Community Channel
Encyclopedia
Community Channel is a British free-to-air
television channel
wholly owned by Media Trust and supported by major broadcasters including the BBC. Launched in September, 2000, the channel broadcasts from 05:00am – 08:00am each day on Freeview, 24 hours a day on Sky and Virgin TV
, and anytime with video on demand
. The channel is available to 16.5 million digital households in the UK.
Community Channel is dedicated to raising awareness and inspiring its audiences into action on issues and causes that matter to them in their community and beyond. It broadcasts programmes about local and global community events and the work of the charitable and voluntary sector. In addition, the channel offers online, interactive and on-demand
services which allow opportunities for immediate involvement.
Director-General of the BBC
Mark Thompson
and Sky's CEO James Murdoch
agreed to a Joint Declaration of support for the Community Channel along with eight other major players in the British media industry – Channel 4
, Five, ITV
, ITN, Discovery Channel
, Flextech
, GMTV
and the independent producers' body PACT
. MTV, Disney and Turner Broadcasting System
joined the group in 2006 and Joost
signed the declaration in 2007. Community Channel is majority funded by the Cabinet Office
(Office of the Third Sector). They receive free airtime from Sky, Virgin TV and Freeview. The channel can offer a range of online and on-air advertising packages, sponsorships and advertising funded programming deals.
London-based news and features series London 360
launched on the Community Channel in Spring 2010. The programme is currently in its second series and is produced by a team of 10 young reporters. Its 'Riot Special' programme in Series 1 received critical praise for its exploration of the London riots and attained the week's highest viewing figures for the channel.
Free-to-air
Free-to-air describes television and radio services broadcast in clear form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscription or one-off fee...
television channel
Television channel
A television channel is a physical or virtual channel over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the broadcast or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with carrier frequencies of 55.25 MHz for NTSC analog video and...
wholly owned by Media Trust and supported by major broadcasters including the BBC. Launched in September, 2000, the channel broadcasts from 05:00am – 08:00am each day on Freeview, 24 hours a day on Sky and Virgin TV
Virgin TV
Virgin TV is a cable television service in the UK, owned by Virgin Media. Its origins come back from NTL and Telewest, two largest cable operators in the country, of which the two companies merged on 6 March 2006...
, and anytime with video on demand
Video on demand
Video on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...
. The channel is available to 16.5 million digital households in the UK.
Community Channel is dedicated to raising awareness and inspiring its audiences into action on issues and causes that matter to them in their community and beyond. It broadcasts programmes about local and global community events and the work of the charitable and voluntary sector. In addition, the channel offers online, interactive and on-demand
Video on demand
Video on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...
services which allow opportunities for immediate involvement.
Director-General of the BBC
Director-General of the BBC
The Director-General of the British Broadcasting Corporation is chief executive and editor-in-chief of the BBC.The position was formerly appointed by the Board of Governors of the BBC and is now appointed by the BBC Trust....
Mark Thompson
Mark Thompson
Mark John Thompson is Director-General of the BBC, a post he has held since 2004, and a former chief executive of Channel 4...
and Sky's CEO James Murdoch
James Murdoch (media executive)
James Rupert Jacob Murdoch is the younger son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch and currently serves as chairman and chief executive of News Corporation, Europe, and Asia, overseeing assets such as News International , SKY Italia , Sky Deutschland, and STAR TV .He sits on the News...
agreed to a Joint Declaration of support for the Community Channel along with eight other major players in the British media industry – Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, Five, ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
, ITN, Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
, Flextech
Flextech
Living TV Group was a British television content subsidiary of British Sky Broadcasting. It is now defunct as a company but Sky Living, Sky Livingit, Sky Living Loves and Challenge are still in operation by BSkyB.-Overview:...
, GMTV
GMTV
GMTV was the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 to 3 September 2010. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc. in November 2009. Shortly after, ITV plc announced the programme would end...
and the independent producers' body PACT
PACT
PACT was a series of compilers for the IBM 701 and IBM 704 scientific computers. Their development was conducted jointly by IBM and a committee of customers starting in 1954. PACT I was developed for the 701, and PACT IA for the 704. The emphasis in that early generation of compilers was minization...
. MTV, Disney and Turner Broadcasting System
Turner Broadcasting System
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. is the Time Warner subsidiary managing the collection of cable networks and properties started and acquired by Robert Edward "Ted" Turner starting in the mid-1970s. The company has its headquarters in the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia. TBS, Inc...
joined the group in 2006 and Joost
Joost
Joost is an Internet TV service, created by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis . During 2007-8 Joost used peer-to-peer TV technology to distribute content to their Mozilla-based desktop player; in late 2008 this was migrated to use a Flash-based Web player instead.Joost began development in 2006...
signed the declaration in 2007. Community Channel is majority funded by the Cabinet Office
Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for supporting the Prime Minister and Cabinet of the United Kingdom....
(Office of the Third Sector). They receive free airtime from Sky, Virgin TV and Freeview. The channel can offer a range of online and on-air advertising packages, sponsorships and advertising funded programming deals.
London-based news and features series London 360
London 360
London 360 is a magazine-style news show on the Community Channel which covers stories from London's communities....
launched on the Community Channel in Spring 2010. The programme is currently in its second series and is produced by a team of 10 young reporters. Its 'Riot Special' programme in Series 1 received critical praise for its exploration of the London riots and attained the week's highest viewing figures for the channel.