BBC UKTV

BBC UKTV is a subscription television channel in Australia and New Zealand, screening British entertainment programming, sourced mainly from the archives of the BBC, RTL Group (mainly Talkback Thames material) and ITV plc. The company was originally a joint venture with Foxtel (60% ownership), the RTL Group (20% ownership) and BBC Worldwide (20% ownership). It is now owned solely by BBC Worldwide.

History

The channel was first launched in Australia in August 1996, becoming available on Austar in April 1999 and on Optus in December 2002. A New Zealand version with different programming launched on Sky TV, in November 2003.

It shows a mix of repeats of old UK shows previously screened in Australia or New Zealand and new episodes of programs not shown before in Australia or New Zealand. Repeated series include Doctor Who, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Are You Being Served?, Dad's Army, Torchwood, Torchwood Declassified, The Jewel in the Crown, Never the Twain, The Sweeney, and The Bill that have already been seen on free-to-air terrestrial television in Australia. New series include Shameless, new episodes of popular soap operas Coronation Street and EastEnders and the original UK version of The Weakest Link which have not otherwise been screened in Australia. UK soap opera Family Affairs, which has never been screened on free-to-air Australian television, ran on UKTV from 1998 to 2007. In July 2006 UKTV began screening 2006 episodes of UK soap opera Emmerdale which had never before been screened in Australia.

UKTV

UKTV is a multi-channel broadcaster, jointly owned by BBC Worldwide and Scripps Networks Interactive. It was formed in 26 March 1992 through a joint venture between BBC and Thames Television. It is one of the United Kingdom's largest television companies.

UKTV's channels are available via digital satellite and cable subscriptions in the UK and Ireland. Dave, Drama, Really and Yesterday channels are also available in the UK on Freeview, the free-to-air digital terrestrial television (DTT) service.

Most programmes on the channels are repeat broadcasts of BBC productions, although the entertainment channels also feature some programmes produced by other companies and UKTV have also in recent years, commissioned a tiny minority of their own exclusive programmes. The channels themselves are played out by Red Bee Media from their broadcast centre in west London.

The UKTV channels have broadcast in widescreen since 31 January 2008, although some programmes originally made in 16:9 format are screened in the compromise 14:9 semi-letterbox format.

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the public service broadcaster of the United Kingdom, headquartered at Broadcasting House in London.

The BBC is the world's oldest national broadcasting organisation and the largest broadcaster in the world by number of employees, with over 20,950 staff in total, of whom 16,672 are in public sector broadcasting; including part-time, flexible as well as fixed contract staff, the total number is 35,402.

The BBC is established under a Royal Charter and operates under its Agreement with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Its work is funded principally by an annual television licence fee which is charged to all British households, companies, and organisations using any type of equipment to receive or record live television broadcasts. The fee is set by the British Government, agreed by Parliament, and used to fund the BBC's extensive radio, TV, and online services covering the nations and regions of the UK. From 1 April 2014, it also funds the BBC World Service, launched in 1932, which provides comprehensive TV, radio, and online services in Arabic, and Persian, and broadcasts in 28 languages.

Nineteen Eighty-Four (TV programme)

Nineteen Eighty-Four is a British television adaptation of the novel of the same name by George Orwell, originally broadcast on BBC Television in December 1954. The production proved to be hugely controversial, with questions asked in Parliament and many viewer complaints over its supposed subversive nature and horrific content. In a 2000 poll of industry experts conducted by the British Film Institute to determine the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes of the 20th century, Nineteen Eighty-Four was ranked in seventy-third position.

Background

Orwell's novel was adapted for television by Nigel Kneale, one of the most prolific television scriptwriters of the time. The previous year he had created the character of Professor Bernard Quatermass for the popular science-fiction serial The Quatermass Experiment. The adaptation was produced and directed by the equally respected Rudolph Cartier, perhaps the BBC's best producer-director of the 1950s who was always adventurous artistically and technically. Cartier, a veteran of the UFA film studios in 1930s Germany who had fled the Nazi regime for Britain in 1936, had worked with Kneale the previous year on The Quatermass Experiment and was a veteran of many television drama productions.

Magna Carta Holy Grail

Magna Carta... Holy Grail (alternatively written as Magna Carta Holy Grail) is the twelfth studio album by American rapper Jay Z. It was made available for free digital download for Samsung customers via the Jay Z Magna Carta app on July 4, 2013. It was released for retail sale on July 8, 2013, by Roc-A-Fella and Roc Nation while being distributed by Universal. The album features guest appearances by Justin Timberlake, Nas, Rick Ross, Frank Ocean and Beyoncé. Most of the album was produced by Timbaland and Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon, while other producers included Boi-1da, Mike Will Made It, Hit-Boy, Mike Dean, No ID, The-Dream, Swizz Beatz, and Pharrell Williams among others. The album was promoted through various commercials presented by Samsung and was not preceded by any retail singles.

Upon its release, Magna Carta Holy Grail was met with mixed reviews from music critics. Some complimented the album's production and composition, while others were disappointed with its overall theme and found many songs repetitive. On the day of its physical release in the United States, the album was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of 1,000,000 copies. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling 528,000 copies in its first week, making it Jay-Z's 13th consecutive studio album to top the chart. On September 2, 2013, it was announced that Magna Carta Holy Grail was certified double Platinum by the RIAA, for shipments of two million copies in the United States. The album was nominated in six categories at the 2014 Grammy Awards winning the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration trophy for "Holy Grail" featuring Justin Timberlake.