Britain: An official handbook > 1993

BRITAIN 1993: AN OFFICIAL HANDBOOK
broadcasts, providing a daily flow of
significant news and comment from overseas
to the BBC and the Government. This
information is also sold to the press, private
sector companies, academic staff and public
bodies.
BBC World Service Television
BBC World Service Television was set up in
1991 to establish a worldwide television
service. The BBC has generated its own
funding for this operation. The company at
present provides three services:
• a subscription channel in Europe, based
on a mixture of BBC 1 and BBC 2
programmes, news bulletins, and weather
and business reports. Viewers receive the
service by cable or direct to their homes,
using special decoders.
• a 24-hour news and information channel
which is available throughout Asia,
launched in November 1991. Funded by
advertising, the service is one of the
channels offered throughout Asia by the
commercial company STAR TV. The
channel is compiled by the BBC and
transmitted by satellite to the ground
station in Hong Kong, where advertising
is added by STAR TV before
distribution.
• a news and information channel in Africa,
launched in April 1992. The service is
available to viewers who have the
appropriate satellite reception equipment
and in countries where national
broadcasters make the service part of
their regular output.
COI Overseas Radio and Television
Services
The Central Office of Information (COI),
which provides publicity material and other
information services on behalf of government
departments and other public agencies,
produces radio programmes for overseas. A
wide range of recorded material is sent to
radio stations all over the world. COI
television services make available material
such as documentary and magazine
programmes for distribution to overseas
stations.
News Agencies
Visnews is the largest television news agency
in the world, supplying world news pictures
to over 650 broadcasters in 84 countries and
running a network of bureaux in major cities
throughout the world. Reuters is the majority
shareholder in the company. Worldwide
Television News, owned by ITN, the
American Broadcasting Corporation and
Channel 9 in Australia, supplies news and a
wide range of television services to some
1,000 broadcasters in 93 countries, as well
as to governments and international
corporations. Both agencies provide services
through the Eurovision network (see below)
and by satellite.
International Relations
European Agreements
In 1991 Britain implemented two important
European agreements on cross-border
broadcasting: the European Community
Directive on Broadcasting and the Council of
Europe Convention on Transfrontier
Television. Under these, countries have to
remove restrictions on the retransmission of
programmes originating from other
participating countries. They must also
ensure that their own broadcasters observe
certain minimum standards on advertising,
sponsorship, taste and decency and the
portrayal of sex and violence on television.
European Broadcasting Union
The BBC, the ITC (until the end of 1992,
when it ceases to be a broadcaster) and the
Radio Authority are members of the
European Broadcasting Union, which
manages Eurovision, the international
network of television news and programme
exchange. The Union is responsible for the
technical and administrative arrangements for
co-ordinating the exchange of programmes
and news over the Eurovision network and
intercontinental satellite links. It also
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