Television network

A television network is a distribution network for television content whereby a central operation provides programming for many television stations. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small number of broadcast networks, but with the advent of cable television the cost of creating a television network has been reduced and there has been a huge increase in the number of networks with most of the newer networks catering to a small group. Many early television networks evolved from earlier radio networks.

United Kingdom

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) www.bbc.co.uk (8 TV Channels - BBC 1, 2, 3, 4, Parliament, News24, CBBC, CBeebies)
• Independent Television (ITV) www.itv.com(4 Channels - ITV 1, 2, 3 & Men and Motors. ITV 4 from October/November 2005.)
• Channel 4 www.channel4.com (4 Channels - Channel 4, E4, More4 (from November 1st 2005))
• Five www.five.tv (1 channel)
• UKTV www.uktv.co.uk (Part funded by BBC) (10 Channels - UKTV Gold, UKTV G2, UKTV Drama, UKTV Style, UKTV Style Gardens, UKTV Food, UKTV Bright Ideas, UKTV History, UKTV People & UKTV Documentry)
• Sianel Pedwar Cymru (S4C - in Welsh) www.s4c.co.uk
• Sky (BSkyB - satellite network) www.sky.com