BBC Television

BBC Television is the state television channel of the Botojan Islands, operated by the Botojan Broadcasting Corporation. Founded in 1998 as One TV, it was taken over by Tyler Tupa in December 2009, exercing his force over the service in January 2010.

History

In 1990, a private company (Unitel) set up the permit to commence the operation of three VHF channels (2, 4 and 6) mostly relaying satellite content. Unitel held a de facto television monopoly until 1998, when Botojan Television Broadcasting won in April the right to broadcast on channel 8, with the aim of starting in time for the Southgate Olympics. Despite the frequency, the channel was known as TV One (later just One).

Over time, Unitel relinquished its control over the frequencies, leaving One in a dominant position.

Failing to start in time for the Olympics, One started on October 21, 2000 with a six-hour schedule on weekdays and nine-hour schedule on weekends.

One claimed to be a channel targeting a heterogeneous demographic, with a high number of local programming, something the Unitel channels of the previous decade lacked. The main attraction was The Independent Newscast (TIN), created to compete and give an opposition to the official newscast produced by the government for Unitel's channels (Botojan In View).

Proportionally the channel broadcast in 85% English, 15% Botojani (mostly local and regional programming).

With the shutdown of Unitel (Channel 4 was sold off successfully), One continued leading the Botojani television industry.

In late 2009, One was acquired by the Botojan Broadcasting Corporation, however it was not officially announced to the public until January 2010. The government wanted to consolidate its presence in the media sector by setting up BBC Television for years already, having tried to buy the frequencies of channels 4 or 6, but ultimately got rejected. One therefore became property of the BBC, initiating a period where the former One brand was replaced by the BBC one. The negotiations with the BBC were held for months. One confirmed on January 14, 2010 that the channel was set to be under the BBC administration effective January 25, thus becoming BBC Television.

Initially there was a dual period where both the One and BBC brands were still being used in tandem, but by mid-February, the new administration opted to drop the One brand name and become just BBC Television. In order to become more competitive, the channel started buying in imports.

The Independent Newscast was replaced by BBC Chronicle on September 6, 2010, following a review of its news operation.

Very few programming from the One phase (other than The Independent Newscast) survived the BBC takeover. These included This Morning, Cooking the Botojan Way, Sportsdesk and HOW R U. Some of these programs were cut at the short-term by means of a new schedule dependent on a mix of imports and local content, over time the imports were starting to dominate the BBC schedule. Likewise the BBC reportedly received notifications from international rights holders for dodging international licensing procedures.

The BBC also started pushing in the live broadcast of sporting events: first came the 2010 World Cup in Vera Cruz, then the start of NBA broadcasts by the channel (these broadcasts lasted about a decade), while limiting the carriage of local sporting events, leaving them to the other channels. It did however start carrying the Botojan Basketball League in 2011, driven by the success of the NBA broadcasts. The channel was the host broadcaster of the 2011 Tyntalsyan Cup of Nations, held in October and November in the Botojan Islands.

The channel switched to widescreen in 2018.

The channel gained the rights to 23 seasons of The Simpsons in 2013. Including later seasons, the show became a staple of the young adult and teenager viewers until late September 2021 when it was unfairly taken off air.

Most of the imports left between 2021 and 2022 leaving only the children's content. The reasons are as of yet unknown, but it is likely that there is a correlation with the BBC being sanctioned by foreign companies. Likewise the Botojan Islands aren't a highly-profitable market either.

The channel stopped airing movies in August 2022, replacing them with Flarlandian-made current affairs documentaries made between 2015 and 2022.

Programming

• Chronicle
• BBC Sports