The state-run and license-supported British Broadcasting Corporation, or BBC, has been broadcasting television to the UK since 1936, before being temporarily put on hold by the Second World War. Over the decades it has provided both England and the world with invaluable and unforgettable coverage of world events as well as countless hours of first-rate entertainment.
BBC Television, as well as its older equally respected sibling BBC Radio, is available, in one flavour or another, throughout the world, often through the auspices of the BBC World Service. A friend in California is even getting a BBC channel through his local cable provider. The BBC's news gathering ability is legendary and will soon be competing internationally with the likes of CNN with a BBC all-news channel. Recently the BBC had branched out onto the Web. While this isn't the first time the BBC have had an online presence it is the first time they have attempted to combine so many of their myriad resources into one advertiser-supported, online service, as Beeb.com.
Here now is a brief review of some of the many BBC Web resources:
Beeb.com brings together the best of the BBC in one cohesive environment. Included in the sites many features are:
Radio Times — Don't let the name fool you, the Radio Times is the premier telly listing guide in the UK and it covers not only the BBC run networks (BBC1, BBC2, World Service etc.) but also the full gamut of terrestrial and satellite programming available in Britain (C4, C5, ITV, Sky etc.). The online version of RT offers a number of Web-friendly features such as the ability to search the listings and keep a personal diary of viewing choices. With the wonderful Yearling service gone, the RT is the place to get detailed telly listing online. In addition to the comprehensive listings the site also contains celebrity interviews, chat and feature articles, plus Blast From the Past which celebrates cult series of yesteryear.
The Radio Times, as you would expect, also does a cracking job of covering the UK Radio scene, with special emphasis on the BBC run stations. BBC Radio runs a number of fine web sites including a site for Radio One which features real audio broadcasts of many programs (including the essential John Peel!).
Comedy Zone — My personal favorite part of Beeb.com. The Comedy Zone brings together daily breaking comedy news, official web sites for such BBC yuk fests as Men Behaving Badly, The Fast Show, Harry Enfield and Monty Python, and the marvelous Time Warp area where classic comedies of the past are given their
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