Georgeland Broadcasting Corporation
The Georgeland Broadcasting Corporation' (GBC)' is the primary public broadcaster in Georgeland. Founded in 1925, the GBC is a government-owned corporation and, under its charter, has complete editorial independence from the federal government. It employs more than 8,000 staff nationwide, and has the largest employee base of any national broadcaster in the country. The GBC is entirely owned by the Georgeland federal government, and operates as a corporation. Under the GBC charter, it is not permitted to collect revenue from advertising, corporate sponsorship, or private fundraising, and approximately 85% of its annual budget (in 2018-19 its budget totalled some UI$2.4 billion) is directly allocated by the government. The remainder of its revenue is generated by commercial sales and licensing agreements with overseas broadcasters. Until 1989, a national license fee funded the GBC's activities. Modelled on the BBC, the GBC shares much of its programming with its UK equivilant. It also has partnerships with PBS in the United States, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the ABC in Australia.
History
Governance
The GBC has a board of governors, headed by a Chair. The Chair is appointed by the federal government for a five-year contract, although the Board can reject the choice. The Board members are largely also chosen by the government for a five-year term, with two exceptions. GBC staff elect one member of the board to serve a five-year term, and one board member is the Director-General, by virtue of their position, although they are also a government appointee.
Board members
The current GBC Board (as of October 2019) is:
- John Kendall (Chair), appointed 2014
- Tom Garby, appointed 2013, re-appointed 2018
- Daniel McInnes, appointed 2015
- Sandra Scott, appointed 2016
- Sandy Brigstowe, appointed 2016
- Bob Prior, appointed 2016
- Jane Darby, appointed 2017
- Kim Ellis-Rogers, appointed 2017
- Frank Hannon (staff representative), elected 2017
- Simon Sharpe (Director-General), appointed 2019
The GBC Director-General, responsible to the board, is the officer in charge of programming and operational policy. The Director-General is chosen by the government, but the Board has the final word and can dismiss or reject a Director-General irrespective of the government's wishes. This happened in March 2019 when newly-appointed Director-General Stephen Kellogg was sacked by the board after only six weeks, and his re-appointment rejected. The current Chairman is John Kendall; the current Director-General is Simon Sharpe . The GBC is responsible to the federal Department of the Arts, Communications and Information Technology, and the Minister, currently Bob Prior, has an active voice in the GBC's governance.
Programming
See: List of television programs broadcast by the GBC
Public Image
The GBC has been described as a national institution. Surveys and polls have shown more or less continually sine the 1970s that the GBC is the most-trusted and most-valued media and news agency in the country, often by considerable margins.
Chairmen of the GBC Board
- Donald McGuinness (1934-1940)
- Paul Kennedy (1940-1943)
- Richard Douglas Alexander (1943-1950)
- David Rothman (1950-1956)
- Peter Albert (1956-1962)
- John Gilbert (1962-1970)
- John Russell (1970-1978)
- Michael Anderson (1978-1982)
- Dennis Carlisle (1982-1987)
- Jennifer Webber (1987-1992)
- Rod Graham (1992-1998)
- Richard Sutherland (1998-2004)
- Lucy Dodd (2004-2014)
- John Kendall (2014-)
Directors-General
- Ray Hobbes (1934-1939)
- Stuart Wild (1939-1944)
- Colin Millichope (1944-1954)
- Thomas Donnelly (1954-1959)
- John Gilbert (1959-1962)
- Peter Drysdale (1962-1972)
- Allen Steggles (1972-1976)
- Andrew McBride (1976-1981)
- Francis Power (1981-1986)
- Jonathan Hume (1986-1990)
- Donald Davis (1990-1992)
- Bert Billson (1992-1997)
- George Paxton (1997-2002)
- David Rogers (2002-2005)
- Sandy Brigstowe (2005-2011)
- Rochelle Alexander (2011-2019)
- Stephen Kellogg (Jan-Mar 2019)
- Simon Sharpe (2019-)