ANNEX 1
THE PARLIAMENTARY CHANNEL
CREATED
January 1992
OWNERSHIP
The Parliamentary Channel was created by the
British cable industry based on the C-SPAN model in America to
provide a dedicated service to cable customers covering gavel
to gavel coverage of Parliament. The Channel is run as a non-profit
venture, without any public money or sponsorship. It is owned
and funded by major UK cable operators:
— Cable & Wireless Communications,
NTL/Comcast UK, General Cable and Telewest. The Channel is managed
on behalf of its owners by Flextech plc.
HOURS OF
BROADCAST
Mondays to Fridays 5.30 am to Midnight, Saturdays
and Sundays 5.30 am to 6.00 pm (115 hours of political programming,
36 weeks a year)
WHAT DOES
THE PARLIAMENTARY
CHANNEL OFFER?
Informative Programming:
— Full, unedited coverage of both Houses
when Parliament is in session
— Full recordings of Parliamentary
Committees (seven each week Parliament is in session)
— Highlights from American and European
politics
— Unedited coverage of the three main
party conferences
On screen captions provide constantly updated
information about the people and the issues being broadcast.
Information Services:
— The Channel's website www.parlchan.co.uk/
provides informative weekly guides to Parliament, constituency
maps and MP biographies. It also offers a comprehensive education
section with lesson plans and links for teachers.
— The Channel's Teletext service, PARLTEXT,
invites viewers behind the scenes of Parliament giving instant
access to programme listings, details of Bills and Government
offices.
CURRENT FUNDING
TO DATE
£3,035,667
SUBSCRIBERS AT
PRESENT
2,012,299
PRICE PER
SUB
10p per month for 10 months per year
HISTORY OF THE PARLIAMENTARY CHANNEL
| January 1992 | The channel dedicated to Parliament is launched by the British Cable Industry, providing on cable live coverage of the House of Commons from the beginning to end of proceedings Monday to Friday. |
| September 1992 | The Rt Hon Lord Weatherill, DL, former Speaker of the House of Commons, becomes Chairman of the Parliamentary Channel. |
| January 1993 | Full recorded coverage of the House of Lords begins. |
| October 1994 | An education pack, aimed at 8-11 year olds, is launched. Comprising a video and booklet on how Parliament works, the pack is distributed to schools nationwide. |
| May 1995 | Full recorded coverage of a wide variety of Parliamentary Committees begins each week. |
| August 1995 | The Parliamentary Channel adds its one-millionth household. |
| September 1995 | Complete and unedited live coverage of the Liberal Democrat Conference is shown for the first time. |
| October 1995 | Complete and unedited coverage of both the Labour Party Conference and the Conservative Party Conference are shown for the first time. |
| April 1996 | The national Motorola Youth Parliament Competition is broadcast for the first time and an extended and updated educational What is Parliament? pack is distributed to 3,000 schools. |
| May 1996 | Three hours of American Public Policy is broadcast every Sunday from C-SPAN, the American channel dedicated to politics. |
| June 1996 | PARLTEXT, the channel's own teletext service is launched, providing up-to-date information about the channel and Parliament. |
| | The Parliamentary Channel also launches its own Internet site http:/www.parlchan.co.uk/, containing the channel's teletext service, constituency maps, biographies of MPs, links to international political websites and much more. |
| August 1996 | Full live coverage of the American Republican and Democratic Party Conventions are shown. |
| May 1997 | Broadcasting hours are increased and coverage is extended to provide highlights of Question Time, Business Statements, Statements from the House and a strand dedicated to European Union issues. |
| September 1997 | The channel launches an education area on its website, including teachers' lesson plans, an A-Z of Parliament, links to useful websites, and a quiz for students. |
| October 1997 | The Parliamentary Channel broadcasts its first original programming strand; Laying Down the Law.
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