Editing Religious broadcasting (section)

===United Kingdom===
In the UK, the first religious channel was [[MTA 1|Muslim TV Ahmadiyya]], which launched in 1992. However, religious television is dominated by the main non-commercial terrestrial public service broadcaster, the [[BBC]], obliged by its licence to broadcast 110 hours per year.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/7846218/ITV-will-broadcast-just-one-hour-of-religious-programming-this-year.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/7846218/ITV-will-broadcast-just-one-hour-of-religious-programming-this-year.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=ITV will broadcast just one hour of religious programming this year|date=23 June 2010|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=23 August 2015|last1=Beckford|first1=Martin}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Long-running programmes such as ''[[Songs of Praise]]'' continue to draw loyal audiences, although declining interest in devotional-style religious programmes — and sometimes erratic scheduling decisions — have taken their toll. Up until the turn of the century, the ITV network and Channel 4 also produced religious programme content, and for many years, Sunday evenings were dominated by 'the God slot' — a 70-minute period of religious programmes broadcast simultaneously on BBC1 and ITV. Attempts to extend the range of formats and experiment in more populist styles reached its zenith in the late 1960s with the light entertainment show, ''[[Stars on Sunday (TV series)|Stars on Sunday]]'' (Yorkshire Television, 1969–1979) on ITV, reaching audiences of 15 million.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-jess-yates-1454899.html|title=Obituary: Jess Yates|work=The Independent|access-date=18 August 2018|language=en-GB}}</ref>  The show was conceived and presented by [[ITV Yorkshire|Yorkshire Television]]'s Head of Children's Programmes, [[Jess Yates]] and ran for a decade. Serious documentary-style religious content emerged in the 1970s, with the BBC's ''[[Everyman (TV series)|Everyman]]'', and ITV's ''Credo'' programme series'. Religious broadcasting declined in the later 1970s and 1980s. The birth of the [[Channel 4|fourth public service channel]] in 1982, with a remit to cater for minority interests, raised expectations followed by disappointment among many who believed that Channel 4 would provide new opportunities for religious broadcasting. Channel 4's first major religious programme commission caused a furore: ''[[Jesus: The Evidence]]'' (London Weekend Television for Channel 4), broadcast over the Easter period in 1984, proved to be a pivotal moment in the disintegrating relationship between the broadcasting institutions and the churches.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Channel 4 and the declining influence of organized religion on UK television. The case of Jesus: The Evidence.|last=Richard|first=Wallis|oclc=945882509}}</ref>

In 2010, the commercial public service television broadcasters de-prioritised their religious output due to commercial pressures. The 2009 [[Ofcom]] report found that religious broadcasting on public service channels was watched on average for 2.3 hours per year per viewer on the main PSB channels in 2011,<ref>[http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/broadcast/reviews-investigations/psb-review/psb2012/section-c.pdf Ofcom: Public Service Broadcasting, 2011]</ref> 2.7 hours in 2008, reducing steadily from 3.2 in 2006 and 3.6 in 2001. In 2006, 5% of viewers found religious broadcasting to be of personal importance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/broadcasting/reviews-investigations/public-service-broadcasting/annrep/?a=0|title=Public Service Broadcasting: Annual Reports|date=20 March 2007|access-date=23 August 2015}}</ref>

In 2017, the BBC announced that it was closing its dedicated Religious and Ethics Department and outsourcing its religious expertise and production work: a move described as 'dangerous' by at least one national newspaper, suggesting that the decision was based on a mistaken presumption that religion was 'a preoccupation of people who are old, strange or both, something of no interest to those happy enough to be neither'<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/apr/07/the-guardian-view-on-religious-broadcasting-imagination-and-commitment-needed|title=The Guardian view on religious broadcasting: imagination and commitment needed {{!}} Editorial|last=Editorial|date=7 April 2017|website=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=18 August 2018}}</ref> The BBC's decision, and the quantitative decline in religious broadcasting over several decades (as well as a growing sense that there was an absence of informed portrayals of religion in content more generally), has been implicated in what has been described as a rise in "religious illiteracy".<ref>{{Citation|last1=Dinham|first1=Adam|title=Religious literacy|date=18 March 2015|work=Religious literacy in policy and practice|pages=3–26|publisher=Policy Press|isbn=9781447316657|last2=Francis|first2=Matthew|doi=10.1332/policypress/9781447316657.003.0001}}</ref> Partly in response to these concerns, there was a major internal review at the BBC during 2017 'to reassess our role and strategy in this area, and reconsider how best to deliver our public service mission'.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/corporate2/insidethebbc/howwework/reports/religion_and_ethics_2017|title=BBC – BBC Religion & Ethics Review – December 2017 – Inside the BBC|website=www.bbc.co.uk|language=en-GB|access-date=18 August 2018}}</ref> According to the BBC's internal report in December of that year:<blockquote>In practice, that means the BBC will: Raise our game across all output – Increase specialist expertise with a new Religious Affairs Team and Religion Editor in News (p19); Create networks of specialists (p27); Develop stakeholder relations (p27); Reach as many people as possible – Landmark series and programmes (p21); Cross-genre commissions (p16), A 'Year of Beliefs' in 2019 (p23); Content and social media aimed at a next generation audience (p23); Portray the diversity of beliefs and society – Diversify our range of contributors (p14); Increase coverage of religious events (p15); Enhance portrayal in mainstream programming (p17); Help people understand their values and decisions – Innovative content that works across genres (p17); Innovative online services that include archive content that is still relevant (p25)<ref name=":0" /></blockquote>The BBC has yet to unveil details of plans for its 2019 'Year of Beliefs'.

Dedicated religious channels are relatively new, and transmit via direct-to-home satellite, some, are streamed live via the Internet or, like [[List of digital terrestrial television channels (UK)#General entertainment|TBN]], broadcast 24 hours on terrestrial [[Freeview (UK)|Freeview]]. Dedicated religious channels available include:

*[[Daystar Television Network|Daystar]], US network, broadcast 24 hours on terrestrial digital freeview.
*[[Trinity Broadcasting Network|TBN]], broadcast 24 hours on terrestrial freeview and Sky. 
*[[GOD TV]], based in Sunderland (UK), is the longest established of the currently running TV channels on Sky in the UK and the only one that is also on the major cable TV systems in the UK.
*[[God's Learning Channel]] (GLC) broadcasts the same lineup simultaneously to the US and Europe via the Eutelsat W-2 Satellite for Direct-to-Home broadcast.
*[[The Inspiration Network|Inspiration]], US Network. Programming from around the world. Preaching. Missionary bias.
*[[Islam Channel]]. Broadcasts across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa and streamed on the Internet, and will broadcast in North America. Ruled to have breached the UK broadcasting code by airing discussions containing contentious views on violence against women and marital rape in 2008 and 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/regulation/complaints-log/islam-channel-breaches-broadcasting-code/5020372.article|title=Islam Channel breaches broadcasting code|access-date=23 August 2015}}</ref>
*[[Revelation TV]], in London, produce a lot of live programmes from their studios.
* Let The Bible Speak
http://www.ltbs.tv

In the UK, [[Vision TV UK]] is available to viewers with Religious channels: Revelation TV, Firstlight, Good News TV, Dunamis TV, and Daystar TV.  Also available are 3ABN television networks: [[3ABN]], 3ABN Latino, 3ABN Proclaim!, 3ABN Dare to Dream, 3ABN Français, 3ABN Russia, 3ABN Kids, and 3ABN Praise Him Music.
* VisionTV UK
http://www.visiontv.co.uk

See also [[List of Islamic television and radio stations in the United Kingdom]]