Why doesn t the BBC earn extra revenue by taking advertisements?
Under the terms of its Charter, the BBC is not allowed to carry advertisements on its free-to-air channels in the United Kingdom – like BBC-1 and BBC-2, and Radios 1 to 5 Live. Neither the Government nor the BBC believes that this policy should change, as it could affect the range, quality and character of the programmes that are made by, or for, the BBC. However, once its programmes have been made or commissioned, and seen by its licence fee-payers, the BBC believes that their commercial potential should be exploited more effectively than in the past. The advent of cable and satellite services provides the BBC with the ability to do so. It has accordingly entered into a joint venture with Flextech Television to provide a number of advertising and subscription-funded services which will enable it to get better value from its programmes, increase its commercial income and, in the process, generate more money for investment in its public service programming. The Government has endorsed i
