Bbc select

The service was officially launched on the night of January 21, 1992 ^[1] and worked on both BBC1 and BBC2 . ^[2] The service experimented with programming for a specific audience and with nightly broadcasts, an experience that the BBC would later use in the BBC Learning Zone unit. By broadcasting the program now, it allowed the BBC to expand its audience, while at the same time allowing more time per day for other programs.

Programming was specifically aimed at professional services of business, nurses, teachers and lawyers ^[1] , moreover, the programming was carried out inside the BBC, and some programs were provided by other independent companies within their authority. An example is the Thames Television, whose film “Life with Disabilities ” and their series “ The Way Forward, ” prepared for the Department of Social Services , were distributed free of charge, provided that this would not result in any financial gain: as a result, the program was broadcast in unencrypted form. ^[3]

Corporate companies also took advantage of the service. In 1992 and 1993, Cable & Wireless used BBC Select to broadcast the main events of their Annual General Meeting (AGM). The 1992 broadcast of their AGM was the first in the UK when any company’s AGM was shown on television. These highlights were displayed unencrypted.

To watch programs, a set-top box , or BBC Selector, and a BBC Select viewing card, which decoded and decrypted the program, were required. ^[2] The prefix also received signals sent before the program started, which would warn that the program was starting. Then the box started the VCR to start recording, sending a pulse of infrared radiation to turn off the VCR, as if the viewer had pressed the record button. ^[2]

The scrambling system used was called VideoCrypt 'S'. ^[2] The system was very similar to the one used by British Sky Broadcasting for its analogue satellite transmissions, but was modified due to the technical limitations of terrestrial television. ^{[2] [4]}

The new service had a different presentation on the BBC channels on which they broadcast. The presentation showed one gold circle in the center of the screen with the signature BBC Select below. S in the Select header had a circle around it. On the channel there were no announcements or annotations of announcers for the upcoming programs, and only identifiers, fillers and advertising materials of the service itself were presented at the presentation. ^{[5] [6]}

The screensaver was a circle that began to rotate, turning into a coin, the seal of the City of London , the rotating part of the machines, a retractable telescope, stage light, an aircraft jet engine and a reel with film, before finally becoming a circle. The screensaver could also form from the background, as the circle stretched clockwise from above. This was sometimes used when starting the service. ^{[5] [6]}

Since the service was designed to be played on a VCR , the breaks between the programs were deliberately large, the average gap was five minutes, and the intervals could easily reach ten minutes, so that the programs could be set to exceed 5 minutes so that the end was not skipped, but this would allow avoid breaking the recording of a subsequent program. In these five-minute breaks, filler was used, which made up the logo of the static ring on the background, which constantly and gradually changes color, and an extended version of identical music. It usually went smoothly into a regular screensaver. ^{[5] [6]}

• Bbc learning zone

• BBC Select promo on TVARK
• Promo Video BBC Select