Mass media of Great Britain

Television[edit]
Main article: Television in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has no analogue television. A free to air digital service is made up of two chartered public broadcasting companies, the BBC and Channel 4 and two franchised commercial television companies, (ITV and Channel 5) specializing in entertainment, drama, arts, science, nature, documentary, sports, comedy etc. In addition to this, the United Kingdom's free-to-air Freeview service runs a large number of entertainment, music, sport and shopping channels from the likes of CBS, UKTV and Sky. There are five major nationwide television channels: BBC One, BBC Two, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 — currently transmitted by digital terrestrial, free-to-air signals with the latter three channels funded by commercial advertising. The vast majority of digital cable television services are provided by Virgin Media with satellite television available from Freesat or Sky and free-to-air digital terrestrial television by Freeview. The entire country switched to digital (from a previously analogue signal) in 2012.^[55]

BBC Four
The BBC operates several television channels in the United Kingdom and abroad. The BBC's international television news service, BBC World News, is broadcast throughout the world. The domestic services of the BBC are funded by the television licence^[51]and not only operates BBC One and BBC Two, but also BBC Four, the BBC News, BBC Parliament and children's television channels CBBC and CBeebies. The international television broadcast services are operated by BBC Studios on a commercial subscription basis over cable and satellite services. This commercial arm of the BBC also owns UKTV.^[56]
Channel 4 is similarly chartered to the BBC, with a remit to provide public service broadcasting and schools programs, however it runs commercial advertisements to provide a revenue stream. It produces a number of digital channels, branded as Channel 4, as well as More4 and Film4.
The commercial operators rely on advertising for their revenue, and are run as commercial ventures, in contrast to the public service operators. The ITV franchise transmits the 3 different networks in different parts of the country. These are known as ITV in England, Wales, Scottish Borders, Isle of Man and Channel Islands, STV in Central and Northern Scotland, and UTV in Northern Ireland. ITV also operates ITV2, ITV3, ITV4, and CITV - the latter which is for children - via ITV Digital Channels. The broadcaster Sky owns several flagship channels, including Sky Arts, Sky Showcase, Sky Nature, Sky Cinema and Sky Atlantic.^[57]
The Royal Television Society (RTS) is an educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world.^[58] The Radio Academy is dedicated to "the encouragement, recognition and promotion of excellence in UK broadcasting and audio production".^[59] It was formed in 1983 and is run via a board of trustees, with a Chair and a Deputy Chair, and a Managing Director.^[60] Their responsibilities include designing, planning, and implementing projects and programmes.^[61]
Internet[edit]
Main article: Internet in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has been involved with the Internet throughout its origins and development. The telecommunications infrastructure in the United Kingdom provides Internet access to businesses and home users in various forms, including fibre, cable, DSL, wireless and mobile.
The share of households with internet access in the United Kingdom grew from 9 percent in 1998 to 93 percent in 2019. Virtually all adults aged 16 to 44 years in the UK were recent internet users (99%) in 2019, compared with 47% of adults aged 75 years and over; in aggregate, the third-highest in Europe. Online shoppers in the UK spend more per household than consumers in any other country. Internet bandwidth per Internet user was the 7th highest in the world in 2016, and average and peak internet connection speeds were top-quartile in 2017. Internet use in the United Kingdom doubled in 2020. The United Kingdom's most visited websites include google.com, youtube.co.uk, facebook.com, bbc.co.uk, google.co.uk, and ebay.co.uk.^[62]
Regulation[edit]
Following the Leveson Inquiry the Press Recognition Panel (PRP) was set up under the Royal Charter on self-regulation of the press to judge whether press regulators meet the criteria recommended by the Leveson Inquiry for recognition under the Charter. By 2016 the UK had two new press regulatory bodies, the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), which regulates most national newspapers and many other media outlets, and IMPRESS, which regulates a much smaller number of outlets but is the only press regulator recognised by the PRP (since October 2016).^[63]
Broadcast media (TV, radio, video on demand), telecommunications, and postal services are regulated by Ofcom.^[64] Ofcom has wide-ranging powers across the television, radio, telecoms and postal sectors. It has a statutory duty to represent the interests of citizens and consumers by promoting competition and protecting the public from harmful or offensive material.^[65][66] Some of the main areas Ofcom presides over are licensing, research, codes and policies, complaints, competition and protecting radio. The regulator was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002 and received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003. Ofcom also oversees the use of social media and devices in the United Kingdom. BBC reports that Ofcom analyzes media use of the youth (ages 3 to 15 years old) to gather information of how the United Kingdom utilizes their media.