a "male" audience. A children's channel is reported to launch in 2006. Sudsidaries of ITV plc also include the Men & Motors channel, a broadband television trial called "ITV Local" and stakes in GMTV, ITN and Irish broadcaster TV3. UTV has launched several radio channels (UTV Radio) and SMG plc have bought Virgin Radio, for example. Both SMG and UTV launched their own versions of ITV2, called S2 an UTV2, but those channels were closed in 2001 and 2002. In recognition of the fact that there was an ITV2, the ITV network (in the Carlton and Granada owned areas) was rebranded ITV1 in 2001. From October 2002 regional branding in these regions (and Channel Television) was dropped altogether, except before regional programming, with all ITV plc regions now being controlled from a reduced number of transmission centres. This has led to a number of job cuts and scaled-back operations at regional centres, with some studios being sold off altogether. In view of the national audiences they serve, Scottish, Grampian and UTV have all decided not to adopt the ITV1 brand, and still use their own individual identities at all times. In June 2005, Ofcom, the channel's regulator since the demise of the Independent Television Commission announced huge reductions in the licence fees payable by the Channel 3 contractors (and Five). This move reflects the significant shift towards digital viewing in the UK, and the British government's desire to switch off analogue television signals altogether by 2012. Licence fees will fall further as the shift to digital continues. Ofcom has also significantly relaxed most of the remaining public service requirements on the ITV contractors; regional non-news output has been a significant casualty of these cutbacks, with most regions now broadcasting no more than two weekly hours in this category. Following digital switchover, it remains unclear whether Ofcom or the British government will be able to insist that ITV maintains any public service commitments. In September 2005, the ITV network celebrated its fiftieth anniversary with a season of "ITV50" programming was run on the network, including a run down of ITV's 50 top programmes, a World of Sport retrospective, and the launch of an "Avenue of the Stars". The regional companies owned by ITV plc also aired special regional retrospectives (even though none of them were themselves fifty years old), as well as using special "ITV50" station identification. While Scottish Television, Grampian Television, and UTV aired the network ITV50 programming, they did not themselves air regional ITV50 programmes, nor did they use the special identification. ITN is also celebrating its fiftieth anniversary with special features in its programming.

Accusations of Dumbing-down

It is believed by some people that ITV has started "dumbing down" in recent years. They argue that serious documentary and current affairs programmes are seldom to be seen in prime time, whilst the amount of reality television programmes and soap operas has increased (although this may be something attributed to British television in general, since the BBC has been accused of the same things). In its defence, ITV does continue to show its major strengths in the fields of sports coverage and drama productions, and the production of "high-brow" programming such as The South Bank Show has continued. One of the most controversial changes was the scrapping of the flagship late evening news programme, News at Ten in 1999, replacing it with a later, irregular scheduled and shorter news bulletin. ITV argued that the move was to enable them to have diversity and flexibility to the evening schedule, showing more documentaries and feature length films without a news break. However the move was (temporarily) reversed in 2001, after much criticism. Three years later however, on 2 February 2004, ITV again axed News at Ten, opting for a 10:30pm bulletin instead. Critics of the network have also pointed to the reduction in commitment to regional programming and presentation.

Programmes

There are some programmes produced by ITV companies (past and present) that are well-known, usually in the UK, but often world-wide. These include:
- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Produced 1984–1994 by Granada Television)
- Agatha Christie's Poirot (Shown since 1989 and produced by LWT)
- Armchair Theatre (Produced from 1956–1968 by ABC, and intermittently during the 1970s by Thames Television)
- The Avengers (Produced 1961–1969 by ABC)
- The Benny Hill Show (Produced 1969–1989 by Thames Television)
- The Bill (Shown since 1984 in the UK, produced by Thames Television)
- Brideshead Revisited (Produced 1981 by Granada Television)
- Cadfael (Produced 1994–1998 by Central/Carlton Television)
- Callan (Produced 1967–1972 by ABC, and later Thames Television)
- Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (Produced 1967–1968 by Century 21 Productions/ITC)
- Coronation Street (Shown since 1960 in the UK, produced by Granada Television)
- Cracker (Produced 1993-1996 by Granada Television)
- Emmerdale (Shown since 1972 in the UK, produced by Yorkshire Television)
- Hornblower (Produced 1998–2002 by United Film and Television Productions for Meridian)
- Inspector Morse (Produced 1987–2000 by Zenith Productions for Central)
- The Jewel in the Crown (Produced in 1983 by Granada Television)
- Minder (Produced 1979–1994, by Thames Television)
- Mr. Bean (Produced 1990–1995, by Tiger Aspect Productions for Thames Television)
- The Naked Civil Servant (Produced 1974 by Thames Television)
- Pop Idol (Two series; produced in 2001–2002 and 2003 by Thames Television and 19 Management)
- The Prisoner (Produced in 1967 by Everyman Films with ITC and ATV)
- Rising Damp (Produced 1974–1978 by Yorkshire Television)
- The Saint (Produced 1962–1969 by ITC)
- Sharpe (Produced 1993–1997 by Central/Carlton Television)
- 3-2-1 (Produced 1978–1987 by Yorkshire Television)
- The South Bank Show (Shown since 1978 in the UK, produced by LWT)
- Spitting Image (Produced 1984–1996 for Central Television)
- Survival (a long-running wildlife documentary series produced by Anglia Television from 1961)
- The Sweeney (Produced 1975 by Euston Films for Thames Television)
- Thunderbirds (produced 1965–1966 by ATV/AP Films/ITC)
- Upstairs, Downstairs (Produced 1971 by LWT)
- Who Wants to be a Millionaire? (Shown since 1998 in the UK, produced by Celador Productions)
- The World at War (Originally shown 1973–1974, produced by Thames Television)
- World in Action (Produced 1963–1998 by Granada Television)
- Wycliffe (Produced 1993–1998 by HTV/Red Rooster Film & Television Entertainment) In the last decade, the number of productions by 'independent' production companies (that is, companies that are independent of the ITV network) has increased. Notable examples include Thames Television (itself a former ITV contractor) and Celador, producers of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.

ITV companies: past and present

Former ITV contractors


- Associated British Corporation (ABC Television): North and Midlands weekend franchise (1956–1968)
- Associated-Rediffusion: London weekday franchise (1955–1968)
- Associated Television Network Limited (ATV): Midlands weekday franchise and London weekend franchise (1956–1968); Midlands (7 day) (1968–1981)
- Southern Television: South and South East England franchise (1958–1981)
- Thames Television: London weekday franchise (1968–1992)
- TSW SW England franchise (1982–1992)
- TVS: South and South East England franchise (1982–1992)
- TWW: Wales and West of England franchise (1958–1968). See also ITSWW (March–May 1968)
- Westward Television: SW England franchise (1961–1981)
- WWN: North and West Wales franchise (1962–1964)
- TV-am: National Breakfast Television franchise (1983–1992)
- ORACLE: National Teletext franchise (1977–1992)

Current ITV franchise holders


- Owned by ITV plc:
  - Anglia Television: East of England franchise (1959–)
  - Border Television: English — Scottish border and Isle of Man franchise (1961–)
  - Carlton: London weekday franchise (1993–)
  - Central Independent Television: Midlands franchise (1982–)
  - Granada Television: North of England weekday franchise (1956–1968); NW England franchise (1968–)
  - HTV (originally "Harlech"): Wales and West of England franchise (1968–)
  - London Weekend Television (LWT): London Weekend franchise (1968–)
  - Meridian Broadcasting: South and south-east England franchise (1993–)
  - Tyne Tees Television: North-east England franchise (1958–)
  - Westcountry Television SW England franchise (1993–)
  - Yorkshire Television: Yorkshire/Lincolnshire franchise (1968–)
- Owned by Scottish Media Group:
  - Grampian Television: North-east Scotland franchise (1961–)
  - Scottish Television: Central Scotland franchise (1957–)
- Other regional franchises:
  - Channel Television: Channel Islands franchise (1962–)
  - Ulster Television (UTV): Northern Ireland franchise (1959–)
- National franchises:
  - GMTV: National Breakfast franchise (1993–)
  - Teletext Ltd: National Teletext franchise (1993–)

See also


- ITV channels
- List of British television channels
- ITV plc
- Ofcom — the Office of Communications
- ITV1
- ITV2
- ITV3
- ITV4
- ITV News Channel
- ITV Digital
- Men & Motors

External links

The ITV companies


- [http://www.itv.com/ ITV.com] — Homepage of the ITV Network
- [http://www.itvplc.com/ ITV Plc] Homepage of ITV PLC (formally Carlton & Granada)
- [http://www.itvlocal.tv ITV Local] - entry point for ITV Local
- [http://www.channeltv.co.uk/ Channel Television Ltd]
- [http://www.smg.plc.uk/ SMG plc], [http://www.scottishtv.co.uk/ Scottish TV], [http://www.grampiantv.co.uk/ Grampian TV]
- [http://www.utvplc.com/ UTV plc], Channel Homepage [http://u.tv/ UTV]

Unofficial sites about ITV


- [http://www.tv-ark.org.uk/ TV Ark - The Television Museum] — a history of British television, with large amounts on ITV
- [http://www.transdiffusion.org/ Transdiffusion Broadcasting System] — a British communications history website
- [http://www.itw.org.uk/ Independent TeleWeb] — a history of ITV
- [http://www.htw.info/ The Historical Television Website] — focusing on television in Southern England
- [http://www.hhg.org.uk/ Harlech House of Graphics] — a site about ITV in Wales and the West of England
- [http://www.ttlp.org.uk/ Tyne Tees Logo Page] — about the North East England broadcaster
- [http://www.thetvroom.com/ The TV Room] — British and Irish television presentation Category:ITV ja:ITV (イギリス)

Bank

A bank is an institution that provides financial service, particularly taking deposits and extending credit. Currently the term bank is generally understood as an institution that holds a banking license. Banking licenses are granted by bank regulatory authorities and provide rights to conduct the most fundamental banking services such as accepting deposits and making loans. There are also financial institutions that provide certain banking services without meeting the legal definition of a bank, a so called non-banking financial company. Banks have a long history, and have influenced economies and politics for centuries. The word bank is derived from the Italian banca, which is derived from German language and means bench. The terms bankrupt and "broke" are similarly derived from banca rotta, which refers to an out of business bank, having its bench physically broken. Money lenders in Northern Italy originally did business in open areas, or big open rooms, with each lender working from his own bench or table. Typically, a bank generates profits from transaction fees on financial services and on the interest it charges for lending.

Services typically offered by banks

Although the type of services offered by a bank depends upon the type of bank and the country, services provided usually include:
- Taking deposits from the general public and issuing checking and savings accounts
- Making loans to indivudals and businesses
- Cashing cheques
- Facilitating money transactions such as wire transfers and cashiers checks
- Issuing credit cards, ATM, and debit cards
- Storing valuables, particularly in a safe deposit box

Types of banks

Banks' activities can be characterised as retail banking, dealing direct with individuals and small businesses, and investment banking, relating to activities on the financial markets. Most banks are profit-making, private enterprises. However, some are owned by government, or are non-profit making. In some jurisdictions retail and investment activities are, or have been, separated by law. Central banks are non-commercial bodies or government agencies tasked with responsibility for controlling interest rates and money supply across the whole economy. They act as Lender of last resort in event of a crisis.

Types of retail bank


- Commercial bank, is the term used for a normal bank to distinguish it from an investment bank. Since the two no longer have to be under separate ownership, some use the term "commercial bank" to refer to a bank or a division of a bank that mostly deals with corporations or large businesses.
- Community development bank are regulated banks that provide financial services and credit to underserved markets or populations.
- Postal savings banks are savings banks associated with national postal systems. Japan and Germany are examples of countries with prominent postal savings banks.
- Private banks manage the assets of high net worth individuals.
- Offshore banks are banks located in jurisdictions with low taxation and regulation, such as Switzerland or the Channel Islands. Many offshore banks are essentially private banks.
- Savings banks traditionally accepted savings deposits and issued mortgages. Today, some countries have broadened the permitted activities of savings banks.
- Building societies and Landesbanks both conduct retail banking

Types of Investment Banks


- Investment banks "underwrite" (guarantee the sale of) stock and bond issues and advise on mergers. Examples of investment banks are Goldman Sachs of the USA or Nomura Group of Japan.
- Merchant banks were traditionally banks which engaged in trade financing. The modern definition, however, refers to banks which provides capital to firms in the form of shares rather than loans. Unlike Venture capital firms, they tend not to invest in new companies.

Both combined


- Universal banks, more commonly known as a financial services company, engage in several of these activities. For example, Citigroup, a very large American bank, is involved in commercial and retail lending; it owns a merchant bank (Citicorp Merchant Bank Limited) and an investment bank (Salomon Smith Barney); it operates a private bank (Citigroup Private Bank); finally, its subsidiaries in tax-havens offer offshore banking services to customers in other countries. Almost all large financial institutions are diversified and engage in multiple activities. In Europe, big banks are very diversified groups that, among other services, distribute also insurance, whence the bancassurance term.

Other types of bank


- Islamic Banks, Islamic banking revolves around several well established concepts which are based on Islamic canons. Since the concept of Interest is forbidden in Islam, all banking activities must avoid interest. Instead of interest, the Bank earns profit (mark-up) and fees on financing facilities that it extends to the customers. Also, deposit makers earn a share of the Bank’s profit as opposed to a predetermined interest.

Banks in the economy

Role in the money supply

A bank raises funds by attracting deposits, borrowing money in the inter-bank market, or issuing financial instruments in the money market or a capital market. The bank then lends out most of these funds to borrowers. However, it would not be prudent for a bank to lend out all of its balance sheet. It must keep a certain proportion of its funds in reserve so that it can repay depositors who withdraw their deposits. Bank reserves are typically kept in the form of a deposit with a central bank. This behaviour is called fractional-reserve banking and it is a central issue of monetary policy. Some governments (or their central banks) restrict the proportion of a bank's balance sheet that can be lent out, and use this as a tool for controlling the money supply. Even where the reserve ratio is not controlled by the government, a minimum figure will still be set by regulatory authorities as part of bank regulation.

Bank crises

Banks are susceptible to many forms of risk which have triggered occasional systemic crises. Risks include liquidity risk (the risk that many depositors will request withdrawls beyond available funds), credit risk (the risk that those that owe money to the bank will not repay), and interest rate risk (the risk that the bank will become unprofitable if rising interest rates force it to pay relatively more on its deposits than it receives on its loans), among others. Banking crises have developed many times throughout history when one or more risks materialize for a banking sector as a whole. Prominent examples include the U.S. Savings and Loan crisis in 1980s and early 1990s, the Japanese banking crisis during the 1990s, and the bank run that occurred during the Great Depression.

Regulation

The combination of the instability of banks as well as their important facilitating role in the economy led to banking being thoroughly regulated. The amount of capital a bank is required to hold is a function of the amount and quality of its assets. Major banks are subject to the Basel Capital Accord promulgated by the Bank for International Settlements. In addition, banks are usually required to purchase deposit insurance to make sure smaller investors are not wiped out in the event of a bank failure. Another reason banks are thoroughly regulated is that ultimately, no government can allow the banking system to fail. There is almost always a lender of last resort—in the event of a liquidity crisis (where short term obligations exceed short term assets) some element of government will step in to lend banks enough money to avoid bankruptcy.

Public perceptions of banks

In United States history, the National Bank was a major political issue during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. Jackson fought against the bank as a symbol of greed and profit-mongering, antithetical to the democratic ideals of the United States.

Profitability

Large banks in the United States are some of the most profitable corporations, especially relative to the small market shares they have. This amount is even higher if one counts the credit divisions of companies like Ford, which are responsible for a large proportion of those company's profits. For example, the largest bank, Citigroup, which for the past 3 years has made more profit than any other company in the world, has only a 5 percent market share. Now if Citigroup were to be as dominant in its industry as a Home Depot, Starbucks, or Wal Mart in their respective industries, with a 30 percent market share , it would make more money than the top ten non-banking U.S. industries combined. In the past 10 years in the United States, banks have taken many measures to ensure that they remain profitable while responding to ever-changing market conditions. First, this includes the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which allows banks again to merge with investment and insurance houses. Merging banking, investment, and insurance functions allows traditional banks to respond to increasing consumer demands for "one stop shopping" by enabling the crossing selling of products (which, the banks hope, will also increase profitability). Second, they have moved toward risk based pricing on loans, which means charging higher interest rates for those people who they deem more risky to default on loans. This dramatically helps to offset the losses from bad loans, lowers the price of loans to those who have better credit histories, and extends credit products to high risk customers who would have been denied credit under the previous system. Third, they have sought to increase the methods of payment processing available to the general public and business clients. These products include debit cards, pre-paid cards, smart-cards, and credit cards. These products make it easier for consumers to conveniently make transactions and smooth their consumption over time (in some countries with under-developed financial systems, it is still common to deal strictly in cash, including carrying suitcases filled with cash to purchase a home). However, with convenience there is also increased risk that consumers will mis-manage their financial resources and accumulate excessive debt. Banks make money from card products through interest payments and fees charged to consumers and companies that accept the cards. The banks' main obstacles to increasing profits are existing regulatory burdens, new government regulation, and increasing competition from non-traditional financial institutions.

Bank Size Information

Top ten banking groups in the world ranked by tier-one capital in 2004 (In U.S. Dollars)

#Citigroup — 73 billion #JP Morgan Chase — 69 billion #HSBC — 67 billion #Bank of America — 64 billion #Credit Agricole Group — 63 billion #Royal Bank of Scotland — 43 billion #Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group — 40 billion #Mizuho Financial Group — 39 billion #HBOS — 36 billion #BNP Paribas — 35 billion

Top ten banking groups in the world ranked by assets in 2003 (In U.S. Dollars)

#Mizuho Financial Group — 1,265 billion #Citigroup — 1,097 billion #Allianz — 1,002 billion #UBS — 907 billion #Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group — 903 billion #Deutsche Bank — 892 billion #Fannie Mae — 888 billion #ING Group — 843 billion #BNP Paribas — 835 billion #Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group — 832 billion

Top ten bank holding companies in the world ranked by profit in 2003 (In U.S. Dollars)

#Citigroup — 20 billion #Bank of America — 15 billion #HSBC — 10 billion #Royal Bank of Scotland — 8 billion #Wells Fargo — 7 billion #JP Morgan Chase — 7 billion #UBS AG — 6 billion #Wachovia — 5 billion #Morgan Stanley — 5 billion #Merrill Lynch — 4 billion

Top ten bank holding companies in the U.S. ranked by deposits (In U.S. Dollars)

As of June 30, 2004. These are U.S. deposits only. This is not a ranking of the largest U.S. based global banks. #Bank of America Corp. — 526 billion #Wells Fargo & Co. — 256 billion #Wachovia Corp. — 238 billion #J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. — 227 billion (1) #Citigroup Inc. — 193 billion #Bank One Corp. — 150 billion (1) #U.S. Bancorp — 112 billion #SunTrust Banks, Inc. — 78 billion #BB&T Corporation — 67 billion #National City Corp. — 64 billion (1) Since this report, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. has acquired Bank One Corp., making the combined 6/30/04 deposit total for the merged company $377 billion, vaulting it to second place on the list.

History of banking

Main article: History of banking
- Florentine banking — The Medicis and Pittis among others
- Banknotes — Introduction of paper money
- Bank of Amsterdam
- Bank of Sweden — The rise of the national banks
- Bank of England — The evolution of modern central banking policies
- Bank of America — The invention of centralized check and payment processing technology
- Swiss bank
- United States Banking
- Imperial Bank of Persia — History of banking in the Middle-East

See also


- History of banking
- List of bank mergers
- Bank regulation
- Credit union
- Finance
- Industrial Loan Company
- Islamic Banking
- Money
- Piggy Bank
- SWIFT
- IBAN
- Venture capital
- World Bank
- Bankers' bank

Related topics


- list of banks
- list of finance topics
- list of accounting topics
- list of economics topics
- List of stock exchanges
- Investment Bank

External links


- [http://www.economist.com/markets/displayStory.cfm?story_id=4174345] List of the world's ten largest banks at the end of 2004 by tier 1 capital from The Economist.
- [http://www2.fdic.gov/sod/ FDIC bank market share data]
- [http://www.eh.net/encyclopedia/index.php#B EH.Net Encyclopedia]
- [http://www.ibtalk.com IBtalk] Banking forum for practitioners and those interested in banking. Mainly centered on the wholesale (investment) functions of banking.
- [http://www.seek2know.net/money.html Presidential and other quotes on banking]
- [http://bwnt.businessweek.com/global_1000/2003/index.asp?sortCol=assets&sortOrder=DESC&pageNum=1&resultNum=10 List of largest banks by assets]
- [http://www.gbanking.com gbanking.com - Global banking directory] Category:Banking terms and equipment Category:Legal entities Banker ko:은행 ms:Bank ja:銀行 simple:Bank th:ธนาคาร

UKTV Gold

UKTV Gold, known as UK Gold until March 8 2004, is a British television channel, originally launched on November 1, 1992 (coincidentally, the day before Channel 4's 10th birthday) as a joint venture between Thames Television and the BBC to show their 'classic' archive programming (see: rerun). The channel's major drawbacks in its early years were the insensitive placement of commercial breaks in BBC shows, and the heavy-handed editing of BBC programmes to fit commercial timeslots. The channel joined Sky's basic subscription package in 1993. Initially broadcast on an analogue transponder from a SES Astra satellite at 19.2°E which was not primarily intended for UK reception, the channel used to be notorious for being marred with sparklies in large parts of the UK. UK Gold's success led to the creation of UKTV, still part-owned by the BBC, which operates several channels showing different types of archive programming. These included UK Style (home and lifestyle), UK Drama, UK Horizons and UK History, as well as the time-shifted UKTV Gold +1, and UK Gold Classics, soon renamed to UK Gold 2. UK Gold 2 originally screened morning programmes from UK Gold time-shifted to the evening of the same day, but was relaunched with a completely new programme lineup and renamed UKG2 on November 12, 2003. On March 8, 2004 all of the UKTV channels changed their prefixes from UK to UKTV, and UK Horizons was split into two channels - UKTV Documentary and UKTV People. On November 1 2004 the time-shifted UKTV G2 +1 was launched. The BBC still cuts programmes (mainly documentaries) for commercial timing on the UKTV's factual channels, but programmes on UKTV Gold, UKTV Gold +1, UKTV G2 and UKTV Drama are now shown apparently uncut, often in longer slots. Most half-hour BBC sitcoms are shown in 40-minute slots. UKTV Gold is available on digital satellite, cable, and digital terrestrial television in the UK. UKTV Gold's programming includes:
- Absolutely Fabulous
- Are You Being Served?
- As Time Goes By
- Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
- Bergerac
- The Bill
- Blackadder
- Casualty
- Dad's Army
- Dalziel and Pascoe
- dinnerladies
- Doctor Who
- Doctors
- EastEnders
- Fawlty Towers
- Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
- Have I Got News for You
- Holby City
- Keeping Up Appearances
- Last of the Summer Wine
- Little Britain
- My Family
- My Hero
- Neighbours
- The Office
- One Foot in the Grave
- Only Fools and Horses
- Peak Practice
- Porridge
- Quantum Leap
- 2point4 children
- The Vicar of Dibley

External link


- http://www.uktv.co.uk/uktvGold/index.cfm? Category:UKTV channels

PBS

:PBS redirects here; for alternate uses see PBS (disambiguation). The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is a non-profit public broadcasting television service with 349 member TV stations in the United States. PBS headquarters are in Alexandria, Virginia. PBS was founded in 1969, at which time it took over many of the functions of its predecessor, National Educational Television (NET). PBS commenced broadcasting in October 1970. For some of its historical logos, see PBS idents. Stations that produce a significant amount of PBS network programming include:
- WGBH-TV 2/19/43/44 Boston, MA
- WNET 13/61 Newark, New Jersey/New York, New York
- WETA-TV 26/27 Washington, DC
- KCET 28/59 Los Angeles, CA
- WQED 13/38 Pittsburgh, PA
- KQED 9/30 San Francisco, CA
- WHYY 12 - Wilmington, Delaware/Philadelphia, PA
- WTTW/WYCC 11/20 - Chicago, IL
- WFYI 20 Indianapolis, IN
- KLRU 18 Austin, TX Kentucky Educational Television (KET) is the largest member broadcaster in the country with six stations servicing all of Kentucky, and parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee and West Virginia.

Introduction

PBS is not a broadcast network in the sense in which that term is usually used in the United States. Unlike the commercial television broadcast model of American networks such as NBC, CBS, and ABC, in which affiliates give up portions of their local advertising airtime in exchange for network programming, PBS member stations pay substantial fees for the shows acquired and distributed by the national organization. This relationship means that PBS member stations have greater latitude in local scheduling than their commercial counterparts. Scheduling of PBS-distributed series may vary wildly from market to market. This can be a source of tension as stations seek to preserve their localism and PBS strives to market a consistent national lineup. However, PBS has a policy of "common carriage" requiring most stations to clear the national prime time programs on a common schedule, so that they can be more effectively marketed on a national basis. Unlike its radio counterpart, National Public Radio, PBS has no central program production arm or news department. All of the programming carried by PBS, whether news, documentary, or entertainment, is created by (or in most cases produced under contract with) individual member stations. WGBH is one of the largest producers of educational programming; news programs are produced by WETA-TV, and the Charlie Rose interview show and Nature come from WNET. Once a program is distributed to PBS, the network (and not the member station that supplied it) retains all rights for rebroadcasts; the suppliers do maintain the right to sell the program in non-broadcast media such as DVDs, books, and licensed merchandise.

Sources of funding

licensed merchandise The largest source of revenue for U.S. public television stations comes from donations by individual viewers. In addition to these member fees, PBS receives federal government money through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). PBS-distributed programs may be funded in part by corporate sponsors and non-profit groups such as the Annenberg Foundation. Other shows are presented exclusively with funding from PBS stations and their members (without corporate funding)--as a result, the quality of such shows varies, and thereby either motivates the viewer to continue contributing to PBS or the station to find local corporate sponsors to insure its continued airing. Depending upon their location and licensee, local stations may also be funded in part by state governments, colleges, and universities. They can sell small portions of their airtime in the form of underwriting, which differs from traditional advertising in terms of restrictions on language and product usage.

Organizational structure

PBS stations are commonly operated by non-profit organizations or universities in their community of license. In some states, PBS stations throughout the entire state may be organized into a single regional "subnetwork". Unlike the CBC-SRC state broadcaster in Canada, PBS does not directly own any of the stations that broadcast its programming. This is partly due to the origins of the PBS stations themselves, and partly due to historical license issues. In the modern broadcast marketplace, this organizational structure is considered outmoded by some media critics. A common restructuring proposal is to reorganize the network so that each state would have one PBS affiliate which broadcast state-wide. However, this proposal is controversial, as it would reduce local community input into PBS programming.

Programming

PBS's evening schedule emphasizes fine arts (Great Performances), drama (Mystery! and Masterpiece Theatre), science (Nova and Scientific American Frontiers), public affairs (Frontline) and independent films (P.O.V. and Independent Lens). PBS has distributed a number of highly regarded children's shows such as Sesame Street, The Electric Company, Villa Alegre, Zoom!, 3-2-1 Contact, The Letter People, Barney and Friends, Shining Time Station, Thomas & Friends, Ghostwriter, Reading Rainbow, and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Popular animated series have included Clifford the Big Red Dog, Arthur, Liberty's Kids, and The Magic School Bus. The service has also imported British kids' series including Teletubbies and Boohbah. (Some of these programs have since migrated to commercial television in at least the U.S.) However, PBS is not the only distributor of public television programming to the member stations. Other distributors have emerged from the roots of the old companies that had loosely held regional public television stations in the 1960s. Boston-based American Public Television (former names include Eastern Educational Network and American Program Service) is second only to PBS for distributing programs to U.S. non-commercial stations. Another distributor is NETA (formerly SECA), whose properties have included The Shapies and Jerry Yarnell School of Fine Art. In addition, the member stations themselves also produce a variety of local shows, some of which subsequently receive national distribution through PBS or the other distributors. PBS stations are known for rebroadcasting British television dramas and comedies (acquired from the BBC and other sources)--these shows are generally seen on Saturday evenings, generally regarded as the least-watched evening of the week due to viewers doing outside activities such as going to a movie, a concert, or other functions; so much of the exposure (or lack thereof) of American audiences to British television (particularly comedies) comes through PBS it has been joked that PBS means "Primarily British Series." However, a significant amount of sharing takes place. The BBC and other media outlets in the region such as Channel 4 often cooperate with PBS stations, producing material that is shown on both sides of the Atlantic. Also, though less frequently, Canadian and Australian, among other international, programming appears on PBS (such as The Red Green Show; although the other syndicators are more likely to offer this programming to the U.S. public stations.

Other shows (which are broadcast by PBS)


- Adventures From The Book of Virtues (1996-2001 PBS primetime)
- American Experience (1988-present PBS primetime)
- American Masters (1983-present PBS primetime)
- Antiques Roadshow (1979-present (BBC), 2004-present (CBC), 1997-present (PBS))
- Austin City Limits (1975-present PBS midnight series)
- Bill Moyers' Journal (1972-1976, 1979-1981)
- Carrasolendas (1970-1977)
- Charlie Rose (1991-present PBS afternoon series)
- Feeling Good (1974-1975)
- Frontline (1983-present PBS primetime)
- Lamb Chop's Play-Along (1992-1997)
- Live from Lincoln Center (1976-present PBS primetime)
- Masterpiece Theatre (1971-present PBS primetime)
- Maya & Miguel (2004-present)
- Meeting of Minds (1977-1981)
- Mustard Pancakes (2005-present PBS Saturday morning series)
- Nature (1982-present PBS primetime)
- Nightly Business Report (1979-present)
- NOVA (1974-present PBS primetime)
- NOW (2002-present PBS daytime)
- Postcards from Buster (2004-present)
- Puzzle Place (1994-1999)
- Religion & Ethics Newsweekly (1997-present)
- Say Brother (1970)
- Square One TV (later revived as Square One TV Math Talk) (1987-1992, 1995-1996)
- Tavis Smiley (2004-present (PBS))
- The New Yankee Workshop (1989-present PBS daytime)
- The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer (claimed to be known as The MacNeil/Lehrer Report) (1973-present PBS evening series)
- The Victory Garden (1979-present PBS evening series)
- This Old House (1979-present)
- Tony Brown's Journal (1976)
- Trying Times (1987-1989)
- Washington Week in Review (1967-present (WETA in Washington, D.C.), 1970-present (PBS) PBS primetime)
- Wall $treet Week (1972-2005 PBS evening series)
- Wishbone (1995-1998 PBS evening series)

Criticism

PBS has been the subject of some controversy.
- The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 [http://www.cpb.org/aboutpb/act/text.html] required a "strict adherence to objectivity and balance in all programs or series of programs of a controversial nature." It also prohibited the federal government from interfering or controlling what is broadcast. This set up an obvious tension where the government that created the CPB would not be able to do anything about a perceived failure to meet its obligation for objectivity and balance without interfering in some way.
- At a more basic and problematic level is how and who should determine what constitutes objectivity and balance when there are massive disagreements over what that would be. There seems to be no consensus or even attempts at forming a consensus to resolve this dilemma.
- Some conservatives perceive it to have a liberal bias and criticize its tax-based revenue and have periodically but unsuccessfully attempted to discontinue funding of CPB. Although state and federal sources account for a minority percentage of public television funding, the system remains vulnerable to political pressure. Kenneth Tomlinson, chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, in November 2004 in Baltimore, told PBS officials, "They should make sure their programming better reflected the Republican mandate." Tomlinson later said that his comment was in jest and that he could not imagine how remarks at a fun occasion were taken the wrong way. A report whose results were publicized in November 2005 sharply criticized Tomlinson for the way he used CPB resources to "go after" this perceived liberal bias.)[http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/02/arts/television/02public.html?pagewanted=3&ei=5094&en=1085de148e09623c&hp&ex=1115092800&partner=homepage]
- Certain on the left dislike how much of its funding comes from corporate sponsorships and some are uncomfortable with shows such as Wall $treet Week which they see as promoting a corporate outlook without any corresponding series featuring opposing views from labor unions. For example, one of PBS' documentaries, Commanding Heights, strongly supports globalization while painting labor unions as socialist organizations.
- Some of its documentaries on Islam and the Arab world, such as Empire of Faith, are attacked as either fawning or factually challenged.
- Individual programs, particularly those dealing with the subject of homosexuality, have been the targets of organized campaigns by those with opposing views including United States Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings.
- It was founded to provide diversity in programming at a time when all television was broadcast (as opposed to today's coaxial cable or satellite transmission methods) and most communities received only three or four signals. Today most households subscribe to cable TV or have satellite dishes that receive tens or hundreds of signals, including varied educational and children's programs. However, public television proponents insist that the service be intended to provide universal access, particularly to poor and rural viewers. It is also argued that many cable and satellite productions are of lower quality.
- Most stations solicit individual donations by methods including pledge drives or telethons which can disrupt regularly scheduled programming. Some viewers find this a source of annoyance since they replace the normal programs with specials aimed at a wider audience.
- Kenneth Tomlinson, who took over in 2003, began his tenure by asking for Karl Rove's assistance in overturning a regulation that half the CPB board have practical experience in radio or television. Later he appointed an outside consultant to monitor the regular PBS program NOW with Bill Moyers. Told that the show had "liberal" leanings, Moyers eventually resigned after more than three decades as a