BBC FOUR

Coordinates	37°46′45.48″N122°25′9.12″N
name	British Broadcasting Corporation
logo
predecessor	British Broadcasting Company
foundation
founder	John Reith (Director-General) George Villiers (Chairman)
location city	London
location country	England, United Kingdom
area served	Worldwide
key people	Lord Patten of Barnes(Chairman, BBC Trust)Mark Thompson(Director-General)
industry	Broadcasting
services	Television, Radio, Online''
owner	The Crown
homepage
intl	}}

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster, headquartered at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff. Its main responsibility is to provide public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, Channel Islands and Isle of Man. The BBC is an autonomous public service broadcaster that operates under a Royal Charter and a Licence and Agreement from the Home Secretary. Within the United Kingdom its work is funded principally by an annual television licence fee, which is charged to all United Kingdom households, companies and organisations using any type of equipment to record and/or receive live television broadcasts; the level of the fee is set annually by the British Government and agreed by Parliament.

Outside the UK, the BBC World Service has provided services by direct broadcasting and re-transmission contracts by sound radio since the inauguration of the BBC Empire Service in December 1932, and more recently by television and online. Though sharing some of the facilities of the domestic services, particularly for news and current affairs output, the World Service has a separate Managing Director, and its operating costs have historically been funded mainly by direct grants from the UK government. These grants were determined independently of the domestic licence fee. A recent spending review has announced plans for the funding for the world service to be drawn from the domestic licence fee.

The Corporation's 'guaranteed' income from the licence fee and the World Service grants are supplemented by profits from commercial operations through a wholly owned subsidiary, BBC Worldwide Ltd. The company's activities include programme- and format-sales, magazines including the ''Radio Times'' and book publishing. The BBC also earns additional income from selling certain programme-making services through BBC Studios and Post Production Ltd., formerly BBC Resources Ltd, another wholly owned trading subsidiary of the corporation.

History of the BBC

The privately owned BBC was the world's first national broadcasting organisation and was founded on 18 October 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company Ltd. The original company was founded in 1922 by a group of six telecommunications companies—Marconi, Radio Communication Company, Metropolitan-Vickers (MetroVick), General Electric, Western Electric, and British Thomson-Houston (BTH)—to broadcast experimental radio services. The first transmission was on 14 November of that year, from station 2LO, located at Marconi House, London.

The British Broadcasting Company Ltd was created by the British General Post Office (GPO) and John Reith applied for a job with the existing company and later became its employee general manager. The company was wound-up and on 1 January 1927 a new non-commercial entity called the British Broadcasting Corporation established under a Royal Charter became successor in interest.

To represent its purpose and (stated) values, the Corporation adopted the coat of arms, including the motto "Nation shall speak peace unto Nation". The motto is generally attributed to Montague John Rendall, former headmaster of Winchester College, and member of the first BBC Board of Governors. The motto is said to be a "felicitous adaptation" of Micah 4: 3 "nation shall not lift up a sword against nation".

Experimental television broadcasts were started in 1932 using an electromechanical 30 line system developed by John Logie Baird. Limited regular broadcasts using this system began in 1934, and an expanded service (now named the BBC Television Service) started from Alexandra Palace in 1936, alternating between an improved Baird mechanical 240 line system and the all electronic 405 line Marconi-EMI system. The superiority of the electronic system saw the mechanical system dropped early the following year. Television broadcasting was suspended from 1 September 1939 to 7 June 1946 during the Second World War. A widely reported urban myth is that, upon resumption of service, announcer Leslie Mitchell started by saying, "As I was saying before we were so rudely interrupted ..." In fact, the first person to appear when transmission resumed was Jasmine Bligh and the words said were "Good afternoon, everybody. How are you? Do you remember me, Jasmine Bligh ...?"

The European Broadcasting Union was formed on 12 February 1950, in Torquay with the BBC among the 23 founding broadcasting organisations.

Competition to the BBC was introduced in 1955 with the commercial and independently operated television network of ITV. However, the BBC monopoly on radio services would persist into the 1970s. As a result of the Pilkington Committee report of 1962, in which the BBC was praised for the quality and range of its output, and ITV was very heavily criticised for not providing enough quality programming, the decision was taken to award the BBC a second television channel, BBC2, in 1964, renaming the existing service BBC1. BBC2 used the higher resolution 625 line standard which had been standardised across Europe. BBC2 was broadcast in colour from 1 July 1967, and was joined by BBC 1 and ITV on 15 November 1969. The 405 line VHF transmissions of BBC1 (and ITV) were continued for compatibility with older television receivers until 1985.

Starting in 1964 a series of pirate radio stations (starting with Radio Caroline) came on the air, and forced the British government finally to regulate radio services to permit nationally based advertising-financed services. In response the BBC reorganised and renamed their radio channels. The Light Programme was split into Radio 1 offering continuous "Popular" music and Radio 2 more "Easy Listening". The "Third" programme became Radio 3 offering classical music and cultural programming. The Home Service became Radio 4 offering news, and non-musical content such as quiz shows, readings, dramas and plays. As well as the four national channels, a series of local BBC radio stations were established in 1967, including Radio London.

In 1974, the BBC's teletext service, Ceefax, was introduced, created initially to provide subtitling, but developed into a news and information service. In 1978 BBC staff went on strike just before the Christmas of that year, thus blocking out the transmission of both channels and amalgamating all four radio stations into one.

Since the deregulation of the UK television and radio market in the 1980s, the BBC has faced increased competition from the commercial sector (and from the advertiser-funded public service broadcaster Channel 4), especially on satellite television, cable television, and digital television services.

The BBC Research Department has played a major part in the development of broadcasting and recording techniques. In the early days it carried out essential research into acoustics and programme level and noise measurement.

In recent decades, a number of addition channels and radio stations have been launched: Radio 5 was launched in 1990 as a sports and educational station, but was replaced in 1994 with Radio 5 Live, following the success of the Radio 4 service to cover the 1991 Gulf War. The new station would be a news and sport station. In 1997, BBC News 24, a rolling news channel, launched on digital television services and the following year, BBC Choice launched as the third general entertainment channel from the BBC. The BBC also purchased The Parliamentary Channel, which was renamed BBC Parliament. In 1999, BBC Knowledge launched as a multi media channel, with services available on the newly launched BBC Text digital teletext service, and on BBC Online. The channel had an educational aim, which was modified later on in its life to offer documentaries.

In 2002, a number of new channels and stations were made: BBC Knowledge was renamed BBC Four and became the BBC's arts and documentaries channel. In addition, CBBC, which had been a programming strand as Children's BBC since 1985, was split into CBBC and CBeebies with both new services getting a digital channel: the CBBC Channel and CBeebies Channel. In addition to the television channels, new digital radio stations were created: 1Xtra, 6 Music and BBC7. BBC 1Xtra was a sister station to Radio 1 and specialised in modern black music, BBC 6 Music specialised in alternative music genres and BBC7 specialising in archived and children's programming.

The following few years resulted in repositioning of some of the channels to conform to a larger brand: in 2003, BBC Choice became BBC Three, with programming for younger generations and shocking real life documentaries, BBC News 24 became the BBC News Channel in 2008, and BBC Radio 7 became BBC Radio 4 Extra in 2011, with new programmes to supplement those broadcast on Radio 4. In 2008 another channel was launched, BBC Alba, a Scottish Gaelic service.

The 2004 Hutton Inquiry and the subsequent Report raised questions about the BBC's journalistic standards and its impartiality. This led to resignations of senior management members at the time including the then Director General, Greg Dyke. In January 2007, the BBC released minutes of the Board meeting which led to Greg Dyke's resignation.

Unlike the other departments of the BBC, the BBC World Service is funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, more commonly known as the Foreign Office or the FCO, is the British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom abroad.

In the past few years, the BBC has experimented in high-definition television. In 2006, BBC HD launched as an experimental service, and became official in December 2007. The channel broadcasts HD simulcasts of programmes on BBC One, Two, Three and Four as well as repeats of some older programmes in HD. In 2010, a HD simulcast of BBC One launched: BBC One HD. The new channel uses HD versions of BBC One's schedule and uses upscaled versions of programmes not currently produced in HD.

On 18 October 2007, BBC Director General Mark Thompson announced a controversial plan to make major cuts and reduce the size of the BBC as an organisation. The plans included a reduction in posts of 2,500; including 1,800 redundancies, consolidating news operations, reducing programming output by 10% and selling off the flagship Television Centre building in London. These plans have been fiercely opposed by unions, who have threatened a series of strikes, however the BBC have stated that the cuts are essential to move the organisation forward and concentrate on increasing the quality of programming.

Governance

The BBC is a corporation, independent from direct government intervention, with its activities being overseen by the BBC Trust (formerly the Board of Governors). General management of the organisation is in the hands of a Director-General, who is appointed by the Trust; he is the BBC's Editor-in-Chief and chairs the Executive Board.

Charter

The BBC operates under a Royal Charter, with the current Charter having come into effect on 1 January 2007 and running until 31 December 2016. The Royal Charter is reviewed every 10 years.

The 2007 Charter specifies that the mission of the Corporation is to "inform, educate and entertain". It states that the Corporation exists to serve the public interest and to promote its public purposes: sustaining citizenship and civil society, promoting education and learning, stimulating creativity and cultural excellence, representing the UK, its nations, regions and communities, bringing the UK to the world and the world to the UK, helping to deliver to the public the benefit of emerging communications technologies and services, and taking a leading role in the switchover to digital television.

This Charter also created the largest change in the governance of the Corporation since its inception. It abolished the sometimes controversial governing body, the Board of Governors, and replaced it with the BBC Trust and a formalised Executive Board.

Under the Royal Charter, the BBC must obtain a licence from the Home Secretary. This license is accompanied by an agreement which sets the terms and conditions under which BBC is allowed to broadcast. It was under this Licence and Agreement (and the Broadcasting Act 1981) that the Sinn Féin broadcast ban from 1988 to 1994 was implemented.

BBC Trust

The BBC Trust was formed on 1 January 2007, replacing the Board of Governors as the governing body of the Corporation. The Trust sets the strategy for the corporation, assesses the performance of the BBC Executive Board in delivering the BBC's services, and appoints the Director-General.

BBC Trustees are appointed by the British monarch on advice of government ministers. There are currently ten trustees with two vacancies, headed by the Chairman, Lord Patten of Barnes and the vice-chairman Diane Coyle. There are trustees for the four nations; England (Alison Hastings), Scotland (Bill Matthews), Wales (Elan Closs Stephens) and Northern Ireland (Rotha Johnstan). The remaining four trustees are Richard Ayre, Anthony Fry, David Liddiment and Mehmuda Mian.

Executive Board

The Executive Board is responsible for operational management and delivery of services within a framework set by the BBC Trust, and is headed by the Director-General, Mark Thompson. The Executive Board consists of both Executive and Non-Executive directors, with non-executive directors being sourced from other companies and corporations and being appointed by the BBC Trust. The executive board is made up of the Director General, Mark Thompson, as well as the head of each of the main BBC departments, with the exception of the BBC North Group. These at present are George Entwistle, Director of BBC Vision; Tim Davie, Director of BBC Audio & Music; Ralph Rivera, Director of Future Media; Zarin Patel, Chief Financial Officer; Caroline Thomson, Chief Operating Officer and Helen Boaden, Director of News.

In addition to these members, there are also five non-executive directors, these are currently Marcus Agius, the senior non-executive director and Chairman of Barclays; Robert Webb QC, the chairman of BBC Worldwide Ltd, former General Counsel and part of British Airways; Dr Mike Lynch OBE, the co-founder and Chief Executive of Autonomy Corporation; Val Gooding, the former Chief Executive of BUPA and Simon Burke the non-Executive Director.

Corporate structure

The Corporation is headed by Director General's office, which has overall control of the management and running of the BBC. Below this is the BBC Direction Group, which deals with inter departmental issues and any other tasks which the Executive board has delegated to it. Below the BBC Decision Group are seven departments covering all the BBC's output: Vision, Audio & Music, Future Media, Operations, Finance & Business, News Group and finally BBC North.

BBC Vision is in charge of BBC Television, of commissioning and producing television programming, of operations such as the BBC Natural History Unit and also includes the BBC Archives. BBC Audio & Music is in charge of BBC Radio and music content across the BBC, including the Music are of BBC Online, music programmes on BBC Television, events such as the BBC Proms and the numerous orchestras such as the BBC Philharmonic. BBC Future Media is in charge of all digital output, such as BBC Online, the BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button service and developing new technologies through BBC Research. BBC Operations includes the former BBC People department in charge of employees welfare, the Technologies department, previously part of BBC Future Media, and BBC Marketing, Communications and Audience. The department as a whole looks after the employees, the upkeep of the buildings, strategy, policy, property, legal affairs, marketing and the normal day to day functioning of the company. BBC Finance & Business manage the corporations expenses, long term business plans and license fee collection. They also assign budgets to the different departments. BBC News Group operate the entire BBC News operation, including the national, regional and international operations. They are in charge of all Television, Radio and Online bulletins in all operations. They are in charge of BBC Scotland, BBC Northern Ireland, BBC Cymru Wales and the BBC English Regions and the BBC Global News division. The BBC North group includes all departments moving to MediaCityUK. It has organised the move, and contains departments such as BBC Sport, BBC Children's, BBC Radio 5 Live as well as some sections of BBC Learning. Many of the departments in this section belong to other departments too, such as BBC Radio 5 Live which is also part of BBC Audio & Music.

All departments of the BBC fall into one or more of these departments. The only exceptions are the following departments and subsidiaries. The BBC Trust is separate from departments as it is part of their operation to monitor the operations and departments of the corporation. The other three departments are stand-alone, due to their commercial nature. BBC Worldwide Ltd. operates international channels and exploits programme brands to gain addition income for BBC programmes. The BBC World News department is distributed by BBC Worldwide, but still separate. It has close links with the BBC News group, but is not governed bu it. BBC Studios and Post Production is also separate and officially owns and operates some of the BBC's facilities, such as BBC Television Centre.

Finance

The BBC has the second largest budget of any UK broadcaster with an operating expenditure of £4.26 billion in 2009/10 compared to £5.9 billion for British Sky Broadcasting, £1.9 billion for ITV and £214 million in 2007 for GCap Media (the largest commercial radio broadcaster).

Revenue

The principal means of funding the BBC is through the television licence, costing £145.50 per year per household (as of April 2010). Such a licence is required to receive broadcast television within the UK, however no licence is required to own a television used for other means, or for sound only radio sets (though a separate licence for these was also required for non-TV households until 1971). The cost of a television licence is set by the government and enforced by the criminal law. A discount is available for households with only black-and-white television sets. A 50% discount is also offered to registered blind. The revenue is collected privately and is paid into the central government Consolidated Fund, a process defined in the Communications Act 2003. This ''TV Licensing'' collection is currently carried out by Capita, an outside agency. Funds are then allocated by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Treasury and approved by Parliament via legislation. Additional revenues are paid by the Department for Work and Pensions to compensate for subsidised licences for eligible over 75 year-olds.

Income from commercial enterprises and from overseas sales of its catalogue of programmes has substantially increased over recent years, with BBC Worldwide contributing some £145 million to the BBC's core public service business.

According to the BBC's 2009–2010 Annual Report its income can be broken down, as follows:

£3,446.8 million in licence fees collected from householders;

£888.3 million from BBC Commercial Businesses;

£293 million from government grants;

£112.9 million from other income, such as providing content to overseas broadcasters and concert ticket sales;

The licence fee has, however, attracted criticism. It has been argued that in an age of multi stream, multi-channel availability, an obligation to pay a licence fee is no longer appropriate. The BBC's use of private sector company Capita Group to send letters to premises not paying the licence fee has been criticised, especially as there have been cases where such letters have been sent to premises which are up to date with their payments, or do not require a TV licence. The BBC uses an advertising campaign to inform customers of the requirement to pay the licence fee. These letters and adverts have been criticised by Conservative MPs Boris Johnson and Ann Widdecombe, for having a threatening nature and language used to scare evaders into paying. Audio clips and television broadcasts are used to inform listeners of the BBC's comprehensive database. There are a number of pressure groups campaigning on the issue of the licence fee.

Expenditure

The following expenditure figures are from 2009/2010 and show expenditure per service, and major department.

Pound sterling>£million)
BBC One Including Regions	1,373.4
BBC Two	575.6
BBC Three	118.6
BBC Four	74
CBBC and CBeebies	85.8
BBC News Channel and BBC Parliament	74.3
BBC HD	10.9
! style="background:#ffe0ff"	53.2
BBC Radio 2	52.5
BBC Radio 3	54
BBC Radio 4	112
! style="background:#ffdead"	76.1
BBC 6 Music	9.3
BBC Radio 7	7.1
BBC Asian Network	12.1
Nations & Local Radio	227.5
BBC Online	199.3
! ''Total''	''3,121.8''

Pound sterling>£million)
Television (Including Regions)	2,318.7
Radio	456.3
BBC Online	199.3
Interactive TV (BBC Red Button)	32.7
Local radio	227.5
Development	37.1
Digital UK	84.8
DAB Digital Radio	11.6
Restructuring	36.9
License Fee Collection costs	126.5
! ''Total''	''3,560.2''

Headquarters and regional offices

Broadcasting House in Portland Place, London, is the official headquarters of the BBC. It is home to three of the ten BBC national radio networks, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4, and BBC Radio 4 Extra. On the front of the building are statues of Prospero and Ariel, characters from William Shakespeare's play ''The Tempest'', sculpted by Eric Gill.Renovation of Broadcasting House began in 2002 and is scheduled for completion in 2012.

BBC Television and BBC News are currently based at BBC Television Centre a purpose built television facilty and the second built in the country located in White City, London. This facility has been host to a number of famous guests and programmes through the years, and its name and image is familiar with many British citizens. Nearby, the BBC White City complex contains numerous programme offices, housed in Centre House, the Media Centre and Broadcast Centre. It is in this area around Shepherd's Bush that the majority of BBC employees work.

As part of a major reorganisation of BBC property, the entire BBC News operation is expected to relocate from the News Centre at BBC Television Centre to the refurbished Broadcasting House to create what is being described as "one of the world's largest live broadcast centres". Following completion Broadcasting House will also be home to most of the BBC's national radio stations, and the BBC World Service. The major part of this plan involves the demolition of the two post-war extensions to the building and construction of an extension designed by Sir Richard MacCormac. This move will concentrate the BBC's London operations, allowing them to sell Television Centre, which is expected to be completed by 2015.

In addition to the scheme above, the BBC is in the process of making and producing more programmes outside of London. This involves producing more programmes at production centres such as Belfast, Glasgow and, most notably, Manchester. As part of the scheme, BBC North West is moving from New Broadcasting House, Oxford Road, to MediaCityUK in Salford. Joining them are the BBC Sports, BBC Children's, Radio 5 Live, BBC Breakfast and BBC Philharmonic departments and services from London. MediaCityUK will therefore become the biggest staffing operation outside London.

As well as the two main sites in London (Broadcasting House and White City), there are seven other major BBC production centres in the UK, mainly specialising in different productions. Broadcasting House Cardiff, home to BBC Cymru Wales, specialises in drama production, and is notable as the home of productions such as ''Doctor Who''. Broadcasting House Belfast, home to BBC Northern Ireland, specialises in original drama and comedy, and has taken part in many co-productions with independent companies and notably with RTÉ in the Republic of Ireland. BBC Scotland, based in Pacific Quay, Glasgow is a large producer of programmes for the network, including several quiz shows. In England, the larger regions also produce some programming. The largest 'hub' of BBC programming from the regions is BBC North West from New Broadcasting House, Manchester. At present they produce a all Religious and Ethical programmes on the BBC, as well as other programmes such as ''A Question of Sport'', however this is to be expanded as part of the BBC North project involving the region moving to MediaCityUK. BBC Midlands, based at The Mailbox in Birmingham, also produces drama and contains the headquarters for the English regions. Other production centres include Quarry Hill in Leeds, home of BBC Yorkshire,Broadcasting House Bristol, home of BBC West and famously the BBC Natural History Unit. Another production centre is Broadcasting House, Southampton which is home to BBC South. This centre has only recently began producing network productions.

There are also many smaller local and regional studios scattered throughout the UK.

Services

Television

In the UK, BBC One and BBC Two are the BBC's flagship television channels. Several digital only stations are also broadcast: BBC Three, BBC Four, BBC News, BBC Parliament, and two children's channels, CBBC and CBeebies. Digital television is now in widespread use in the UK, with analogue transmission being phased out by December 2012.

BBC One is a regionalised TV service which provides opt-outs throughout the day for local news and other local programming. These variations are more pronounced in the BBC 'Nations', i.e. Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, where the presentation is mostly carried out locally on BBC One and Two, and where programme schedules can vary largely from that of the network. BBC Two variations exist in the Nations, however regions today rarely have the option to 'opt out' as regional programming now only exists on BBC One, and regional opt outs are not possible in the regions that have already undertaken the switch to digital television. BBC Two was also the first channel to be transmitted on 625 lines in 1964, then carry a small-scale regular colour service from 1967. BBC One would follow in November 1969.

A new Scottish Gaelic television channel, BBC Alba, was launched in September 2008. It is also the first multi-genre channel to come entirely from Scotland with almost all of its programmes made in Scotland. The service was initially only available via satellite but since June 2011 has been available to viewers in Scotland on Freeview and cable television.

The BBC also has a HD channel, BBC HD, that launched on 9 June 2006 following a 12 month trial of the broadcasts. It became a proper channel in 2007, and screens HD programmes as simulcasts of the main network, or as repeats. The corporation has been producing programmes in the format for many years, and states that it hopes to produce 100% of new programmes in HDTV by 2010. On 3 November 2010, a high-definition simulcast of BBC One was launched, entitled BBC One HD.

In the Republic of Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland, the BBC channels are available in a number of ways. In these countries digital and cable operators carry a range of BBC channels these include BBC One, BBC Two and BBC World News, although viewers in the Republic of Ireland may receive BBC services via 'overspill' from transmitters in Northern Ireland or Wales, or via 'deflectors' – transmitters in the Republic which rebroadcast broadcasts from the UK, received off-air, or from digital satellite.

Since 1975, the BBC has also provided its TV programmes to the British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS), allowing members of UK military serving abroad to watch and listen to them on two dedicated TV channels.

Since 2008, all the BBC channels are available to watch online, either through the channel website, or through the BBC iPlayer service. This online streaming ability came about following experiments with live streaming, involving streaming certain channels in the UK.

Radio

The BBC has ten national radio stations, six stations serving the BBC Regions and numerous others covering the Local regions in England. Of the ten national stations, five are major stations and are available on FM, DAB and online. These are BBC Radio 1, offering new music and popular styles and being notable for it's chart show; BBC Radio 2, playing Adult contemporary, country and soul music amongst many other genres; BBC Radio 3, playing classical and jazz music and home to the BBC Proms; BBC Radio 4, offering current affairs, factual, drama and comedy speech programmes and BBC Radio 5 Live, broadcasting 24 hour news, sport and talk programmes.

In addition to these five stations, the BBC also runs five additional stations that broadcast on DAB and online only. These stations supplement and expand on the big five stations, and were launched in 2002. BBC Radio 1Xtra sisters Radio 1, and broadcasts new black music and urban tracks. BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra sisters 5 Live and offers extra sport analysis, including broadcasting sports that previously were not covered. BBC 6 Music offers alternative music genres and is notable as a platform for new artists. BBC Radio 7, later renamed BBC Radio 4 Extra, provided archive drama, comedy and children's programming. Following the change to Radio 4 Extra, the service has dropped a defined children's strand in favour of family-friendly drama and comedy. In addition, new programmes to complement Radio 4 programmes were introduced such as ''Ambridge Extra'', and ''Desert Island Discs revisited''. The final station is the BBC Asian Network, providing music, talk and news to this section of the community. This station evolved out of Local radio stations serving certain areas, and as such this station is available on Medium Wave frequency in some areas of the Midlands.

As well as the national stations, the BBC also provides regional stations. In the 'Nations', six stations serve large areas of these regions. In Scotland, these are BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Radio nan Gaidheal, the latter providing programmes in Scots Gaelic; in Wales these are BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Cymru, the latter providing programming in Welsh and in Northern Ireland there is BBC Radio Ulster with an opt out for the North West called BBC Radio Foyle. Furthermore, there are 40 BBC Local Radio stations in England and the Channel Islands, usually covering specific cities and their surrounding areas (Such as BBC Radio Bristol), for counties, or regions (Such as BBC Three Counties Radio), or geographic features (Such as BBC Radio Solent covering the South Coast).

As part of BBC Local Radio, the BBC also serves the Channel Islands, which strictly speaking are not part of the United Kingdom, through its TV News service and BBC Guernsey and BBC Radio Jersey. These services are funded from locally collected license fees. However, despite this, the BBC does not offer Local Radio for the Isle of Man, primarily because the island has been served by the popular and long lasting independent commercial station, Manx Radio.

For a worldwide audience, the BBC World Service provides news, current affairs and information in 28 languages, including English, around the world and is available in over 150 capital cities. It is broadcast worldwide on shortwave radio, DAB and online and has an estimated weekly audience of 180 million listeners. Since 2005, it is also available on DAB in the UK, a step not taken before, due to the way it is funded. The service is funded by a Parliamentary Grant-in-Aid, administered by the Foreign Office, however following the Governments spending review in 2011, this funding will cease, and it will be funded for the first time through the License fee. In recent years, some services of the World Service have been reduced; the Thai service ended in 2006 as did the Eastern European languages, with resources diverted instead into the new BBC Arabic Television.

Historically, the BBC was the only (legal) radio broadcaster based in the UK mainland until 1967, when University Radio York (URY), then under the name ''Radio York'', was launched as the first (and now oldest) legal independent radio station in the country. However, the BBC did not enjoy a complete monopoly before this as several Continental stations (such as Radio Luxembourg) broadcast programmes in English to Britain since the 1930s and the Isle of Man based Manx Radio began in 1964. Today, the BBC still has some of the most popular Radio stations, with BBC Radio 2 being the most popular of the network and the most popular in the country, with 12.9 million weekly listeners in 2006.)

BBC Programming is also available to other services and in other countries. Since 1943, the BBC has provided radio programming to the British Forces Broadcasting Service, which broadcasts in countries where British troops are stationed. BBC Radio 1 is also carried in the United States and Canada on XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio.

The BBC is a patron of The Radio Academy.

News

BBC News is the largest broadcast news gathering operation in the world, providing services to BBC domestic radio as well as television networks such as the BBC News, BBC Parliament and BBC World News. In addition to this, news stories are available on the BBC Red Button service, Ceefax and BBC News Online. In addition to this, the BBC has been developing new ways to access BBC News, as a result has launched the service on BBC Mobile, making it accessible to mobile phones and PDAs, as well as developing alerts by e-mail, digital television, and on computers through a desktop alert.

Ratings figures suggest that during major crises such as the 7 July 2005 London bombings or a Royal Event, the UK audience overwhelmingly turns to the BBC's coverage as opposed to its commercial rivals. On 7 July 2005, the day that there were a series of coordinated bomb blasts on London's public transport system, the BBC Online website recorded an all time bandwidth peak of 11 Gb/s at 12:00 on 7 July. BBC News received some 1 billion total hits on the day of the event (including all images, text and HTML), serving some 5.5 terabytes of data. At peak times during the day there were 40,000 page requests per second for the BBC News website. The previous day's announcement of the 2012 Olympics being awarded to London caused a peak of around 5 Gbit/s. The previous all time high at BBC Online was caused by the announcement of the Michael Jackson verdict, which used 7.2 Gbit/s.

Other media venues

Internet

The BBC's online presence includes a comprehensive news website and archive. It was launched as BBC Online, before being renamed BBCi, then bbc.co.uk, before it was rebranded back as BBC Online. The website is funded by the License fee, but uses GeoIP technology, allowing advertisements to be carried on the site when viewed outside of the UK. The BBC claims the site to be "Europe's most popular content-based site" and states that 13.2 million people in the UK visit the site's more than two million pages each day. According to Alexa's TrafficRank system, in July 2008 BBC Online was the 27th most popular English Language website in the world, and the 46th most popular overall.

The centre of the website is the Homepage, which features a modular layout. Users can choose which modules, and which information, is displayed on their homepage, allowing the user to customise it. This system was first launched in December 2007, becoming permanent in February 2008, and has undergone a few aesthetical changes since then. The Homepage then has links to other micro-sites, such as BBC News Online, Sport, Weather, TV and Radio. As part of the site, every programme on BBC Television or Radio is given its own page, with bigger programmes getting their own micro-site, and as a result it is often common for viewers and listeners to be told website addresses (URLs) for the programme website.

Another large part of the site also allows users to watch and listen to most Television and Radio output live and for seven days after broadcast using the BBC iPlayer platform, which launched on 27 July 2007, and initially used peer-to-peer and DRM technology to deliver both radio and TV content of the last seven days for offline use for up to 30 days, since then video is now streamed directly. Also, through participation in the Creative Archive Licence group, bbc.co.uk allowed legal downloads of selected archive material via the internet.

The BBC has often included learning as part of its online service, running services such as BBC Jam, Learning Zone Class Clips and also runs services such as BBC WebWise and First Click which are designed to teach people how to use the internet. BBC Jam was a free online service, delivered through broadband and narrowband connections, providing high-quality interactive resources designed to stimulate learning at home and at school. Initial content was made available in January 2006 however BBC Jam was suspended on 20 March 2007 due to allegations made to the European Commission that it was damaging the interests of the commercial sector of the industry.

In recent years some major on-line companies and politicians have complained that BBC Online receives too much funding from the television licence, meaning that other websites are unable to compete with the vast amount of advertising-free on-line content available on BBC Online. Some have proposed that the amount of licence fee money spent on BBC Online should be reduced—either being replaced with funding from advertisements or subscriptions, or a reduction in the amount of content available on the site. In response to this the BBC carried out an investigation, and has now set in motion a plan to change the way it provides its online services. BBC Online will now attempt to fill in gaps in the market, and will guide users to other websites for currently existing market provision. (For example, instead of providing local events information and timetables, users will be guided to outside websites already providing that information.) Part of this plan included the BBC closing some of its websites, and rediverting money to redevelop other parts.

On 26 February 2010 The Times claimed that Mark Thompson, Director General of the BBC, proposed that the BBC's web output should be cut by 50%, with online staff numbers and budgets reduced by 25% in a bid to scale back BBC operations and allow commercial rivals more room. On 2 March 2010, the BBC reported that it will cut its website spending by 25% and close BBC 6 Music and Asian Network, as part of Mark Thompson's plans to make " a smaller, fitter BBC for the digital age".

Interactive television

BBC Red Button is the brand name for the BBC's interactive digital television services, which are available through Freeview (digital terrestrial), as well as Freesat, Sky (satellite), and Virgin Media (cable). Unlike Ceefax, the service's analogue counterpart, BBC Red Button is able to display full-colour graphics, photographs, and video, as well as programmes and can be accessed from any BBC channel. The service carries News, Weather and Sport 24 hours a day, but also provides extra features related to programmes specific at that time. Examples include viewers to play along at home to gameshows, to give, voice and vote on opinions to issues, as used alongside programmes such as ''Question Time''. At some points in the year, when multiple sporting events occur, some coverage of less mainstream sports or games are frequently placed on the Red Button for viewers to watch. Frequently, other features are added unrelated to programmes being broadcast at that time, such as the broadcast of the ''Doctor Who'' animated episode ''Dreamland'' in November 2009.

Commercial services

BBC Worldwide Limited is the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the BBC responsible for the commercial exploitation of BBC programmes and other properties, including a number of television stations throughout the world. It was formed following the restructuring of its predecessor, BBC Enterprises, in 1995.

The company owns and administers a number of commercial stations around the world operating in a number of territories and on a number of different platforms. The channel BBC Entertainment shows current and archive entertainment programming to viewers in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East, with the BBC Worldwide channels BBC America and BBC Canada (Joint venture with Knowledge Network Corporation) showing similar programming in the North America region and UKTV in the Australasia region. The company also airs two channels aimed at children, an international CBeebies channel and BBC Kids, a joint venture with Knowledge Network Corporation, which airs programmes under the CBeebies and BBC K brands. The company also runs the channels BBC Knowledge, broadcasting factual and learning programmes, and BBC Lifestyle, broadcasting programmes based on themes of Food, Style and Wellbeing. In addition to this, BBC Worldwide runs an internation version of the channel BBC HD, and provides HD simulcasts of the channels BBC Knowledge and BBC America.

BBC Worldwide also distributes the 24-hour international news channel BBC World News. The station is separate from BBC Worldwide to maintain the station's neutral point of view, but is distributed by BBC Worldwide. The channel itself is the oldest surviving entity of its kind, and has bases and correspondents in over 200 countries. As officially surveyed it is available to more than 274 million households, significantly more than CNN's estimated 200 million.

In addition to these international channels, BBC Worldwide also owns, together with Virgin Media, the UKTV network of ten channels. These channels contain BBC archive programming to be rebroadcast on their respective channels: Alibi, drama; Blighty, British-oriented; Dave (slogan: "The Home of Witty Banter"); Eden, nature; GOLD, comedy; Good Food, cookery; Home, home and garden; Really, female programming; Watch, entertainment and Yesterday, history programming.

In addition to these channels, many BBC programmes are sold via BBC Worldwide to foreign television stations with comedy, documentaries and historical drama productions being most popular. In addition, BBC television news appears nightly on many Public Broadcasting Service stations in the United States, as do reruns of BBC programmes such as ''EastEnders'', and in New Zealand on TV One.

In addition to programming, BBC Worldwide produces material to accompany programmes. The company maintained the publishing arm of the BBC, and is currently the third-largest publisher of consumer magazines in the United Kingdom. BBC Magazines, formerly known as BBC Publications, publishes the ''Radio Times'' as well as a number of magazines that support BBC programming such as ''BBC Top Gear'', ''BBC Good Food'', ''BBC Sky at Night'', ''BBC History'', ''BBC Wildlife'' and ''BBC Music''. This department included independent magazine publisher Origin Publishing, which BBC Worldwide owned between 2004 and 2006.

BBC Worldwide also publishes books, to accompany programmes such as ''Doctor Who'' under the BBC Books brand, and also owns the biggest travel guidebook and digital media publisher in the world, Lonely Planet. Soundtrack albums, talking books and sections of radio broadcasts are also sold under the brand BBC Records, with DVD's also being sold and licensed in large quantities to consumers both in the UK and abroad under the 2 Entertain brand. Archive programming and classical music recordings are sold under the brand BBC Legends.

Music

The BBC employs staff orchestras, a choir, and supports two amateur choruses, based in BBC venues across the UK; the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Chorus and BBC Big Band based in London, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in Glasgow, the BBC Philharmonic in Manchester, the BBC Concert Orchestra based in Watford and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in Cardiff. It also buys a selected number of broadcasts from the Ulster Orchestra in Belfast. Many famous musicians of every genre have played at the BBC, such as The Beatles (''The Beatles Live at the BBC'' is one of their many albums). The BBC is also responsible for the United Kingdom coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest, a show with which the broadcaster has been associated for over 50 years.

Miscellaneous

The BBC and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office jointly run BBC Monitoring, which monitors radio, television, the press and the internet worldwide.

In the 1980s, the BBC developed several PCs, most notably the BBC Micro.

Unions

Staff at the BBC are normally represented by BECTU, along with journalistic staff by the NUJ and electrical staff by Amicus. Union membership is optional, staff are not automatically covered by a union, and is paid for by staff members and not by the BBC.

Cultural significance

Until the development, popularisation, and domination of television, radio was the broadcast medium upon which people in the United Kingdom relied. It "reached into every home in the land, and simultaneously united the nation, an important factor during the Second World War". The BBC introduced the world's first "high-definition" 405-line television service in 1936, and apart from suspending service throughout World War II until 1946, was the only television broadcaster in the UK until 1955. "The BBC's monopoly was broken in 1955, with the introduction of Independent Television (ITV)", This heralded the transformation of television into a popular and dominant medium. Nevertheless, "throughout the 1950s radio still remained the dominant source of broadcast comedy". Further, the BBC was the only legal radio broadcaster until 1968 (when URY obtained their first licence).

Even after the advent of commercial television and radio, the BBC has remained one of the main elements in British popular culture through its obligation to produce TV and radio programmes for mass audiences. However, the arrival of BBC2 allowed the BBC also to make programmes for minority interests in drama, documentaries, current affairs, entertainment and sport. Examples are cited such as ''I, Claudius'', ''Civilisation'', ''Tonight'', ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'', ''Doctor Who'' and ''Pot Black'', but other examples can be given in each of these fields as shown by the BBC's entries in the British Film Institute's 2000 list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes. The export of BBC programmes through both services like the BBC World Service and BBC World News, as well as the channels operated by BBC Worldwide mean that BBC productions can now be experienced worldwide.

The term BBC English (Received Pronunciation) refers to the former use of Standard English with this accent. However, the organisation now makes more use of regional accents in order to reflect the diversity of the UK, though clarity and fluency are still expected of presenters. From its 'starchy' beginnings, the BBC has also become more inclusive, and now attempts to accommodate the interests of all strata of society and all minorities, because they all pay the licence fee.

Competition from Independent Television, Channel 4, Sky and other broadcast television stations, has lessened the BBC's influence, but such public broadcasting remains a major influence on British popular culture.

Attitudes toward the BBC in popular culture

Older domestic UK audiences often refer to the BBC as "the Beeb", a nickname originally dubbed by Peter Sellers in ''The Goon Show'' in the 1950s, when he referred to the "Beeb Beeb Ceeb". It was then borrowed, shortened and popularised by Kenny Everett. Another nickname, now less commonly used, is "Auntie", said to originate from the old-fashioned "Auntie knows best" attitude (but possibly a sly reference to the "aunties" and "uncles" who were presenters of children's programmes in early days) in the days when John Reith, the BBC's first director general, was in charge. The two nicknames have also been used together as "Auntie Beeb", and Auntie has been used in out-take programmes such as ''Auntie's Bloomers''.

Criticism and controversies

See also

British television

Criticism of the BBC

Early television stations

Gaelic broadcasting in Scotland

List of television programmes broadcast by the BBC

Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom

Stations of the BBC

The Green Book

List of BBC programmes

References

Bibliography

Briggs, Asa. – ''The BBC – the First Fifty Years'' – Condensed version of the five-volume history by the same author. – Oxford University Press, 1985. ISBN 0-19-212971-6

Coulton, Barbara. – ''Louis MacNeice in the BBC'' – Writer and producer from 1941 to 1961 in the Features Department of BBC radio. – Faber & Faber, 1980. ISBN 0-571-11537-3

Gilder, Eric. – ''Mass Media Moments in the United Kingdom, the USSR and the USA''. – Historical background relating to the British Broadcasting Company, Ltd., its founding companies; their transatlantic connections; General Post Office licensing system; commercial competitors from Europe before World War II and offshore during the 1960s. – "Lucian Blaga" University of Sibiu Press, Romania. 2003. ISBN 973-651-596-6

Milne, Alasdair. – ''The memoirs of a British broadcaster'' – History of the Zircon spy satellite affair, written by a former Director-General of the BBC. A series of BBC radio programmes called "''The Secret Society''" led to a raid by police in both England and Scotland to seize documents as part of a government censorship campaign. – Coronet, 1989. – ISBN 0-340-49750-5

Moran, Lord. – ''Churchill at War 1940 to 1945: the memoirs of Churchill's doctor'', with an introduction by Lord Moran's son, John, the present Lord Moran. – This diary paints an intimate portrait of Churchill by Sir Charles Wilson, his personal physician (Lord Moran), who spent the war years with the Prime Minister. In his diary, Moran recorded insights into Churchill's character, and moments when he let his guard down, including his views about the BBC being riddled with communists. – Carroll & Graf, 2002. Reissue ISBN 0-7867-1041-1

Parker, Derek. – ''Radio: the Great Years'' – History of BBC radio programmes from the beginning until the date of publication. Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 1977. ISBN 0-7153-7430-3

Spangenberg, Jochen. – ''The BBC in Transition. Reasons, Results and Consequences'' – Encompassing account of the BBC and influencing external factors until 1996. – Deutscher Universitaetsverlag. 1997. ISBN 3-8244-4227-2

West, W. J. – ''Truth Betrayed'' a critical assessment of the BBC, London, 1987, ISBN 0-7156-2182-3

Wilson, H. H. – ''Pressure Group'' – History of the political fight to introduce commercial television into the United Kingdom. – Rutgers University Press, 1961.

Wyver, John. – ''The Moving Image: An International History of Film, Television & Radio'' – Basil Blackwell Ltd. in Association with the British Film Institute, 1989. ISBN 0-631-15529-5

Further reading

Thomas Hajkowski. ''The BBC and National Identity in Britain, 1922–53'' (Manchester University Press, 2010) 252 pages; explores ideas of Britishness conveyed in BBC radio programs, including notions of the empire and monarchy as symbols of unity; also considers regional broadcasting in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

James, A. Lloyd (1935) ''The Broadcast Word''. London: Kegan Paul

BBC Annual Reports: 2000–2001, 2002–2003, 2003–2004, 2004–2005, 2006–2007, 2009–2010

External links

(UK only)

The Royal Charter January 2007 by Queen Elizabeth II

Category:1922 introductions Category:Television in the United Kingdom Category:British radio Category:Publicly funded broadcasters Category:Companies based in London Category:Companies established in 1922 Category:1922 establishments in the United Kingdom Category:European Broadcasting Union members United Kingdom Category:British brands Category:Public corporations of the United Kingdom Government

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Coordinates	37°46′45.48″N122°25′9.12″N
name	Hans Rosling
birth date	July 27, 1948
death date
workplaces	Karolinska Institute
alma mater	Uppsala University, St. John's Medical College
known for	Gapminder Foundation and Trendalyzer
signature
spouse	}}

Hans Rosling (born 27 July 1948 in Uppsala, Sweden) is a Swedish medical doctor, academic, statistician and public speaker. He is Professor of International Health at Karolinska Institute and co-founder and chairman of the Gapminder Foundation, which developed the Trendalyzer software system.

Study and career

From 1967 to 1974 Rosling studied statistics and medicine at Uppsala University, and in 1972 he studied public health at St. John's Medical College, Bangalore. He became a licenced physician in 1976 and from 1979 to 1981 he served as District Medical Officer in Nacala in northern Mozambique.

On 21 August 1981, Rosling discovered an outbreak of konzo, a paralytic disease, and the investigations that followed earned him a Ph.D. degree at Uppsala University in 1986. He spent two decades studying outbreaks of this disease in remote rural areas across Africa and supervised more than ten Ph.D. students. Outbreaks occur among hunger-stricken rural populations in Africa where a diet dominated by insufficiently processed cassava results in simultaneous malnutrition and high dietary cyanide intake.

Rosling's research has also focused on other links between economic development, agriculture, poverty and health in Africa, Asia and Latin America. He has been health adviser to WHO, UNICEF and several aid agencies. In 1993 he was one of the initiators of Médecins Sans Frontières in Sweden. At Karolinska Institutet he was head of the Division of International Health (IHCAR) from 2001 to 2007. As chairman of Karolinska International Research and Training Committee (1998–2004) he started health research collaborations with universities in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. He started new courses on Global Health and co-authored a textbook on Global Health that promotes a fact-based world view.

Rosling presented the television documentary ''The Joy of Stats'', which was broadcast in the United Kingdom by BBC Four in December 2010.

Gapminder

Rosling co-founded the Gapminder Foundation together with his son Ola Rosling and daughter-in-law Anna Rosling Rönnlund. Gapminder developed the Trendalyzer software that converts international statistics into moving, interactive graphics. His lectures using Gapminder graphics to visualise world development have won awards. The interactive animations are freely available from the Foundation's website. On 16 March 2007 Google acquired the Trendalyzer software with the intention to scale it up and make it freely available for public statistics. In 2008 Google made available a Motion Chart Google Gadget and in 2009 the Public Data Explorer.

Rosling is also a sword swallower, as demonstrated in the final moments of his second talk at the TED conference. In 2009 he was listed as one of 100 leading global thinkers by Foreign Policy Magazine and in 2011 as one of 100 most creative people in business by the Fast Company Magazine . In 2011 he was elected member of the Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences.

Awards

2007 – Statistician of the Year Award from the Swedish Association for Statistics

2007 – Jubilee Prize from the Swedish Medical Society

2007 – Knowledge Prize from the National Encyclopaedia of Sweden

2008 – Speaker of the Year from the Swedish Event Academy

2008 – The Big Debate Award from Dagens Medicine

2009 – Georg and Greta Borgstrom Award from the Swedish Royal Academy of Agriculture and Forestry

2010 – Illis Quorum, Highest Award conferred by the Government of Sweden

2010 – The Big Prize from the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden

2010 – Gold Medal from Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences

2010 – World Technology Award in Design together with Ola Rosling & Anna Rosling Rönnlund

2010 – The Gannon Award for the Continued Pursuit of Human Advancement (US)

Selected Publications

References

External links

Hans Rosling shows the best stats you've ever seen at the 2006 TED Conference in Monterey, CA highlighting novel ways of presenting global statistics.

Hans Rosling's new insights on poverty, from TED2007, featuring a surprise ending. (video)

Video of Hans Rosling speech at the OECD World Forum in Istanbul

Hans Rosling's blog

Ola Rosling giving a Gapminder presentation at Google (video)

Motion Chart Google Gadget

Hans Rosling: Global health expert; data visionary profile on TED.com

Category:1948 births Category:People from Uppsala Category:Karolinska Institutet faculty Category:Swedish bloggers Category:Public health education Category:Living people Category:Sword swallowers

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{{Infobox racing driver | name = Ken Block | image = Ken Block (rally driver).jpg | imagesize = 250px | caption = Ken Block in 2008. | nationality = American | birth_date = November 21, 1967 | birth_place = Long Beach, California | current series = Rally America | first year = 2005 | current team = Monster World Rally Team | prev teams = Subaru World Rally Team | co-driver = Alex Gelsomino | career points = 453 | best finish = 2nd Overall in Rally America | year = 2006 and 2008 | award years = 2004

---

2005 is a professional rally driver with the Monster World Rally Team. Block is also one of the co-founders and recently appointed Chief Brand Officer of DC Shoes. Vermont SportsCar prepared a 2005 Subaru WRX STi for Block to compete. His first event of the rallying season was Sno*Drift, where he ended up finishing seventh overall and fifth in the Group N class. During the 2005 season, Block had five top five finishes and placed third overall in the Group N class and fourth overall in the Rally America National Championship.

2006

In 2006, Ken Block along with his DC rally teammate Travis Pastrana signed a new sponsorship deal with Subaru. Block gained his first Canadian rally win at the event. In the X Games XIV rally competition, Block finished tied for third place with Dave Mirra. This occurrence was due to both competitors having issues with their car. Block, who made it to the semi-finals of the event, had a radiator problem after landing the car awkwardly on a jump. With both bronze place competitors in damaged cars unable to compete, the medals were awarded to both of them. Next up for Block this rally season is three World Rally Championship events.

2010

On January 6, 2010 the Monster World Rally Team announced Ken as their driver for selected rounds of the World Rally Championship, in which he will be campaigning the Monster/Ford Racing Focus RS WRC 08. His car will be prepared and run by the North of England based M-Sport, who also prepare the official Ford WRC cars. He will be simultaneously running in his sixth season of the Rally America Championship in an open class Ford Fiesta, as well as his fifth X-games. Ken will also be the first ever American driver to campaign for the World Rally Championship. On February 27, Block won the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood (Rally America) for the 5th consecutive time. This broke the record held by John Buffum. Ken is currently being trained by former Ford factory driver Markko Märtin. At the Spain rally, he won his first 2 points in World Rally Championship.

2011

On March 23, Block and his co-driver Alex Gelsomino were taken to hospital, having rolled their Ford Fiesta RS WRC during the shakedown stage of the 2011 Rally de Portugal in Faro, Portugal. A representative of the Monster World Rally team later stated that both men were fine.

Complete Rally America results

(key)

! Year

! Car

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! DC

! Pts

! Subaru Impreza WRX STi

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style="background:#ffdf9f;"

! Subaru Impreza WRX STi

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style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

! Subaru Impreza WRX STi

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

! Subaru Impreza WRX STi

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

! Subaru Impreza WRX STi

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

! Ford Fiesta

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style="background:#ffffbf;"

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Complete WRC results

! Year

! Entrant

! Car

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! WDC

! Points

rowspan=2

! Ken Block

Subaru Impreza WRX STI

style="background:#cfcfff;"

NC

0

! Rally FaNZ

style="background:#cfcfff;"

! Subaru Rally Team USA

! Subaru Impreza WRX STI

style="background:#cfcfff;"

! NC

! 0

! Monster World Rally Team

Ford Focus WRC>Ford Focus RS WRC 08

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

! 19th

! 2

! Monster World Rally Team

! Ford Fiesta RS WRC

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

! NC*

! 0*

* Season in progress.

Other Motorsport Activities

On October 15, 2009, it was reported that Block was close to a deal to join the World Rally Championship in a new Ford team. Long time co-driver Alex Gelsomino is also reportedly involved in the deal. Former Subaru WRC driver Chris Atkinson has been reported to be lined up as Block's team-mate in the all-new Monster Energy Drink Ford World Rally Team.

In 2005, Ken Block along with his DC Shoes associates participated in the Gumball 3000 Rally. For the event they sent out three modified 2004 Subaru WRX STi's sponsored by DC Shoes.

In 2006, Ken Block competed in the One Lap of America competition along with Brian Scotto. They were teamed up in a 2006 Subaru WRX STi and finished forty-fifth overall.

In 2006, for the Discovery Channel show ''Stunt Junkies'', Ken Block jumped his Subaru WRX STi rally car and a max height of .

Ken Block also holds the world record for the world's fastest snow cat, a modified Subaru STI called a Trax STI.

On September 14, 2010, Block's third Gymkhana video, featuring a Ford Fiesta, was released on YouTube. The video got more than seven million views in its first week.

On August 16, 2011, the fourth Gymkhana video, ''The Hollywood Megamercial'' was released on YouTube, featuring Block driving around the Universal Studios backlot.

Involvement In Colin McRae: Dirt 2 and Dirt 3

Ken Block is featured as a driver in Codemasters Colin McRae: Dirt 2, along with his Subaru Rally Team USA Impreza. In Dirt 3 he is seen as a driver and Gymkhana teacher.

References

External links

Ken Block's Official site

Monster World Rally Team

Rally Results and News

Subaru Rally Team USA

Rally America Website

Ken Block Official Merchandise Store

Ken Block Interview

Gymkhana racing improved by Ken Block, Video, ~4min

dirt2game.com/

Category:American rally drivers Category:World Rally Championship drivers Category:1967 births Category:Living people Category:American sports businesspeople

cs:Ken Block de:Ken Block et:Ken Block es:Ken Block fr:Ken Block it:Ken Block hu:Ken Block nl:Ken Block pt:Ken Block (piloto) ru:Блок, Кен fi:Ken Block sv:Ken Block

Coordinates	37°46′45.48″N122°25′9.12″N
Name	Samuel Barber
Background	non_performing_personnel
Birth name	Samuel Osborne Barber II
Born	March 09, 1910West Chester, Pennsylvania, United States
Death date	January 23, 1981
Occupation	composer
Years active	}}

Samuel Osborne Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. His ''Adagio for Strings'' is his most popular composition and widely considered a masterpiece of modern classical music. He was twice awarded the Pulitzer Prize for music, for his opera ''Vanessa'' and his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra. His ''Knoxville: Summer of 1915'', a work for soprano and orchestra, was an acclaimed setting of prose by James Agee.

Biography

Early years

Barber was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania, the son of Marguerite McLeod (née Beatty) and Samuel Le Roy Barber. At a very early age, Barber became profoundly interested in music, and it was apparent that he had great musical talent and ability. At the age of nine he wrote to his mother:

He wrote his first musical at the early age of 7 and attempted to write his first opera at the age of 10. He was an organist at the age of 12. When he was 14, he entered the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, where he studied piano, composition, and voice.

Barber was born into a comfortable, educated, social, and distinguished Irish-American family. His father was a physician, and his mother was a pianist. His aunt, Louise Homer, was a leading contralto at the Metropolitan Opera and his uncle, Sidney Homer, was a composer of American art songs. Louise Homer is known to have influenced Barber's interest in voice. Through his aunt, Barber had access to many great singers and songs.

Barber began composing seriously in his late teenage years. Around the same time, he met fellow Curtis schoolmate Gian Carlo Menotti, who became his partner in life as well as in their shared profession. At the Curtis Institute, Barber was a triple prodigy in composition, voice, and piano. He soon became a favorite of the conservatory's founder, Mary Louise Curtis Bok. It was through Mrs. Bok that Barber was introduced to his lifelong publisher, the Schirmer family. At the age of 18, Barber won the Joseph H. Bearns Prize from Columbia University for his Violin Sonata (now lost or destroyed by the composer).

Middle years

From his early to late twenties, Barber wrote a flurry of successful compositions, launching him into the spotlight of the classical music world. Many of his compositions were commissioned or first performed by such famous artists as Vladimir Horowitz, Eleanor Steber, Raya Garbousova, John Browning, Leontyne Price, Pierre Bernac, Francis Poulenc, and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. When Barber was 28, his ''Adagio for Strings'' was performed by the NBC Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Arturo Toscanini in 1938, along with his first ''Essay for Orchestra''. The Adagio had been arranged from the slow movement of Barber's String Quartet, Op. 11. Toscanini had only rarely performed music by American composers before (an exception was Howard Hanson's Second Symphony, which he conducted in 1933). At the end of the first rehearsal of the piece, Toscanini remarked, "Semplice e bella" (simple and beautiful).

Barber served in the Army Air Corps in World War II, where he was commissioned to write his Second Symphony, a work he later suppressed. (It was released in a "Vox" recording by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andrew Schenck). Composed in 1943, the symphony was originally titled ''Symphony Dedicated to the Air Forces'' and was premiered in early 1944 by Serge Koussevitsky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Barber revised the symphony in 1947, which was published by G. Schirmer, and recorded the following year by the New Symphony Orchestra of London conducted by the composer, but Barber subsequently destroyed the score in 1964. It was reconstructed from the instrumental parts. According to another source, however, it was precisely the parts to the symphony that Barber had torn up. Hans Heinsheimer was an eyewitness, and reported that he accompanied Barber to the publisher's office where they collected all the music from the library and Barber "tore up all these beautifully and expensively copied materials with his own hands" Doubt has been cast on this story, however, on grounds that Heinsheimer, as an executive at G. Schirmer, would have allowed Barber into the Schirmer offices to watch him "rip apart the music that his company had invested money in publishing".

Barber won the Pulitzer Prize twice: in 1958 for his first opera ''Vanessa,'' and in 1963 for his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra.

Later years

Barber spent many years in isolation after the harsh rejection of his third opera ''Antony and Cleopatra''. He suffered from depression, and was also beset by alcoholism. The opera was written for and premiered at the opening of the new Metropolitan Opera House on September 16, 1966. After this setback, Barber continued to write music until he was almost 70 years old. Barber's music in his later years would be lauded as reflective and contemplative, but without the morbidity or unhappiness of other composers who knew they had a limited time to live. The ''Third Essay for Orchestra'' (1978) was his last major work.

Barber died of cancer in 1981 in New York City at the age of 70. He was buried in Oaklands Cemetery in his hometown of West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Achievements and awards

Barber was the recipient of numerous awards and prizes including the Rome Prize (the American version of the Prix de Rome), two Pulitzers, and election to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1961.

Barber was initiated, as a full collegiate member, into the Zeta Iota chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity at Howard University in 1952.

In addition to composing, Barber was active in organizations that sought to help musicians and music. He was president of the International Music Council of UNESCO, where he did much to bring into focus and ameliorate the conditions of international musical problems. One of the first American composers to visit Russia (which was then a constituent republic of the Soviet Union), Barber was influential also in the successful campaign of composers against ASCAP, helping composers increase the share of royalties they receive from their compositions.

Music

Orchestral music

Barber played and studied the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and was an adherent of Johannes Brahms, from whom he learned how to compress profound emotions into small modules of highly charged musical expression (Cello Sonata, 1932).

In 1933, after reading the poem "Prometheus Unbound" by Percy Bysshe Shelley, Barber composed the tone poem ''Music for a Scene from Shelley'', Op. 7. In 1935, when the work was premiered at Carnegie Hall, it was the first time the composer heard one of his orchestral works performed publicly.

Barber's compositional style has been lauded for its musical logic, sense of architectural design, effortless melodic gift, and direct emotional appeal. This was evident in the Overture to ''The School for Scandal'' (1931) and ''Music for a Scene from Shelley'' (1933). These were characteristics of his music throughout his lifetime.

Through the success of his Overture to ''The School for Scandal'' (1931), ''Music for a Scene from Shelley'' (1933), ''Adagio for Strings'' (1938); (First) ''Symphony in One Movement'' (1936), (First) ''Essay for Orchestra'' (1937) and Violin Concerto (1939), Barber garnered performances by the world's leading conductors – Eugene Ormandy, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Bruno Walter, Charles Münch, George Szell, Artur Rodziński, Leopold Stokowski, and Thomas Schippers.

His compositions later included polytonality (Second Symphony, 1944); atonality (''Medea'', 1946, ''Prayers of Kierkegaard'', 1954); Twelve-tone technique (''Nocturne'', 1959 and the Piano Sonata, 1949); and jazz (''Excursions'', 1944; and ''A Hand of Bridge'', 1959).

Among his finest works are his four concertos, one each for Violin (1939), Cello (1945) and Piano (1962), and also the neoclassical ''Capricorn Concerto'' for flute, oboe, trumpet and string orchestra. All of these works are rewarding for the soloists and public alike, as all contain both highly virtuosic and beautiful writing, often simultaneously. The latter three have been unfairly neglected until recent years, when there has been a reawakening of interest in the expressive possibilities of these masterpieces.

Barber's final opus was the ''Canzonetta'' for oboe and string orchestra (1979/1981).

Piano

The four piano "bagatelles" ''Excursions'', Op. 20, (1942–44), was his first and only venture into Americana music. Its elements of boogie-woogie, blues, theme and variations on a cowboy song, and hoedown are not typical of Barber's generally more classical style. In 1949, Barber wrote his keyboard masterpiece Piano Sonata, which has maintained a prominent position in the concert repertoire since its premiere. The ''Nocturne for Piano (Homage to John Field),'' Op. 33, is another respected piece which he composed for the instrument.

Opera

Barber's life partner Gian Carlo Menotti, whom he had met at Curtis, supplied the libretto (text) for Barber's opera, ''Vanessa.'' Using his vocal training, in 1956 Barber played and sang the score to the Metropolitan Opera's General Manager, Rudolf Bing, who accepted the work. It premiered in January 1958. The title role was written for Sena Jurinac but she cancelled six weeks before the opening, to be replaced by Eleanor Steber, with whom the role has become closely identified. ''Vanessa'' won the 1958 Pulitzer Prize and gained acclaim as the first American grand opera.

Menotti also contributed the libretto for Barber's chamber opera ''A Hand of Bridge''. Barber's ''Antony and Cleopatra'' was commissioned to open the new Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center in 1966. The elaborate production designed by Franco Zeffirelli was plagued with technical disasters; it also overwhelmed and obscured Barber's music, which most critics derided as uncharacteristically weak and unoriginal. The critical rejection of music that Barber considered to be among his best sent him into a deep depression. In recent years, a revised version of ''Antony and Cleopatra'', for which Menotti provided collaborative assistance, has enjoyed some success.

Vocal

Barber's background, deeply rooted in singing (including studies with Emilio de Gogorza), his love of poetry, and his intimate knowledge and appreciation of the human voice, inspired his vocal writing. Barber's most famous vocal compositions, ''Knoxville: Summer of 1915'' (to words by James Agee) and ''Dover Beach'' (to the poem by Matthew Arnold), were greatly successful. Their critical acclaim has made a powerful case for Barber as one of the twentieth century's most accomplished composers for the voice.

In honor of Barber's influence on American music, on October 19, 1974, he was awarded the prestigious University of Pennsylvania Glee Club Award of Merit. This award was established in 1964 "to bring a declaration of appreciation to an individual each year who has made a significant contribution to the world of music and helped to create a climate in which our talents may find valid expression."

In September 1992, soprano Cheryl Studer, baritone Thomas Hampson, the preeminent Samuel Barber pianist John Browning and the Emerson String Quartet recorded the complete songs of Samuel Barber (with the exception of ''Knoxville: Summer of 1915'') at the Brahms-Saal of the famous Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. The Deutsche Grammophon (catalogue 435 867–2) set has become a classic of American song on record.

Violin

In 1939 Philadelphia industrialist Samuel Simeon Fels commissioned Barber to write a violin concerto for Fels' ward, Iso Briselli, a graduate from the Curtis Institute of Music the same year as Barber, 1934. The Barber biographies written by Nathan Broder (1954) and Barbara B. Heyman (1992) discuss the genesis of the concerto during the period of the violin concerto's commission and subsequent year leading up to the first performance. Heyman interviewed Briselli and others familiar with the history in her publication. In late 2010, previously unpublished letters written by Fels, Barber, and Albert Meiff (Briselli's violin coach in that period) from the Samuel Simeon Fels Papers archived at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania became available to the public.

Notable compositions

For a full list of works with opus number and some without, see List of compositions by Samuel Barber

''Dover Beach'' (Medium Voice and String Quartet) (Op. 3, 1931)

''The School for Scandal'' (Overture) (Op. 5, 1931)

Cello Sonata (Op. 6, 1932)

''Music for a Scene from Shelley'' (Op. 7, 1933)

(First) ''Symphony in One Movement'' (Op. 9, 1936)

''Adagio for Strings'' (arr. of String Quartet, mov’t 2) (Op. 11, 1938)

''Essay for Orchestra'' (Op. 12, 1937)

Violin Concerto (Op. 14, 1939)

''Reincarnations'' for mixed chorus, (Op. 16, 1939–1940); words by Antoine Ó Raifteiri in translation by James Stephens

''Second Essay for Orchestra'' (Op. 17, 1942)

''Excursions'' (Op. 20, 1942–44)

''Capricorn Concerto'' (Op. 21, 1944)

Cello Concerto (Op. 22, 1945)

''Medea (Ballet)'' (Op. 23, 1946)

''Knoxville: Summer of 1915'' (Soprano & Orchestra) (Op. 24, 1948)

Sonata for Piano (Op. 26, 1949)

''Hermit Songs'' (Op. 29, 1953)

''Prayers of Kierkegaard'' (Soprano, Choir & Orchestra) (Op. 30, 1954)

''Summer Music for Wind Quintet'' (Op. 31, 1956)

''Vanessa'' (opera) (Op. 32, 1957)

''A Hand of Bridge'' (Chamber opera) (Op. 35, 1959)

''Toccata Festiva'' (Organ and Orchestra) (Op. 36, 1960)

Piano Concerto (Op. 38, 1962)

''Antony and Cleopatra'' (Op. 40, opera, 1966, rev. 1974)

Popular culture

''Adagio for Strings'' is a string-orchestra version of the slow movement from Barber's only string quartet. It was broadcast as part of a radio tribute following the death of US president, Franklin D. Roosevelt and at the funeral of Princess Grace of Monaco. It was used by French film composer, Georges Delerue, as part of his score, in the opening and various other passages of ''Platoon'' (1986), a film directed by Oliver Stone about the Vietnam War and in the film, ''Lorenzo's Oil'', starring Nick Nolte and Susan Sarandon. It is the soundtrack of the movie ''The Elephant Man'' (1980) directed by David Lynch. During its depiction of the final moments of Merrick's (The Elephant Man) life, the film uses "Adagio for Strings". It has also been remixed quite popularly by electronic dance artist DJ Tiesto and a choral version served as the theme to the real-time strategy game ''Homeworld''.

Notes

Reference and further reading

Broder, Nathan. 1954. ''Samuel Barber''. New York: G. Schirmer. Reprinted Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1985. ISBN 0313249849.

Heinsheimer, Hans W. 1968. "The Composing Composer: Samuel Barber". ''ASCAP Today'' 2:7.

Henahan, Donal. 1975. "Juilliard Rehabilitating 'Antony and Cleopatra'". ''New York Times'' (February 8).

Heyman, Barbara B. 1992. ''Samuel Barber: The Composer and His Music''. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195090581.

Károlyi, Ottó. 1996. ''Modern American Music: From Charles Ives to the Minimalists''. London: Cygnus Arts; Madison [N.J.]: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. ISBN 9780838637258 (cloth); ISBN 9781900541008 (pbk).

Lee, Douglas A. 2002. ''Masterworks of 20th-Century Music: The Modern Repertory Of The Symphony Orchestra''. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-93846-5

Mostovoy, Marc. 2010. "Iso Briselli, Samuel Barber, and thbe Violin Concerto, op. 14: Facts and Fiction". Iso Briselli website. (Accessed December 6, 2010)

Schenck, Andrew. 1988. Booklet notes. ''Samuel Barber: Symphony No. 2; Music for a Scene from Shelley; Overture to The School for Scandal; First Essay; Adagio for Strings''. The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Schenck, cond. CD recording. Stradivari Classics SCD 8012. Hackensack, NJ: Special Music Company.

Simmons, Walter. 2004. ''Voices in the Wilderness: Six American Neo-Romantic Composers''. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0810848848. Paperback reprint edition, Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2006. ISBN 0-8108-5728-6.

Smith, Patricia Juliana. 2002. "Barber, Samuel". ''glbtq: An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture'', edited by Claude J. Summers. Chicago: glbtq, Inc.

Staubrand, Jens. 2009. ''Kierkegaard International Bibliography: Music Works and Plays: Appendix: About The Seducers Diary and the Illness and Death of Søren Kierkegaard'', new edition. Copenhagen: Eget Forlag; i kommission hos Forlaget Underskoven. ISBN 978 87 92259 91 2.

Valente, Erasmo. 1983. "A Spoleto rinasce Cleopatra". ''L’unità'' (June 27).

Wade, Graham. 2003. ''A Concise Guide to Understanding Music''. Pacific, MO: Mel Bay Publications. ISBN 9780786649815.

Warrack, John Hamilton, and Ewan West. 1992. ''The Oxford Dictionary of Opera''. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-869164-5

Wright, Jeffrey Marsh II. 2010. "The Enlisted Composer: Samuel Barber's Career 1942–1945". PhD diss. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

External links

Biography

Heyman, Barbara B (1992). Samuel Barber: The Composer and His Music. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195090586

Wittke, Paul. Samuel Barber. G. Schirmer Inc.

Homepage of ''Capricorn'', the French Samuel Barber Society. (In English and French)

Article "Barber, A Composer Between Two Worlds", by the Capricorn Society on American Center France

Samuel Osborne Barber. IHAS. PBS.

Smith, Patricia. Barber, Samuel. glbtq.com

"Samuel Barber", ''Fyne Times''

Other

''Frédéric Chopin and Samuel Barber'' – ArtsEditor.com opinion article, 2010.

Audio and Video

Anne Akiko Meyers performs the Barber Violin Concerto

Cheryl Studer sings Samuel Barber in recital, November 27, 2003

Art of the States: Samuel Barber

Video of Erika's aria from ''Vanessa'', "Must the Winter Come So Soon?", sung by Mary Gayle Greene

In the BBC Discovering Music: Listening Library

Category:20th-century classical composers Category:American classical composers Category:Opera composers Category:Pulitzer Prize for Music winners Category:Guggenheim Fellows Category:LGBT musicians from the United States Category:1910 births Category:1981 deaths Category:Grammy Award winners Category:LGBT composers Category:Curtis Institute of Music alumni Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

an:Samuel Barber bg:Самюъл Барбър ca:Samuel Barber cs:Samuel Barber da:Samuel Barber de:Samuel Barber et:Samuel Barber es:Samuel Barber eu:Samuel Barber fa:ساموئل باربر fr:Samuel Barber fy:Samuel Barber hr:Samuel Barber id:Samuel Barber it:Samuel Barber he:סמואל בארבר ka:სემიუელ ბარბერი la:Samuel Barber nl:Samuel Barber ja:サミュエル・バーバー no:Samuel Barber pl:Samuel Barber pt:Samuel Barber ru:Барбер, Сэмюэл sl:Samuel Barber sh:Samuel Barber fi:Samuel Barber sv:Samuel Barber tl:Samuel Barber tr:Samuel Barber uk:Самюел Барбер zh:塞缪尔·巴伯

Coordinates	37°46′45.48″N122°25′9.12″N
name	The Midnight Beast
background	group_or_band
origin	London, United Kingdom
genre	Comedy
years active	2009–present
website	http://themidnightbeast.com/
current members	Stefan AbingdonDru WakelyAshley Horne

The Midnight Beast, sometimes abbreviated as TMB, is a British comedy music group from London, perhaps most famous for their YouTube cover-parody of the 2009 worldwide hit single TiK ToK by American pop artist Ke$ha. The group currently consists of its three founding members, Stefan Abingdon, Dru Wakely and Ashley Horne.

Members

Stefan Abingdon

Stefan James Donald John Abingdon (born 19 January 1989) is a graduate of The BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology. Prior to the formation of TMB, Abingdon was a member of numerous non-comedic music projects, including Ink, Icarus Burning, Killafornia, R.U.Twin, The Clik Clik, Perfect People, and Chapters, as well as recording songs as a solo act. Abingdon is a multi-instrumentalist, and can be seen playing acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards and ukeleles in YouTube videos with his various bands. When performing with the group live, Abingdon sings and plays both guitars and keyboards. In 2011, Abingdon wrote and produced the title track for Selena Gomez & the Scene's third studio album When the Sun Goes Down.

Dru Wakely

Andrew Francis Wakely (born 10 January 1987) was also a musician prior to the formation of TMB, playing drums alongside Abingdon in Icarus Burning, The Clik Clik, and Perfect People. When performing with the group live, Wakely sings, and also provides drums and percussion. Many of the groups early songs, including the "TiK ToK " parody and "Daddy", make comedic reference to Wakely's supposed feelings of abandonment towards his father. As described in "Daddy", his father left the house on Christmas Eve to pick up some milk at the store, and never returned. Wakely eventually discovered that his father had left him and his mother to run off and start a family with their Spanish housekeeper. While the songs treat these claims as a comedic exaggeration, their authenticity has not been confirmed or denied by Wakely himself.

Ashley Horne

Ashely Neil Horne (born 4 January 1989) is the only member of the group with no known professional musical experience prior to forming TMB, although Horne can be seen playing the bass guitar in concert with the group. Horne was originally pursuing an acting career, and had bit parts in a number of British television series, including ''Foyle's War'', ''EastEnders'' and ''Doctor Who''. A number of the group's songs, "Booty Call", "Just Another Boy Band" and "The Dance Routine" among them, make comedic toungue-in-cheek references to Horne being gay. Like Wakely's childhood stories, they are treated in a very comical light; however, Horne's orientation has not been stated by Horne himself.

Reception

The Midnight Beast have a rather large following on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, with over 273,000 subscribers and a combined 39 million views on their YouTube channel alone, as well as over 300,000 Facebook fans as of August 2011. The group's songs often appear on iTunes music charts, and their accompanying music videos routinely reach over 1 million veiws on YouTube. The group has also had songs reach positions on national music charts in the U.K. and Australia.

The band and their music have achieved high levels of success not only with fans, but critics as well. Music and internet culture critics have often mentioned the band's instant "internet fame", and the transition of that fame into the real world. On Christmas Day 2009, the "TiK ToK" parody was featured on the front page of MTV.com, and the group have made videos in collabaration with BBC Comedy and MTV Rocks.

The group has also garnered praise from artists that they have parodied. Both Ke$ha and Jay Sean have tweeted positive reactions to the group's parody of their respective songs, TiK ToK and Down, with Ke$ha stating "''holy. shit. this is better than my version.''", and Jay Sean posting "''Hahha brilliant. Someone should mix this with "pants on the ground"...''". Ke$ha would go on to state the she wished the group had directed her own music video.

The group has also attracted minor controversy with its music. In an online post from February 2011, Metro, a British newspaper, raised issue with the lyrics of "Use Your Head", a sexual education-themed skit made for the Marie Stopes International charity's Have A Larc organization, which promotes safe sex. The paper cited the lines "One up the bum and it’s no harm done" and "One up the bum and you won’t be a mum", stating that it appeared that the group was suggesting anal sex as a birth control method. It also quoted unnamed critics who mentioned that the video failed to point out that anal sex could still lead to the transmission of STDs. The story eventually reached the front page of the paper. The song 'Pizza in Ibiza' also attracted some controversy, magazines criticised the throwing of food into the sea and use of condoms.

Discography

EPs

Year	Title	Label	Chart Positions
			UK
2010	''Booty Call EP''	Midnight Beast RecordsAWAL Records

Singles

Year	Title	Peak chart positions			Album
		! width="33"	! width="33"	! width="33"
2009
"Ninjas"
"Lez Be Friends"
"Friends For Never"
"Daddy"
"Booty Call"
"Just Another Boy Band"
	"The Dance Routine"
"Pizza In Ibiza"

Other Songs, Parodies and Skits

''Nerds'' and ''Drunk Girls'', two songs originally performed as solo recordings by Abingdon; the group only plays these songs live

''XXXmas Buddies (How To Get A Xmas...)'', a holiday-themed adult parody of All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey and Walter Afanasieff

''Walk With Us'', a comdeic skit

''Dubstep On My Mouth'', a comedic skit revolving around the genre of Dubstep music

''Fashion Innit'', a gonzo report for MTV Rocks; Fashion Innit was included on the Booty Call EP

''House Party'', a skit made for BBC Comedy revolving around the 2010 elections

''Camden Crawling'', a gonzo report for MTV Rocks about the Camden Crawl Festival

''All Time Low Parody'' featuring Tom Deacon, a parody of All Time Low by The Wanted.

''Walk With Us Xmas Special'', a holiday-themed version of the original ''Walk With Us'' skit

''Use Ya Head'', a sexual education-themed skit released in support of the Marie Stopes charity

''Friday Parody'', a "parody" of Friday by Rebecca Black; contrary to the title, it is not a parody, but a full on cover, as in Stefan's words, 'The lyrics are already funny enough'

''E.T. Parody'', a parody of E.T. by Katy Perry and Kanye West

Tours

Unnamed 2010 tour (October 17-October 25)

Unnamed 2011 tour (February 15-February 24)

The Wednesday Tour (June 22-August 24, 2011)

References

External links

http://www.myspace.com/chapterstheband

The Midnight Beast Fansite

Category:British comedy musical groups Category:Musical groups from London

de:The Midnight Beast fi:The Midnight Beast