British and Chinese Media

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and China Central Television (CCTV) are the two popular media owning millions of audiences in the world. For years, they have been making efforts to adopt new technology, new techniques and new means for developing high standard programmes. However, mainly due to different social structures and different cultural background between China and the UK, the BBC and CCTV also have several differences in governors, funding resources and channel designs. In this essay, the background of the BBC and CCTV will be briefly introduced, followed by an analysis of their similarities and differences.

The BBC is the main public service broadcaster in the UK. It was formed in October 1922 by a group of leading wireless manufacturers (History of the BBC, 2005). Currently, the Corporation comprises 9 UK-wide Television Channels (See Appendix 1) and 10 UK-wide Radio Stations. With its vision as to be the most creative, trusted organisation in the world, the BBC provides a wide range of distinctive programmes and services for its viewers and listeners (Purpose and Values, 2005).

CCTV which was established in 1958, is the national TV network of the People's Republic of China. Presently, CCTV has 16 channels broadcasting various programmes (See Appendix 2). The coverage of CCTV-1 reaches over 94.4% of the total population of China, with the number of viewers exceeding 1.15 billion (Profile CCTV, 2005). The corporation has been serving as a window for Chinese people to understand the world better and for the world to get a better understanding of China.

As the two authoritative media in the world, the BBC and CCTV have made enormous contribution to people’s life and cultures. There are some similarities in them. Firstly, both of them provide a comprehensive rage of programmes analogously or digitally in order to satisfy the needs of their users. Besides, with the development of modern technology, they are trying to use internet to...