How much British TV is shown in the US?

[BMR]

Hi guys, just purely out of interest this one. There is a fair amount of US TV on the British airwaves, and I wondered how busy the return path was?

I'm not talking here about American remakes of British shows like Weakest Link or the Office, I'm talking about actual British TV. I know about BBC America. What other channels show British programmes, and which are the most popular?

 

[Robnoxious]

Very little. Other than the PBS fare of "Keeping Up Appearances", "Are You Being Served?", "Life Goes On", "Flying Circus" among others of the same era it would seem we Yanks export far more than import. And if we do import, it would be solely reproduction rights to remake and package a program resale export (ie "The Office US").

It's a shame because the U.S. has zero equivalent to Charlie Brooker and his Newswipe/Screenwipe shows. Instead, we get your castaways in the form of Russel Brand. :-\

You can have him back BTW.

 

[Bongwater]

Very little. Other than the PBS fare of "Keeping Up Appearances", "Are You Being Served?", "Life Goes On", "Flying Circus" among others of the same era it would seem we Yanks export far more than import. And if we do import, it would be solely reproduction rights to remake and package a program resale export (ie "The Office US").

It's a shame because the U.S. has zero equivalent to Charlie Brooker and his Newswipe/Screenwipe shows. Instead, we get your castaways in the form of Russel Brand. :-\

You can have him back BTW.

On cable, you find reruns of How Clean Is Your House? on BBC America. They later had Kim and Aggie doing an American version which SUCKED because in their original UK series, the houses were filthier. But they cleaned them with natural products like baking soda, lemon juice and vinegar. The American version is nothing but product placement for American household cleaning chemical product conglomerates like Clorox.

I wish we can see ACTUAL UK TV in the US - with time delay or even without it. American TV is the worst....

 

[BMR]

Interestingly, 'How Clean is your House' isn't on the BBC in the UK...


It's quite strange there is so little UK TV shown over there. There can't be many American Drama or Comedy shows than don't appear somewhere in the UK 300 channel satellite/cable universe, and there is a fair bit of American programming on Freeview OTA TV too.

In fact it would probably be quicker to list what isn't shown over here- mainly the late night talk shows like Leno and Letterman and game shows like Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. Shame, as I quite enjoyed the few episodes of Jeopardy I have seen.

 

[easttxtv]

We do have BBC America on our cable/sat systems, but I haven't gotten to see it lately to see the latest program lineup.

As for OTA and what's available, I think most Brit fare is shown on local PBS stations. I know KERA/13 in Dallas has been a big supporter of programs from across the pond, especially Britcoms. The Monty Python shows were the first shown on that station, back in the mid-1970s. During one of the KERA pledge drives a few years ago, they had Josephine Tewson (Elizabeth, Hyacinth's & Richard's neighbor, Keeping Up Appearances) on, interviewing her while giving out replica cup/saucer sets as thank-you gifts for those donating to the station. KERA used to show Britcoms just on Saturday nights after 10pm, but the schedule has grown over the years. There's now even a blog on KERA's website called 'Tellyspotting' with news/info about Brit programming, new and returning series, behind-the-scenes stuff, etc.

 

[therealjm12]

Seems like all that BBC America shows are British reality shows. I don't even watch American reality shows!

 

[blizzard59]

Quite a few wildlife or scientific documentaries, especially from the BBC, make their way to the US. They typically air on pay networks such as Discovery, Animal Planet, or National Geographic. On the broadcast side, episodes of the PBS series Nature are sometimes imported from the UK, where they originally aired as an episode of Natural World on BBC. Not too long ago, PBS also picked up Channel 4's Inside Nature's Giants, which I was glad to see somebody in the US air since that is such a unique and well done recurring documentary series.

When these programs air in the US, though, I should say that they are typically not direct copies of what airs in the UK. In almost every case, the original voice over heard in the UK is replaced by somebody with an American accent. Not even David Attenborough is immune all the time, either. In addition, if the program originally aired on the BBC in the UK and is going anywhere but PBS in the US, extensive edits will be made in order to fit in commercials - a one hour documentary from the BBC will usually have to lose 15-20 minutes in order to be an one hour documentary in the US. This is easier to do, however, when series on the BBC are originally about 45-50 minutes and the remainder of the time is filled out with behind-the-scenes vignettes, as was the case with Human Planet and Frozen Planet. The vignettes get ditched for the US airing and only about 5 minutes of the actual program need to be cut.

On another note, the cable/satellite network TLC seems to have a tight connection with Channel 4, airing several of the UK network's reality or documentary/reality series, sometimes in what seems to be a test to see if there is interest in developing an American version of the show. TLC has shown Channel 4's Undercover Boss and My Big Fat Gypsy Weddings, as well as documentaries profiling people with abnormal health conditions (Half Ton Mum and the like). I believe they also may have run Channel 4's Secret Millionaire before Fox began an American version of the series.

 

[PirateJohnny]

I'm always searching for and finding British TV shows on Netflix (streaming).

 

[anotherguyTN]

I'm always searching for and finding British TV shows on Netflix (streaming).

I've found Blackadder and Fawlty Towers among others on Netflix streaming. Monty Python and Mr. Bean (Both the live and animated series) were on there at one time, but have been dropped.

 

[BMR]

When these programs air in the US, though, I should say that they are typically not direct copies of what airs in the UK. In almost every case, the original voice over heard in the UK is replaced by somebody with an American accent.

That sometimes happens here too- everything from 'Ice Road Truckers' to some informercials have been dubbed with a British presenter.

 

[Tim-In-Houston]

We do have BBC America on our cable/sat systems, but I haven't gotten to see it lately to see the latest program lineup.

As for OTA and what's available, I think most Brit fare is shown on local PBS stations. I know KERA/13 in Dallas has been a big supporter of programs from across the pond, especially Britcoms.

Similarly KUHT-HoustonPBS is as well. Their Saturday night line-up is mostly British fare. For a number of years it was the standards "Are You Being Served" and "Keeping Up Appearances," but I recall seeing "Last of the Summer Wine" a few times.

Currently they show "Mr. Bean" and "My Family" on Saturday nights and a couple drama programs "New Tricks" and "Ashes to Ashes."

Of course, "Masterpiece" and "Masterpiece: Mystery" shows mainly British fare ("Downton Abbey" and "Sherlock" being the two most recent and successful examples).

 

[K6JHU]

Let's ask a more interesting question. Other than Spanish, how much non-English (e.g. French, German, Italian) is shown on American OTA TV?

 

[fybush]

Let's ask a more interesting question. Other than Spanish, how much non-English (e.g. French, German, Italian) is shown on American OTA TV?

Depends where you are. If you're in the LA market (and you are, aren't you?), you get something like 30 OTA subchannels in languages other than English or Spanish - serving not fully-assimilated populations like the Italians or Germans, but rather newer communities that speak every Asian language under the sun, not to mention Farsi. KSCI 18.x alone has, what, nine subchannels running?

There's a fair amount of that content in the San Francisco area, too, and some in Chicago, NYC and Houston. Beyond that, not so much.

 

[dave73]

Let's ask a more interesting question. Other than Spanish, how much non-English (e.g. French, German, Italian) is shown on American OTA TV?

Ironically, Chicago does not have as much available for the other non-English/non-Spanish speakers. I used to remember WOCH-CA (who has a CP for RF 49, but for now simulcasts on sister station WOCK-CD (RF 4) on virtual channel 13.2), & right now airs mostly one of those shopping channels found on cable. They had KBS, then Arirang, & supposedly now back to KBS, but not full time. That channel was filled with 24 hour Korean programming (under Arirang, some Korean programming was in English). Otherwise, WOCK-CD is airing Spanish language programming on 13.1 (Mega TV), 13.3 (LATV), & English language programming on 13.4 (America One).

WPVN-CD on RF 20 airs a mixture of programming. 24.1 is the RTV network, 24.2 is Tuff TV. 24.3 is some local access channel. 24.4 is Polish language network Polvision, but only offers around 2-4 hours of programming a day, but repeats the same block once or twice in the same day. I can't confirm that one, as I haven't been able to get this station from Gary, IN, like I can with some other low power stations from Chicago. 24.5 is KUBS-TV, which is supposed to have some Korean programming. 24.6 is MC-TV, a Chicagoland Korean Christian channel (used to be on WOCK-CD 13.4).

If any other foreign language broadcaster wants to contact WJYS to air their programming, they make it available on a brokered basis. WCIU used to do this until 1994, then from 1995 - 2008? with WFBT-CA, then back on WCIU on virtual channel 26.6 until December 2010. For Weigel Broadcasting, I believe they weren't making much money off the foreign language programming, as low power stations went on the air, & airing some of the programming they used to air. Overtime, all that was airing on FBT was NTD (chinese), Polvision (Polish), & infomercials for timeslots not filled. For Polnet Communications, that hit them hard, as they lost significant coverage when WCIU stopped FBT, & was forced to use their low power station, WPVN-CD for Polvision. Even with the lptv station, they wanted to continue brokering with WCIU. I wonder if they went to WJYS, who has a signal that covers nearly the same area as WCIU.

Lastly, WYCC 20.3 has Mhz Worldview. That network airs their programs directly from the sources themselves, & depending on what's on at a specific time, some programming could be in Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or German. I'm probably leaving out some other languages. When I channel surf by this channel, it's usually news, but some non-news programming is on, & some of that might be in a language other than English.

Other than the stations listed, the stations either air English language, or Spanish language.

 

[dhett]

Ironically, Chicago does not have as much available for the other non-English/non-Spanish speakers. I used to remember WOCH-CA (who has a CP for RF 49, but for now simulcasts on sister station WOCK-CD (RF 4) on virtual channel 13.2), & right now airs mostly one of those shopping channels found on cable. They had KBS, then Arirang, & supposedly now back to KBS, but not full time. That channel was filled with 24 hour Korean programming (under Arirang, some Korean programming was in English). Otherwise, WOCK-CD is airing Spanish language programming on 13.1 (Mega TV), 13.3 (LATV), & English language programming on 13.4 (America One).

And you probably wouldn't have the Korean programming if the station's owners weren't Korean-American. As for the other programming, that's typical of stations owned by Kevin and Myoung Hwa Bae (KM Communications).

 

[DJKraze]

Once upon a time a couple years ago, I found a post on Radio-Info detailing something called P2P Streaming TV (I dunno where that post is now) and so I looked up some of the info and found a few different platforms that carried dozens if not hundreds of global TV channels, including much of TV from the UK. However, since US ISP's have gotten carried away with monthly caps on bandwidth use, I had to stop watching them. I did find other ways of getting the occasional live feed or On Demand service from time to time, but I have to seriously limit how much I use them (almost never now).

 

[cyberdad]

Here in the Chicago area WTTW airs "Britcoms" on Saturday evenings. The order sometimes varies, but usually it's "As Time Goes By" at 7pm, followed by "Keeping Up Appearances" at 7:30.

(Sidebar point, per the latter....I was once teasing my British sister-in-law by calling her "Hyacinth". She immediately shot back by referring to me as "Onslow"....which I told her I took as a compliment!")

Anyway, in addition to the back to back Britcoms on Saturday evenings, WTTW will occasionally air episodes of "The Vicar of Dibley" and lately "Doc Martin". They'll also occasionally reprise the classic "Fawlty Towers" episodes.

As a frequent UK visitor...both for business and visits with my daughter who lives there....my impression is what we do get to see is some fine work from some very high-caliber talent. A few years back, we had some excellent seats to see Patricia Routledge's brilliant portrayal of a very "un-Hyacinth" like character on the London stage. And of course, Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer are as good as it gets anywhere.

 

[e-dawg]

THESE ARE OLD BRITCOMS SERIES FROM THE 70's TO THE 90's, HOW ABOUT CURRENT BRITCOM SERIES!

Also, Canada television has more British programme (NOT PROGRAM) than the american counter part. If you live near the Canadian border and pick up CBC TV. You can watch Law & Order UK and Cornination Street.

Also, in the UK, they can rec'd Australia programmes such as Home and Away, and Neighbours (NOT NEIGHBORS)

 

[anotherguyTN]

I had to dig this up from an earlier link, but here is a page with different categories of TV shows on Netflix online and British series are the second main category from the top: http://instantwatcher.com/subgenres

 

[FreddyE1977]

If you have BBC America you get hours and hours of Top Gear (which I rather enjoy) along with BBC World News and Gordon Ramsay reality series (which seem to alternate randomly between their British and FOX versions). And the Graham Norton chat show. And Dr. Who.

Also occasional drama series like Law and Order:UK. I found that one rather interesting because it was an absolute carbon copy of the Law and Order series here (even including the "doink doink" sound) up until the time comes for the case to go to court. Then it's all powdered wigs and "Yes, M'Lord, No, M'Lord" (which is quite strange to American eyes and ears)

One of the other channels (I think it was Bravo) was running Later with Jools Holland.

Our local PBS station (and many others) run older British Sitcoms (or "Britcoms" as they like to call them)
such as Keeping Up Appearances, Waiting for God and Are You Being Served?

And sporadically a classic like Monty Python, Black Adder, Mr. Bean or Fawlty Towers will turn up.