Formation | 1983 |
---|---|
Legal status | Registered Charity |
Purpose | VLV is known as the authoritative voice in broadcasting policy making on behalf of citizens |
Region served | United Kingdom |
Membership | 1,500 |
Chairman | Colin Browne |
Website | VLV |
The Voice of the Listener & Viewer (VLV), originally just Voice of the Listener, is an independent, membership-based charity, free from political and sectarian affiliations, championing public service broadcasting and speaking for listeners and viewers on the full range of broadcasting and media issues. It was founded in 1983 by Jocelyn Hay. [1] In 2008, The Telegraph described Hay as "possibly the best lobbyist in the whole UK". [2] [3]
‘The VLV has long been a trusted voice for those who value the unique ecology of public service broadcasting in the UK. Their thoughtful and insightful contributions to numerous broadcasting inquiries held by the Government, Parliament, Ofcom and others have always been significant and one of the most quoted voices in the reports and conclusions that follow. They continue to play a vital role in ensuring the voice of the public is heard in the many current debates surrounding the future of public service broadcasting’ BBC Public Affairs, March 2023.
VLV has a significant track record in successful policy intervention to ensure that regulation supports the needs of citizens. VLV is respected and listened to by both Government and broadcasters. Policy Submissions prepared by VLV can be found here https://www.vlv.org.uk/issues-policies/vlv-consultation-responses/
VLV aims to respond to all relevant consultations on broadcasting with the goal of ensuring that citizens have a voice in the debate.
VLV engages with Parliamentarians, Select Committees, Ofcom, the Public Service Broadcasters and UK Government to represent citizens’ interests.
VLV holds regular events – both online and in person – to inspire, inform and engage with the public and policymakers.
VLV petitions the Government, Ofcom and the BBC to engage more directly with citizens to increase transparency and their accountability.
In 2022 VLV set up the Citizens’ PSM Forum comprising British civil society organisations to advocate on behalf of citizens interests in the policy debate. Details of the membership of the forum are here https://vlv.org.uk/get-involved/citizens-forum-for-public-service-media/ The Forum has become a respected ‘voice’ in the policy debate. The Forum is funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust https://www.jrct.org.uk/home through their Power and Accountability Programme.
The Annual Awards for Excellence celebrating television and audio that contributed to public service broadcasting excellence, are nominated and voted for by VLV’s members.
Telecommunications in the United Kingdom have evolved from the early days of the telegraph to modern broadband and mobile phone networks with Internet services.
Television in the Republic of Ireland is available through a variety of platforms. The digital terrestrial television service is known as Saorview and is the primary source of broadcast television since analogue transmissions ended on 24 October 2012. Digital satellite and digital cable are also widely used.
Television broadcasts in the United Kingdom began in 1932, however, regular broadcasts would only begin four years later. Television began as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transmitted moving image in 1926. Currently, the United Kingdom has a collection of free-to-air, free-to-view and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channels for consumers as well as on-demand content. There are six main channel owners who are responsible for most material viewed.
The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom.
Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting.
Independent Local Radio is the collective name given to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom.
Online consultations or e-consultations refer to an exchange between government and citizens using the Internet. They are one form of online deliberation. Further, online consultation consists in using the Internet to ask a group of people their opinion on one or more specific topics, allowing for trade-offs between participants. Generally, an agency consults a group of people to get their thoughts on an issue when a project or a policy is being developed or implemented, e.g. to identify or access options, or to evaluate ongoing activities. This enables governments to draft more citizen-centered policy.
There are several different types of mass media in the United Kingdom: television, radio, newspapers, magazines and websites. The United Kingdom is known for its large music industry, along with its new and upcoming artists. The country also has a large broadcasting, film, video games and book publishing industries.
Digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom encompasses over 100 television, radio and interactive services broadcast via the United Kingdom's terrestrial television network and receivable with a standard television set. The majority of digital terrestrial television (DTT) services, including the five former analogue channels, are broadcast free-to-air, and a further selection of encrypted pay TV services are also available. Freeview is the only DTT service since Top Up TV closed in 2013.
CGTN is the English-language news channel of state-run China Global Television Network, based in Beijing, China. It is one of several channels provided by China Global Television Network, the international division of Chinese state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV), under the control of the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party.
Mediawatch-UK, formerly known as the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association, was an advocacy group in the United Kingdom, which campaigned against the publication and broadcast of media content that it viewed as harmful, blasphemous and offensive, such as sex, violence, and profanity.
Community media are any form of media that function in service of or by a community. It is the rise of all kinds of alternative, oppositional, participatory and collaborative media practices that have developed in the journalistic context of ‘community media,’ ‘we media,’ ‘citizens media,’ ‘grassroot journalism’ or any radical alternative to on and offline mainstream journalistic practices. In other words, it is having access to or creating local alternatives to mainstream broadcasting, like local community newspapers, radio stations, or magazines. Community Media aids in the process of building citizenship and raising social awareness. "Participation" and "access" are a large aspect in the rise of community media. Those who create media are being encouraged to involve themselves in providing a platform for others to express views. Community media is often given parameters when being defined by groups, but often challenges these boundaries with its broad yet narrow structure.
In the United Kingdom, the roll-out of digital radio has been proceeding since engineering test transmissions were started by the BBC in 1990 followed by a public launch in September 1995. The UK currently has one of the world's biggest digital radio networks, with about 500 transmitters, three national DAB ensembles, one regional DAB ensemble, 48 local DAB ensembles and an increasing number of small-scale DAB ensembles broadcasting over 250 commercial and 34 BBC radio stations across the UK. In London there are already more than 100 different digital stations available. In addition to DAB and DAB+, radio stations are also broadcast on digital television platform as well as internet radio in the UK. Digital radio ensemble operators and stations need a broadcasting licence from the UK's media regulator Ofcom to broadcast.
The Broadband Stakeholder Group is the UK government's advisory body on broadband. Created in 2001 by then Minister for E-Commerce and Competitiveness Stephen Timms, it provides a neutral forum for organisations across the converging broadband value-chain to discuss and resolve key policy, regulatory, and commercial issues, with the ultimate aim of helping to create a strong and competitive UK knowledge economy.
ITV News Lookaround is the name of a British television news service produced by ITV Tyne Tees & Border and broadcasting to the ITV Border region.
Mass media regulations or simply media regulations are a form of media policy with rules enforced by the jurisdiction of law. Guidelines for mass media use differ across the world. This regulation, via law, rules or procedures, can have various goals, for example intervention to protect a stated "public interest", or encouraging competition and an effective media market, or establishing common technical standards. The principal targets of mass media regulation are the press, radio and television, but may also include film, recorded music, cable, satellite, storage and distribution technology, the internet, mobile phones etc. It includes the regulation of independent media.
Jocelyn Hay, CBE was a British journalist and broadcasting campaigner, founder of the Voice of the Listener & Viewer in 1983. In 2008, The Daily Telegraph described Hay as "possibly the best lobbyist in the whole UK". The Scotsman noted that she was once called the "Florence Nightingale of Public Service Broadcasting".
fUSe FM Ballymoney is the first Ulster Scots community radio station in the UK and is currently run under the Ullans Speakers Association. Broadcasting on FM 107.5, online and via the TuneIn app from their studio based in Ballymoney, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland, within the Fuse Centre.
GB News is a British free-to-air, opinion-oriented television and radio news channel. The channel is available on Freeview, Freesat, Sky, YouView, Virgin Media and via the internet on Samsung TV Plus, LG webOS TV's, Rakuten TV and YouTube. An audio simulcast of the station is also available on DAB+ radio.
Peter Andrew Jestyn Phillips is Chief Executive of Cambridge University Press & Assessment, a non-teaching department of the University of Cambridge, when it was formed on 1 August 2021.