Solved show us your BBC apps

[HippsieGypsie]

The BBC is the largest broadcaster in the world by number of employees. It is much like our PBS here in the U.S., but much bigger. Quite popular I would imagine since it is publicly owned.

I'm not sure, but I think the BBC is the only television and radio broadcast in Great Britain, although there are various newspapers and magazines. Perhaps one of our members would verify either way?

I'm not a app writer, but I would imagine that these are the simplest apps to write, therefore probably popular amongst app writers. Perhaps one of our members that write apps would explain better?

I just looked up BBC in the Google Play Store. There are 2965 apps in just one of the categories of online news and radio players. In the music category there are even more at 8,710.

 

[DavidY]

I'm not sure, but I think the BBC is the only television and radio broadcast in Great Britain, although there are various newspapers and magazines. Perhaps one of our members would verify either way?

Hi there Hippsie,

The UK has had commercial radio and television in addition to the BBC for many years now (guessing it's since the sixties if not earlier).

I can still remember only having 4 TV channels (of which two were BBC) but since the invention of digital terrestrial broadcasting and also satellite broadcasting, there are now many more. However the BBC does try to maintain a reasonable level of quality for its channels, particularly (IMO) in Radio.

It's also many people's main website for news and I think there's a lot of web infrastructure there - it's very rare for the BBC website to be down, for instance.

 

[SIW2]

There are 5 what used to be called terrestrial channels. You need to pay a license fee , currently £145 p.a. ( I think ).

BBC is widely regarded as the best quality broadcaster in the world. The UK Commercial channels are too.

I could manage just fine with those 5.

There is also freeview - dozens of free channels..

Correct me if I am wrong - I thought pbs was pretty poor, therefore almost everyone in the US ends up being milked by the various cable /satellite providers?

 

[HippsieGypsie]

Thanks for the info, fellow forumeers.

Commercial TV started here with 3 major networks > ABC, NBC, and CBS. Here in Chicago there was an independent station named WGN. They are nationwide now. There were a few other local independents around the country. Everything was transmitted via antennae. Cable TV was introduced in the 70's and became very popular. The idea started in a eastern mountainous area where someone on the mountain with good antenna reception wire-fed the houses in the valley and started to charge a fee because of amplification costs.

A company named Comcast with their Xfinity is huge. Dish was next. at&t now has Uverse. There are hundreds of stations to choose from. They all supply TV, data, and phone services. I'd guessimate they're all around $60 on up to $150 per month depending on what service package one gets.

Correct me if I am wrong - I thought pbs was pretty poor, therefore almost everyone in the US ends up being milked by the various cable /satellite providers?

The cable/satellite/telephone line is just part of the privately owned infrastructure for a monthly fee and sponsors' commercials. One can still get TV via antennae if one chooses. The amount of stations is limited to 20 or 30 depending on location. That is free, but also with sponsors' commercials. PBS is carried by both infrastructures.

Actually PBS is quite good IMO. PBS: Public Broadcasting Service / PBS - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I watch it via the internet. More informational documentary type, news, music shows, and theater on it. You'll notice they carry some of your English produced shows. This is commercial free except a short "Sponsor statement" or short commercial in the beginning of the program. Mostly supported by public donations and charity or trust foundations.

We used to watch Monty Python's Flying Circus religiously every Sunday evening on PBS. That was a classic to me. Very funny stuff!