BBC: Government White Paper, 1994
(Blackwell, 1991) by Scannell and David Cardiff ,
the Archives ‘must surely be one of the most
important historical depositories in Britain’ on
all aspects of British life. They are located in
the grounds of the BBC Monitoring Service at
Caversham Park, Reading, and contain at least
200,000 fi les on all aspects of broadcasting from
the early 1920s to the early 1960s.
Beamwidth Th e angular width of a radio or radar
beam.
★Becker’s mosaic model of communication,
1968 Messages are rarely single, coming along
one line, so the concept of a mosaic as a model
of the communication process is a useful variant
on the linear theme. Samuel L. Becker in ‘What
rhetoric (communication theory) is relevant for
contemporary speech communication?’, a paper
presented at the University of Minnesota Spring
Symposium in Speech Communication, 1968,
posed the theory of a ‘communication mosaic’
indicating that most communicative acts link
message elements from more than the immedi-
ate social situation – from early impressions,
from previous conversations, from the media,
from half-forgotten comments: a mosaic of
source infl uences.
Th e layers of Becker’s mosaic cube correspond
to layers of information. Some elements of the
mosaic assert themselves, others are blocked
out. Th e model illustrates the complexity of the
many layers of the communication process and
the interaction between its ‘cubes’ or ‘tesserae’ of
information, showing the internal as well as the
external world of communication; that which
is isolated or unique, that which is recurring in
a dense and ever-changing pattern. See topic
guide under communication models.
Behavioural cues See barnlund’s transac-
tional models of communication, 1970.
Behavioural targeting See advertising.
Behaviourism A school of psychological thought
which maintains that a scientifi c understanding
of human behaviour can only be attained from
objective, observable action. Consciousness,
feeling and other subjective aspects of human
behaviour are not regarded as suitable bases for
investigations.
★Berlo’s SMCR model of communica-
tion, 1960 David K. Berlo, who studied with
Wilbur Schramm (see schramm’s models
of communication) at the University of
Illinois, produced the model opposite in his
The Process of Communication: An Introduc-
tion to Theory and Practice (Holt, Rinehart
& Winston, 1960). It is a development in a
sociological direction of the shannon andservice, the BBC was permitted by government
to take up the shortfall in digital services, making
these an impressive – and free – alternative to
existing commercial digital channels. Switch-
over for all TV channels in the UK is schedued
for 2012.
Access to digital radio via the BBC has been
available since 1995 on BBC Radio 1, 2, 3, 4 and
Five Live. From 2002 a number of new services
came on stream – BBC Five Live Sports Extra;
6Music, this being rescued from closure in 2010
by public demand; and Radio 7, initially special-
izing in drama and children’s programmes, and
later limiting its content to the archives of Radio
4 and renamed 4 Extra. Th e BBC Asian Network
was closed down in 2010. Th e longstanding BBC
World Service became available in the UK digi-
tally in 2002. Th e BBC estimated that its digital
radio services would be available to 90 per cent
of the UK population by 2011.
BBC: Government White Paper, 1994 The
future of the BBC was guaranteed for another
ten years by the White Paper, Th e Future of the
BBC: Serving the Nation, Competing Worldwide.
In renewing the Corporation’s charter, the White
Paper confi rmed that the BBC would continue
as the main provider of public service
broadcasting (psb). It should contribute to
the growth of cable and satellite services; further
develop commercial TV services worldwide;
continue to provide a broad spectrum of TV
and radio programmes; guarantee special
support for news, current aff airs and educational
programmes; and cover cultural and sporting
activities which ‘bring the nation together’. As
well as recommending that more attention be
given to the views of audience on matters of
taste and decency, the White Paper proposed the
merger of the Broadcasting Standards Council
with the Broadcasting Complaints Commission,
the function of the new council being to monitor
standards and provide guidance. See communi-
cations act (uk), 2003.
BBC iPlayer Launched in December 2007, this is
the BBC’s catch-up tv service. It off ers both a
streaming and a downloading of the last seven
days’ worth of TV programmes for internet
consumption.
BBC Worldwide Commercial arm of the BBC,
responsible for marketing the corporation’s
programmes and media products worldwide;
also involved in joint ventures with major opera-
tors in the private sector.
BBC Written Archives In the words of Paddy
Scannell, in A Social History of British Broad-
casting, Vol. 1 1922–1939: Serving the Nation