text: The level of the fee is decided following periodic negotiations between the UK Government and the BBC Trust. Before 1988, increases in the licence fee happened at irregular intervals, sometimes a few years passing between changes. From 1988 to 2010, the licence fee was increased annually each April.


title: Television licensing in the United Kingdom

text: Between April 2010 and April 2017 the licence fee remained constant at £145.50 per year. As of 1 April 2021, it costs £159 for a colour and £53.50 for a black and white TV Licence.


text: The payment methods mean that the licence fee is paid for either completely or partially in advance. Annual payments require complete payment in advance. For monthly direct debit, a new licence is paid off in 6 monthly installments of just over £24 a month. Renewal licences are paid for in 12 monthly installments starting 6 months before expiry of the licence in force i.e. starting 6 months before the renewal date. Quarterly payments made using direct debit carry an additional cost of £5.00 per year, or £1.25 a quarter, which is included in the licence fee total. This addition is described as "a small charge" in the generic letter issued by TV Licensing to those paying by direct debit, and on the TV Licensing website it is justified with: "By paying quarterly the majority of your licence is paid for as you use it. This differs from our other instalment schemes, where at least half of the licence fee is collected in advance. As a result, quarterly payments incur a small premium of £1.25 per quarter which is included in your payment." Typically, direct debit schemes in the UK for major utilities or publicly provided services operate in a reverse way, granting a discount to direct debit payers.


text: In the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, over the counter services are provided by the Post Office rather than by PayPoint outlets.


text: Between November 2000 and April 2018, TV licences were provided to people over the age of 75, through full funding by central government. This concession covered the whole household, so that even if just one member of the household was over 75, then a free TV licence could be applied for to cover all the residents. Following a 2016 funding agreement between the Conservative government and the BBC, this funding was phased out between April 2018 and April 2020, after which time no further government funding was available for the scheme: Free TV licences based solely on age ended in August 2020 (previously planned to be June 2020 but extended as of the Coronavirus pandemic). It has been estimated that if full funding had been maintained, it would have contributed £745m to the BBC's 2020–21 budget. The BBC held a public consultation in November 2018 to decide whether the concession to the over-75s should continue after 2020 and, if so, in what form. The response to the BBC's questionnaire, 48% were in favour of retaining the existing concessionary system, 37% preferred reforming the concession and 17% preferred the option of abolition of the concession.


text: The BBC discontinued the full concession, but continued to offer free licences on a means-tested basis; from August 2020, most over 75s were required to pay the full licence fee, but households where one person receives a pension credit benefit will continue to be eligible for a free licence.


text: On the Isle of Man, a free TV licence scheme was funded by the Isle of Man Department of Social Care. The BBC maintained the free licence scheme for all over 75s until 31 December 2020.


text: There are schemes for elderly residents of the Channel Islands, but they vary in detail and eligibility.


text: Licences are half price for the legally blind. To qualify for the concession, a blind or severely sight-impaired person must apply to the TV Licensing Blind Concession Group with proof of impairment, either a copy of the document of blind registration or a certificate from an ophthalmologist. The concessionary TV licence covers TV use by the whole household.


text: Those aged over 60 and in residential care homes (including nursing homes, public-sector sheltered housing and almshouses) qualify for "Accommodation for Residential Care" (ARC) licences for £7.50 a year.


text: TV licence sales figures were quoted by the BBC to be 25.562 million in the year 2014–15, including 4.502 million concessionary licences for the over 75s, which were paid for by the UK government. The equivalent figures for the year 2013–14 were 25.478 million total licences including 4.328 million licences for the over 75s.


text: In 2014–15, the BBC estimated that there were 26.916 million licensable properties in the UK (defined as premises where live TV was being watched), indicating that if the BBC estimates are correct, around 95% of properties are correctly licensed.


text: The vast majority of TV licences are for colour TV. For example, there were 10,461 black and white TV licences in force on 31 August 2014, compared to 25,460,801 colour TV licences. The BBC has also stated that during the financial year 2013–14, a total of 41,483 blind concessionary (half-price) licences were issued in the UK of which 29 were blind concessionary black and white licences.


text: In January 2012, there were 36,261 colour licences in force in Jersey as compared to 77,480 addresses (residential properties, businesses and


text: other premises) on the TV Licensing database for the island (at the end of December 2011). This would suggest around 53% of Jersey addresses did not have a TV licence at the beginning of 2012.


text: The comparable figures for Guernsey are 23,673 licences in force in January 2012 and 40,263 addresses on the database at the end of December 2011. Thus there were around 41% unlicensed properties in Guernsey at the beginning of 2012.


text: When television broadcasts in the UK were resumed after a break due to the Second World War, it was decided to introduce a television licence fee to fund the service. When first introduced on 1 June 1946, the licence covering the monochrome-only single-channel BBC television service cost £2 (equivalent to £ as of ). The licence was originally issued by the General Post Office (GPO), which was then the regulator of public communications within the UK. The GPO also issued licences for home radio receivers powered by mains electricity as well as non removable vehicle mounted radios and was mandated by laws beginning with the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1904, to administer the licensing system; however, the TV licence also covered radio reception.


text: The BBC started regular colour TV broadcasts in the summer of 1967. On 1 January 1968, a "colour supplement" of £5 was added to the existing £5 monochrome licence fee; the £10 colour fee was the equivalent of £ in . The licence fee increases with inflation; on 1 April 2019 it rose to £154.50 for colour TV and £52 for monochrome TV.


text: The radio-only licence was abolished on 1 February 1971, when it was £1-5s-0d (£1.25 in decimal UK currency) or the equivalent of £ at prices.


text: On 1 April 1991, the BBC took over the administration of television licensing in the UK, assuming the responsibility of licence fee collection and enforcement. Since this date, the BBC has been the statutory authority for issuing television licences (before April 1991, the statutory authority was the UK Home Office), although the UK Government retains certain powers and responsibilities with regards to TV licences.


text: In July 2002, the BBC awarded Capita the contract to manage the TV Licensing system, replacing the Post Office (which had been renamed "Consignia" at this time).


text: In January 2006 the Office of National Statistics classified the licence fee as a tax; previously it had been classified as a service charge.


text: The BBC Trust gives the following information for expenditure of licence fee income during the year 2009–10 of £3.56 billion (expressed here in percentage terms):


text: Since April 2014, the BBC World Service on radio and BBC Arabic Television have been funded from the licence fee. Prior to this date they were funded by a grant from the government's Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The World Service cost the BBC £268 million in the 2017–18 financial year.


text: The BBC also paid in 2017–18 contributions to: broadband rollout (£80 million); partial funding of the Welsh channel (£74.8 million), S4C (which is also funded by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport); and a contribution towards the costs of local TV (£4.7 million).


text: BBC World News and the BBC's other international television channels are operated commercially and will continue to not receive licence fee money. The revenues they generate supplement the licence fee in financing British services.


text: In addition, the BBC Alba Gaelic language television service is predominantly funded by MG Alba, an organisation funded by the Scottish Government.


text: According to section 363 of the Communications Act 2003, a TV licence must be obtained for any device that is "installed or used" for "receiving a television programme at the same time (or virtually the same time) as it is received by members of the public".


text: According to TV Licensing, "You need a TV Licence to use any television receiving equipment such as a TV set, digital box, DVD or video recorder, PC, laptop or mobile phone to watch or record television programmes as they're being shown on TV". Portable televisions and similar equipment such as laptops and mobile phones powered by internal batteries are covered for use anywhere under a licence held for their owner's residence.


text: On 1 September 2016 the conditions under which a television licence is required changed to include receiving video on demand programme services provided by the BBC, on the iPlayer catch-up service. This was made possible by The Communications (Television Licensing) (Amendment) Regulations 2016.


text: A (free) licence is required for non-exempt premises even when no fee is payable, e.g. premises with residents over 75.


text: A recorded programme watched on unlicensed equipment is outside the scope of the Communications (Television Licensing) Regulations 2004, because it is not "received at the same time (or virtually the same time) as it is received by members of the public," although such recordings may infringe copyright.


text: TV Licensing offers the following advice to those who have a TV but 'who wish to make it clear that they do not need a licence':


text: However, TV Licensing also says that it is not compulsory to follow this advice. To listen to digital radio on a TV, for example, it would be necessary to attach the TV to an aerial and tune the TV to different channels. The BBC has made it clear that it is legal to listen to digital radio using a TV without holding a TV licence.


text: According to Ofcom, TV transmissions over the Internet are a grey area which in future might make fees based on television possession redundant. In 2005, a Green Paper by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport included suggestions of "either a compulsory levy on all households or even on ownership of PCs as well as TVs". However, TV Licensing later stated that use of any device (including a computer or mobile phone) receiving transmissions at or about the same time as they appear on TV requires a licence. The BBC is aware that new technology represents a threat to its revenue. A 2012 BBC report stated "there is a continued threat to the growth in TV Licence sales from the increasing number of people consuming television in a way that does not need to be licensed".


text: Televisions receiving a transmission from outside the British Islands (e.g. broadcast from Germany, Italy, Greece, Turkey and the Netherlands via the Astra satellite, on which many channels are free-to-air) did not need a licence until the Communications Act 2003, which required a TV licence for the reception of television from any source.


text: In 2012, more than 400,000 households informed the BBC that they did not need a TV licence. According to the BBC, the average number of addresses in the UK with a No Licence Needed (NLN) status in the 2013 calendar year was 1,879,877. In June 2013, 5,043 NLN declarations were made to the BBC on the grounds that the address was only watching catch up TV.


text: There are a few exceptions to the TV licensing regime where live TV may be watched without a TV licence being held for that property. These cases are:


text: A licence is required to watch live TV transmissions anywhere, including residential and business premises.


text: For residential premises, only one licence is required per household per address, regardless of the number of licensed devices or the number of members of the household. However, the licence itself is always held in the name of an individual.


text: A rented property in multiple occupation by a joint tenancy agreement is considered by TV Licensing as one household and requires only one licence, but a rented property with multiple, separate tenancy agreements is not considered a single household and each tenant may require a separate licence. For example, a house in multiple occupation may have private bedrooms and shared communal areas: if five occupants share such a property with individual tenancy agreements then they may require up to five television licences if each private room contains a television receiver, while a similar property housing five occupants under a joint tenancy agreement may require only one television licence.


text: Use of television in a static caravan is covered by the licence held for the user's main address, provided there is no simultaneous use of television at both places, and the use of television in a touring caravan is always covered by the user's main home licence. The use of a television set which is powered solely by its own internal batteries is covered for any address by the user's main home licence, but requires a separate licence if it is plugged into the mains or other external power source, such as a car battery; this also applies to TV-enabled mobile telephones.


text: Students during term-time may not need a separate TV licence if one is held at their permanent home-address if they watch TV on a device powered solely by its own internal batteries. Specifically:


text: People living exclusively in a mobile dwelling such as a touring caravan or a constantly cruising canal boat, who do not have a static address, are not legally able to watch a television as they cannot purchase a licence without one.


text: A person who watches or records live TV without being in possession of a TV licence is referred to by the BBC as a 'TV licence evader'. Each year the BBC estimates the evasion rate (expressed as a percentage of total 'licensable properties') and publishes the value in its Annual Report and Accounts.


text: The figure for the number of licences in force is taken from the BBC's database. The other variables used to calculate the evasion rates are estimates. The data for the number of domestic households is taken from the Department of Communities and Local Government figures. The Broadcasters' Audience Research Board survey is used to estimate the rate of penetration of TV sets into domestic households. Non-domestic licences include licences required for students, military accommodation, hotels and businesses. Various sources are used to estimate this figure.


text: The most recent published figures for 2018–19 state that the evasion rate is between 6 and 7%.<ref name="TVL Annual Report 2018/19"></ref> For the year 2005–6, TV Licensing reported that they "reduced estimated evasion to a record low of 4.7%".<ref name="TVL2005/6"></ref> However, this figure rose during the following year to 5.1% and remained at 5.1% during 2007–8. For the year 2010–2011 the evasion rate is stated as 5.2%.<ref name="TVL2010/11"></ref> According to the BBC "the published rate of evasion has increased marginally to 5.5% in 2012/13". The evasion rate is far from uniform across the UK, with Scotland having a far higher rate than the UK as a whole.


text: One reason given by the BBC for evasion is lack of money in a household. For example, in the BBC Full Financial Statement 2012–13 the BBC says: 'as household budgets come under pressure, we are starting to see an increase in licence fee evasion


text: rates over their prior year level'. However, this is not the only reason given for TV licence evasion, since according to a submission made by the BBC to the Information Commissioner's Office: 'the BBC said that it is also aware that a growing number of individuals deliberately evade the licence fee due to dissatisfaction with the BBC'.


text: According to a National Audit Office report from 2002: "Areas with high evasion rates are most likely to have, for example, a higher than average proportion of younger people, low income households, and students and single parent families, and a level of County Court judgments 50 per cent above the national average". However, according to the BBC, 'evasion is spread across all socioeconomic groups'. The BBC has also claimed that the 'TV Licensing evader profile' could be characterised by the distribution by social grade of 1.3m properties that were not licensed on 31 March 2007. The profile was given as follows: AB 20.1%, C1 29.1%, C2 13.6%, D 18.9%, E 18.3%.


text: The Broadcasters' Audience Research Board estimated that of June 2004, 2.3% of UK households do not have television, and in September 2008, the BBC reported that some one million people do not need a TV licence. Alleged excuses given by householders for not having a licence include loss of mail, being "too busy" and suffering from polymorphous light eruption (sun allergy). The results of market research carried out on self-identified evaders concluded that roughly half were 'opportunistic delayers' who were playing the system to avoid immediate payment and that the others were 'deliberate evaders' who were trying to 'cheat the system'. Nearly one fifth of respondents claimed never to have bought a TV licence.


text: In compiling these figures however, no reference is made to the number of people who do not require a licence, and who have not voluntarily replied to invitations to declare this. Instead, it is assumed they are also counted as 'evaders', despite lack of any evidence of wrongdoing on their part.


text: Since it is not possible to prevent a person buying and using TV receiving equipment without being in possession of a licence, the TV licence system is enforced by first identifying TV licence evaders and then attempting to sell them a licence and, in some cases, prosecuting them. The critical method of detecting TV licence evaders is through the use of a database system known as "LASSY", which contains 29.5 million<ref name="TVL2006/7"></ref> addresses. LASSY is an acronym of 'Licence Administration and Support System'. According to the National Audit Office: "The database holds records of potentially licensable properties and basic details (such as the name of the licence holder and the licence expiry date) of those for which valid licences are held". This database is routinely updated with licence holders' details. Until 25 June 2013, dealers in television receiving equipment were required by law to provide TV Licensing with identifying information about everyone who buys or rents such equipment. However this requirement has been lifted by the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013. TV Licensing maintains permanent contact with every address in the database that is recorded as not having a TV licence until a licence is purchased for that address or until TV Licensing confirm that the household does not need a licence. If it is confirmed that a household does not watch or record live TV, the address is put into the NLCC (No Licence Needed Claim Confirmed) category. Residential properties put into this category are not visited or contacted for a period of two years from the time that the claim was confirmed. Business properties on the other hand, are exempted from visits or mailings for three years after confirmation.


text: TV Licensing may make initial contact by letter or by phone with occupants of addresses for which there is no current licence. During the financial year 2012–13, approximately 21.5 million letters were sent to unlicensed addresses. The average postage cost to post one standard TV Licensing letter in the financial year 2012–13 was stated to be £0.2059. The methods by which an occupant can reply are in writing, by telephone or by filling in an online form. If there is no reply to the first letter and a TV licence is not bought by the occupant, then TV Licensing continues to write regularly to the address and "the tone of the letters progressively becomes stronger to encourage a reply". For example, one of its standard letters includes the phrase: "Official warning: We have opened an investigation". This warning was included in 940,615 letters sent in January/February 2013. Another standard letter states: 'Dear Sir/Madam, you have not responded to our previous letters. We want to ensure you have the information you may need before a hearing is set at your local court.' More than 3 million letters containing this phrase were sent in 2011.


text: Three basic tones of voice are used in TV Licensing letters: "Customer Service", "Collections" and "Enforcement". According to the BBC: "Customer service is the brand experience we create for customers who are currently licensed, unknowingly unlicensed or who don’t need a licence", whereas "Collections is the brand experience we create for those customers whose TV licence has expired and whom TV Licensing wants to motivate to renew." Finally, the enforcement tone is used for households who have been unlicensed for a longer period. This period is not specified in freely available documents but TV Licensing suggests it could be used, for example, for the third and fourth renewal reminder. Each of these 'tones' involves letters with a different colour palette. For example, green is used in 'Customer Service' letters and red may be used in 'Collections' and 'Enforcement' letters. In all cases, the vocabulary and format used in the letters is strictly defined.


text: If a business or household is not obliged to have a TV licence then TV Licensing will request written confirmation of this, even though no such information is required to be given in law.


text: According to the BBC, it is not possible to opt out of receiving TVL mailings since they 'are not advertising or marketing material'. Similarly, householders who do not have a licence cannot exclude themselves from unsolicited calls from TV Licensing by registering with the Telephone Preference Service.


text: In 2014, a householder invoiced TV Licensing £40 as a 'processing fee' for 'opening, reading and filing' a TV Licensing letter. Because TV Licensing did not pay the charge, the householder took the claim to the County Court, eventually winning the case and receiving the fee plus other costs incurred.


text: If a colour TV licence is not purchased for an address, TV Licensing agents—known as "visiting officers", "enquiry officers" or "enforcement officers"—make unannounced visits to the address. In August 2013, there were reported to be 334 enquiry officers all employees of the BBC's main enforcement contractor, Capita. Enquiry officers make around four million visits a year to households in the UK and Crown dependencies. Each week an enquiry officer may upload a number of unlicensed addresses onto their "handheld device". The enquiry officer is only allowed to visit the addresses on this list, which are normally within a thirty-minute travelling distance from their home postcode. Enquiry officers do not visit addresses in their own postcode, however.


text: Although TV Licensing enforces the BBC's statutory obligation to ensure that every address where a television licence is required is correctly licensed, its agents have no special right of access and, like any other member of the public, rely on an implied right of access to reach the front door. A householder may withdraw the implied right of access to TV Licensing personnel by contacting the BBC and informing them that this right has been revoked; the BBC says they respect such requests (although could still seek a warrant to search the property), except in Scotland. As of March 2014, 7299 households had withdrawn the implied right of access. This figure had increased to over 20,000 by December 2015.


text: Upon visiting a property, enquiry officers ask a set of predetermined questions to whoever answers the door when they visit." They first try to find out if the person who responds to the enquiry officer is an "appropriate person" to interview (i.e. an adult who lives at the property). They then try to find out if that person has been receiving TV without a licence. If they suspect that this is the case, they issue an official caution to the person that whatever they say may be used against them in court. They then take a prosecution statement and ask the interviewee to sign it. The enquiry officer may ask permission to enter the property and may examine any TV receiving equipment found there. According to the visiting procedures: 'circumstantial evidence of use should be noted on the Record of Interview whenever visible (e.g. sky dish, aerial lead plugged into TV, remote control on settee) as this provides supporting evidence for potential prosecution and may be vital if the confession should later be challenged.'. However, the occupant is well within his/her rights to deny answering any questions (remain silent) and is under no obligation to allow entry into the property.


text: If an agent has evidence that television is being watched or recorded illegally but is denied entry by the occupants so that they cannot verify the suspicion, then TV Licensing may apply to a magistrate for a search warrant. The BBC states that a search warrant would never be applied for solely on the basis of non-cooperation with TV Licensing and that in the event of being denied access to unlicensed property will use detection equipment rather than a search warrant.


text: TV detector vans have in the past featured heavily in TV Licensing publicity, highlighting that technology capable of detecting signals from operating TV sets could be employed. Detector vans date from the 1950s, when the Post Office converted Hillman Minx and Morris Oxford estate cars, which had large aerials attached to their roofs. Subsequently Commers were introduced. In the 1980s, vans were supplied by Dodge and Leyland. In the 1990s, Ford Transits were introduced. In 2003, TVL launched its tenth generation of detector vans. It was stated that these vans had removable branding so that they could operate covertly.


text: Few technical details of the detectors used have been released. In a press release from 2003, the BBC stated that: "the new vans are so powerful they can tell if a TV is in use in as little as 20 seconds". It was also stated that the equipment has a range of up to and "can pinpoint the actual room that the television set is in." However, on TV Licensing's own site in 2015, no information on range or accuracy of the equipment is given. It instead says that there are "a range of detection tools at our disposal in our vans". It is also stated that the available equipment has been developed in secrecy and that "engineers working on specific detection methods work in isolation – so not even they know how the other detection methods work."


text: Although no technical details of the TV detectors used in these vans have been made public, it is thought that they operate by detecting electromagnetic radiation given off by a TV. The most common suggested method is the detection of a signal from the TV's local oscillator.


text: It has been suggested in the media that TV detector vans do not actually exist. An 2013 article in the "Radio Times" reported that a leaked BBC document on the collection of the licence fee "makes no mention of detector vans – but it does contain plenty of other facts and figures".


text: Hand-held TV detectors have also been developed by the BBC. In the "Birmingham Mail" for the same year, the detectors were described as 'little bigger than a torch', weighing 280g (10 oz), which made a beeping noise when they detect a TV.


text: The company Buckman Hardy Associates has made such equipment for the BBC in the past but the equipment shown in the publicity campaigns run in 2007 was all made by the BBC itself.


text: In 2013, it was revealed that the BBC had used optical TV detectors to apply for a search warrant. Although few technical details were given, it was stated in an application for a search warrant that: "the optical detector in the detector van uses a large lens to collect that light and focus it on to an especially sensitive device, which converts fluctuating light signals into electrical signals, which can be electronically analysed. If a receiver is being used to watch broadcast programmes then a positive reading is returned." The BBC stated that this was strong evidence that a set was "receiving a possible broadcast".


text: The BBC states that such technology used in conjunction with targeted advertising acts as a deterrent: its use may make it easier for TV Licensing agents to establish that an offence is likely to be taking place but they would still need to secure further evidence for successful prosecution. Furthermore, such technology is restricted in its use by the meaning of "surveillance and covert human intelligence sources" in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (British Broadcasting Corporation) Order 2001.<ref name="Statute2001/1057"></ref>


text: Like other public bodies that undertake covert surveillance, the BBC is subject to the scrutiny of the Office of Surveillance Commissioners, which inspects the BBC every other year. A number of official inspection reports on the BBC's detection methods have been made available following freedom of information requests These reports give an outline of the process of authorisation of the use of detection equipment. Briefly, applications for authorisation are made in the name of the Detection Manager of Capita. Correspondence between TV Licensing and the affected householder may be attached to the completed application forms which pass via a quality control 'gatekeeper' to the authorising officers (AOs) at the BBC. In 2012 there were two designated AOs at the BBC. To be authorised, an application must be shown to be 'necessary and proportionate'. AOs sometimes reject applications. Once approved, the authorisation lasts for a duration of eight weeks.


text: TV Licensing states "detection equipment will only be used if other less intrusive and more cost effective routes have been exhausted", and the BBC has stated that "Detection technology is generally used to obtain search warrants".


text: In a reply to a FOI request in 2011, the BBC stated "I can confirm that TVL has not, to date, used detection evidence in Court". The BBC also wrote that such evidence "is unnecessary" because "TVL uses detection evidence when applying for search warrants. If, following service of the warrant an individual is found to be evading payment of the TV Licence, then the evidence obtained via the search warrant is used in court, not the detection evidence.


text: In some cases, TV Licensing may apply to a magistrate (or a sheriff in Scotland) for a search warrant as part of the enforcement process. According to TV Licensing such an application may only be made 'when there is good reason to believe that an offence has been committed, evidence of the commission of that offence is likely to be found, and conditions regarding access to the property warrant the granting of a search warrant'. The same source also states that 'The BBC contracts Capita Business Services Ltd to carry out television licensing enforcement activities, including applying for and executing search warrants.' The BBC's contractor uses powers granted by Section 366 of the Communications Act 2003 to apply for and exercise search warrants. The Act specifies that the search warrant is valid for a month after being granted. According to the BBC, such warrants are usually executed in the presence of police officers. The TV Licensing Visiting Procedures state: 'To minimise the impact on normal operations Enforcement Managers accompanied by an EO should in normal circumstances execute search warrants. On no account must the warrant be executed without two officers being present. Normally the two officers must be accompanied by a Police Officer'. The warrant provides an authorisation to search a premises, and to examine and test any television receiver found. However, there is no power to seize any apparatus. According to the BBC Search Warrant Policy "force must not be used by TV Licensing to gain entry to a property".


text: Data on the number of search warrants executed per year in the whole of the UK are not collated or held centrally by the various judicial bodies of the state. However, the BBC, itself, holds the information some of which has become available due to FOI requests. For example, in the financial year 2014–15, TV Licensing applied for 256 warrants to serve in the UK. 167 warrants were granted by the courts of which 115 were executed. In the same year in Scotland no warrants were applied for or served whilst in Northern Ireland 12 warrants were granted and 7 executed in the year.


text: Some idea of the frequency at which warrants are used may also be taken from the result of a recent FOI request. It was revealed that Sheffield Magistrates granted TV Licensing a total of six search warrants in the years 2011, 2012 and 2013, whilst in Northampton (including Wellingborough and Kettering) only two were granted in this period.


text: Information provided by the Scottish Court Service suggests that TV Licensing search warrant applications in Scotland are virtually non-existent. In their response to a FOI request the Scottish Court Service confirmed that no search warrant applications were made to courts in Scotland's two largest cities, Glasgow and Edinburgh, in the three-and-a-half years between 1 January 2011 and 21 July 2014.


text: In 2014, 204,018 people were prosecuted or fined for TV licence offences: 185,580 in England and Wales (173,044 in England and 12,536 in Wales), 4,905 people in Northern Ireland and 15 in the Isle of Man. In Scotland, there were 13,486 cases disposed of via an out of court fine and 32 prosecuted via the courts in 2013–2014. There have been no prosecutions for TV licence offences in Jersey since 2009, all cases having been resolved at Parish Hall Enquiry. Putting these numbers in perspective, it would appear there are more prosecutions and convictions per capita in Wales than in any other country in the UK.


text: Around 70% of TV licence evaders are female. This 30%-70% male/female ratio is pretty much constant across the whole of the UK and is at odds with statistics for other small crimes . This gender imbalance has not always been the case. In 1980, there were roughly similar numbers of men and women proceeded against for TV licence evasion. Since then the proportion of female to male defendants has risen steadily.


text: In 2014, 24,025 prosecutions that were commenced by the BBC did not result in conviction (over one-in-ten cases in England and Wales).


text: Licence evaders are liable for prosecution and a fine of up to £1,000 in the UK. However, because the licensing regime covers six different jurisdictions, the legal processes and penalties for the crime of TV licence evasion differ markedly across the British Islands. The average fine is £170 in England and Wales, £70 in Jersey, £80 in Northern Ireland, £75 in Scotland (out-of-court disposal) and £200 in the Isle of Man.


text: TV licence evasion is not punishable by a period of imprisonment "per se", but if convicted evaders refuse to pay the fine they were ordered to pay, or are incapable of paying it, a period of imprisonment may be imposed as a "last resort". The length of stay is decided by the amount owed. In England and Wales, 5 people were given an average of 19 days in 2018 (compared to 20 days in 2014, 32 in 2013 and 51 in 2012). There were no custodial sentences imposed during the five-year period 2009–10 to 2013–14 in Scotland or in Jersey.


text: The British Government proposed decriminalising licence evasion, but the proposition was turned down by a House of Lords vote by 178 to 175 in February 2015. Behavioural research conducted for the BBC predicted that if TV licence evasion was decriminalised and the £1,000 maximum fine was replaced by a civil penalty of over £300, evasion rates would increase. The same report recommended to the DCMS that the current system should remain while Baroness Morgan admitted decriminalisation "would have an impact on BBC funding."


text: In England and Wales, prosecutions are the responsibility of the BBC and are carried out by its contractor, Capita, in magistrates' courts In England and Wales TV Licensing has a maximum of 26 weeks to lay information to court after receiving information regarding unlicensed use of a TV from its enquiry officers. During this period, and a maximum of 24 hours before a decision to prosecute a householder is taken, TV Licensing will check if a licence has been purchased. The decision to prosecute usually takes place 12–14 weeks from receiving the enquiry officer's report. TV Licensing serves documents on defendants four to six weeks prior to a court hearing. A final check to see if a TV licence has been purchased is made a maximum of two days before the hearing.


text: Licence fee evasion makes up around one-tenth of all cases prosecuted in magistrates' courts and 0.3% of court time. Proceedings for TV Licence evasion form a high percentage of all prosecutions carried out against women – over a third of all cases against women in England and Wales in 2013 were for this offence. By comparison, TV licence evasion made up around 5% of prosecutions against men in 2013 in England and Wales.


text: The maximum fine for this offence of up to £1,000 is frequently publicised by TV Licensing to maximise deterrence. In reality, magistrates rarely impose the maximum fines allowed to them by law. For example, during the year 2005–6, the average fine including costs was approximately £153 (slightly more than the cost of a licence). According to a 2013 TV Licensing briefing document, the level of fines and costs imposed by magistrates' courts vary considerably between different regions of England and Wales. In North Wales average fines and costs were stated to be £108.90 whilst offenders in the English Midlands area of "Black Country, Staffordshire & West Mercia" were required to pay £197.70.


text: Magistrates take into account the financial situation of the defendant when imposing fines. They also take into account: whether it is a first offence; if a TV licence has been purchased and the length of time a defendant was unlicensed. The following are regarded as 'factors indicating lower culpability' which can result in mitigation of the sentence:


text: According to TV Licensing: "many evaders claim that an enquiry officer told them they would not be prosecuted if they bought a licence". However, it is also pointed out that "it is a disciplinary offence for an enquiry officer to say or suggest this". Nevertheless, the same TV Licensing briefing does say that: "first-time evaders may escape prosecution if they purchase a licence immediately".


text: The UK government has stated that: "Most TV licensing cases that are heard by magistrates courts are uncontested and the case is therefore often resolved in the defendant's absence."


text: The Magistrates' Association has been calling for the decriminalisation of TV licence evasion for nearly twenty years, concerned that evaders are punished disproportionately. The Adam Smith Institute has published a report calling for the BBC to give up the licence fee. One of the reasons given is the licence fee criminalises poor people, in particular women with children living on welfare. The report claims that such people could be liable to be re-prosecuted almost immediately unless they dispose of their TVs. In fact, a National Audit Office report from 2002 stated that "significant numbers of offenders do not buy a licence following conviction".


text: TV Licensing is managed as a sales operation and its officers are motivated by commission payments. In 2005, a TV Licensing officer was found guilty of false accounting and perverting the course of justice after he deliberately forged the confessions of four people to obtain commission payments. In April 2012 an Essex man convicted of TV licence evasion had his conviction overturned when TV Licensing were unable to confirm the validity of video evidence they presented in the original trial.


text: According to TV Licensing, 30% of those prosecuted for TV Licence evasion in 2012 were found to have satellite or cable subscriptions.


text: In 2018, there were a total of 129,446 cases in England and Wales where TV Licence evasion was the principal offence. Of these, 121,203 people were convicted.


text: Although those found guilty of TV licence evasion cannot be sent to prison for that offence, if they default on their fine, they can be imprisoned. For example, in 2018, 5 people were imprisoned in England and Wales for defaulting on fines imposed for TV licence evasion.


text: In Northern Ireland, prosecutions are the responsibility of the BBC and are carried out by its contractor, Capita, in magistrates' courts. The prosecution process is very similar to that of England and Wales.


text: In 2008, 5,272 people in Northern Ireland were prosecuted for non-payment of the television licence fee of which 4,118 were fined. The corresponding figures for 2007 were 5,901 people prosecuted and 4,464 fines imposed.


text: In Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Office undertakes prosecutions for TV licence evasion. Very few cases in Scotland come to court.


text: Instead of prosecution, in Scotland, TV licence fee evaders are usually asked by the Procurator Fiscal to pay a fiscal fine and a small number are simply given a warning. For example, in 2013–2014, just ten cases reached the courts whereas 12,969 people were asked to pay a fiscal fine, no action was taken in 275 cases, and 174 people were sent a warning. In addition, two people were asked to pay compensation and one person was offered the chance to pay a combination of fiscal fine and compensation. In 2013–14, almost all of the fiscal fines (12,603 out of 12,969) were at the level 2 rate of £75. In 2014–15, 13% of all fiscal fines in Scotland were issued for Communications Act offences, stated to be mainly TV licensing offences. The total number of fiscal fines imposed for these offences was 4,874. In 2015–16, 7,962 fiscal fines were issued for Communications Act offences, of which 72% were issued to women. In 2016–17, there were a total of 4,799 fiscal fines imposed for Communications Act offences.


text: In the years 2016–17 and 2017–18, prosecutions against suspected licence fee evaders were reduced to single figures. In 2016–17, 5 people were prosecuted of which 4 were found guilty. In the following year there were 6 prosecutions resulting in 5 guilty verdicts.


text: On the Isle of Man, prosecutions are prepared by Capita on behalf of the BBC although they use Manx qualified lawyers in the Magistrates' Court. The maximum fine is £1,000.


text: In a submission to Tynwald (the Isle of Man Government) regarding prosecution for non-payment of the BBC licence fee in the Crown dependencies, the BBC stated 59 cases were laid to court in the Isle of Man between 2007 and 2009 although "these figures include cases where no further action may have been taken (e.g. because a writ was not served or the case was withdrawn)".


text: In its response to the UK Government's "TV Licence Fee Enforcement Review", published in 2015, the Isle of Man Government 'agreed that it is supportive of the decriminalisation of non-payment of the TV licence fee'.


text: Initial investigations into licence fee evasion are carried out by Capita employees as in the UK. However, prosecutions are carried out by police and law officers. According to the States of Guernsey: "it appears the TV Licensing Inspectors visit the island once every three to four years, therefore offences are usually reported to us following these visits." In June 2013, Capita's television licensing enforcement officers visited Guernsey where according to the BBC, they found "130 people illegally watching TV without a licence". The Guernsey Police Annual Report 2014 states that no offences of "television receiver without a licence – install/use" were recorded in 2014 as opposed to two such cases in 2013.


text: According to the States of Jersey government: "Enforcement in Jersey is initiated by the TV Licensing function of the BBC which passes information onto the Jersey Police who then conduct their own investigation. A fine for a TV licensing offence can only be levied following successful prosecution at the Magistrate's Court: the Centenier does not have the power to summarily levy a fine for a TV licensing offence at a Parish Hall Enquiry."


text: The maximum fines for this offence in Jersey is £500. Prosecutions are carried out by the Centenier. According to the BBC: "in the case of Jersey we can say that between 2007 and 2009 41 cases were laid to court". In a response to a freedom of information request, the States of Jersey Police stated: "in 2014 there were fourteen prosecutions for having ‘no TV licence’. All received cautions at the Parish Hall. Of the 14, eight were male and six were female. There were no prosecutions in 2015." There were no prosections in 2016.


text: In 2004, the BBC reported that "Almost 70% of people in the UK want changes to the way the BBC is funded", following an ICM poll for their current affairs programme "Panorama", which showed that 31% were in favour of the existing licence fee system, 36% said the BBC should be paid for by a subscription and 31% wanted advertising to pay for the programmes.


text: In August 2008, the "Guardian" newspaper reported that "The BBC is facing an uphill battle to maintain support for the licence fee", stating that according to an Ipsos MORI poll the newspaper had commissioned, 41% agreed and 37% disagreed that the licence fee is an "appropriate funding mechanism". When asked whether the licence fee is "good value for money",however, 47% disagreed, with more than half of them disagreeing strongly. The poll also showed that there is no longer a majority believing that the licence fee assured them of distinctive programming not available elsewhere ― which, the newspaper said, had long been one of the arguments for its existence: 41% of the population disagreed with only 30% agreeing. The poll also showed that opinion was split by a growing north–south and socio-economic divide.


text: In September 2009, the "Guardian" reported an ICM poll showing an increase in support for the licence fee to 43%; "The fee is backed by 43%, against 24% who think advertising should foot the bill and 30% who think people should pay to subscribe if they want to see BBC programmes. In 2004, only 31% backed the licence fee, 12 points lower than today.".


text: In 2013, according to an ICM poll for the "Sunday Telegraph", 70% stated that the BBC licence fee should be abolished or cut. 49% of those polled believed the fee should be scrapped altogether.


text: In December 2019, a Savanta ComRes poll indicated that 2 out of 3 want the BBC licence fee abolished or reformed. A few days later, a Public First poll conducted for BBC Radio 4's "Today Programme" found that 74% of respondents want the licence fee abolished.


text: In February 2020, a ComRes poll for the Sunday Express found that 61% of respondents want the BBC Licence Fee abolished. The same survey showed that 63% of people polled felt the BBC is an "important part of British culture" and the BBC questioned whether the results were skewed by not explaining what cuts would ensue.


text: In March 2020, Press Gazette magazine ran a poll showing that 53% of its readers backed the compulsory licence fee model, while 47% were in favour of scrapping it.


text: In August 2020, The Daily Express ran a poll showing that 97% of its readers backed scrapping the TV licence.


text: Previous inquiries, such as the parliamentary Peacock Committee in 1986 and the internal Davies committee in 2000, recommended continuing the licence fee, with conditions. In 2001, an Ofcom report found that the vast majority of those it interviewed, including owners of digital television equipment, supported the principle of a licence fee to fund public service television and radio. The advantages of such funding listed by those interviewed included diversity, high quality, education, innovation, entertainment, information, original productions, pluralism, accessibility, inclusion of minorities and free access. Another reason given in a response to Ofcom by the National Union of Journalists was that the licence fee allows the BBC to "retain independence" from both commercial and political pressures.


text: Nonetheless, having surveyed public opinion during December 2003, a finding of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport was that "the way the licence fee is set and collected raised issues about fairness". Further criticisms, embodied in a 2005 Green Paper, included cost, value for money, whether or not the BBC should be publicly funded, the high cost of collection and enforcement and the methods used.


text: Meanwhile, in 2004, the Institute for Public Policy Research criticised the TV licence fee for its regressive impact, pointing out that it represents a much higher proportion of income for poor households, that evaders are most likely to be single parents, lone tenants, pensioners and the economically inactive and that the difficulties they have in paying the licence fee are compounded by the penalties enforced for non-payment.


text: Other technologies for receiving visual media, such as mobile phones and computers connected to the Internet, has led to questions over whether or not a licence fee based on television receiver ownership can continue to be justified when a television receiver is no longer the sole medium over which the BBC distributes its content; and these technological changes led the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to state in 2005 that the collection of a fixed charge based on television ownership may become difficult to sustain.


text: In 2006, the House of Lords select committee on BBC Charter Review criticised the reclassification of the licence fee as a tax, pointing out that the BBC was in consequence reclassified as a central government body, with "significant implications for the BBC's independence".


text: In a debate in the UK Parliament in October 2013, the licence fee was referred to as 'a flat-rate poll tax' and as 'probably the UK's most regressive tax'


text: Some critics claim that the licensing system interferes with the freedom to receive information and contend that this is a contravention of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the right to freedom of expression). In a case dealing with the German radio licence, the ECHR in Application No. 26907/95 stated "Such an undertaking cannot be successfully accomplished unless it is grounded in the principle of pluralism, of which the State is the ultimate guarantor." and "The interference complained of was, therefore, necessary in a democratic society. There is, accordingly, no appearance of a violation of the applicant's right under Article 10 (Art. 10)."


text: The television licence fee system has been variously criticised, commented upon and defended by the press. In 2010, the journalist Charles Moore was fined by a magistrates' court for watching TV without a licence. Moore had refused to pay in protest at the BBC's unwillingness to dismiss Jonathan Ross in the wake of his involvement in "The Russell Brand Show" prank telephone calls. Later, Moore was to describe the BBC licence fee as "the most regressive and most ruthlessly collected of all government imposts.” In 2014, Nick Ross, a BBC presenter, stated that the licence fee was unfair and should be abolished.


text: A review by the TV Licensing Agency published in 2017 considered the gender disparity in TV Licence prosecutions. 72% of prosecutions for TV licence evasion in 2017 were against women. TV licence evasion is the most common offence for which women are prosecuted in the UK. Although the review found that "There is no evidence of any discriminatory enforcement practices on the part of TV Licensing" commentators have highlighted the ongoing factors of poverty, debt and working in the home which combine to make it more likely that women will be charged with this crime than men. Women in the UK are nearly ten times more likely to be convicted than men and this leads to suggestions that the BBC may be guilty of "indirect gender discrimination". In 2020, in the light of a threatened judicial review the BBC agreed to follow up on the 2017 report and consider the structural sex discrimination which might exist in the scheme leading to this skewed level of prosecutions.


text: There are a number of websites that campaign against the TV licence. The BBC monitors the Internet for references to TV Licensing. According to the BBC "searches are carried out for the purpose of identifying external information relating to TV Licensing such that, where appropriate, we can respond and assist licence fee payers or correct inaccurate information as well as flag up customer complaints." Part of this monitoring 'flags up' critical comments about TV Licensing. An internal briefing note released by the BBC in response to a freedom of information request names the "TV Licensing Blog" as TV Licensing's "most prevalent activist" who has "built a significant following both for his blog and for his @TVLicensingblog Twitter feed (over 900 followers)". The BBC also monitors YouTube videos of enquiry officers and YouTube videos critical of TV Licensing as well as social media such as Facebook and Twitter.


text: In June 2020, a campaign called "Defund the BBC" was founded by James Yucel, a student at Glasgow University, supported by political commentator and activist Darren Grimes. The group was featured on Dan Wootton's Talkradio show and currently has over 100,000 Twitter followers.


text: In September 2008, the BBC's governing body, the BBC Trust, launched a review of TV Licensing's methods, following complaints about "heavy-handed" and "intimidating" tactics and during December 2008, it was reported by the press that the chairman of the all-party Commons Culture, Media and Sport committee had accused TV Licensing of behaving "like the Gestapo", employing "tactics that are outrageous", saying: "The tactics used by TV Licensing in their letters are intimidatory and cause genuine distress. Their records are not always correct, but they write letters that assume members of the public are criminals".


text: In 2008, the former BBC television star, Noel Edmonds, stated that he had stopped paying his TV licence in a protest at the tone of BBC adverts aimed at TV licence evaders.


text: The licensing system remains controversial in the Isle of Man due to the fact that the licence fee remains the same as in the UK and Channel Islands, even though the BBC provides neither a local television news service for the Isle of Man (similar to BBC Channel Islands) nor any BBC local radio or national radio opt-out station. The BBC has sought to redress the lack of coverage by improving its online news service for the Isle of Man, with permanent BBC staff based at the Manx Radio studios in Douglas. A select committee of Tynwald was established in 2009 to investigate the value for money of the licensing system for the Isle of Man, and the feasibility of the Isle of Man withdrawing from it.


text: The current Royal Charter for the BBC expires on 31 December 2027 and the TV licence fee itself was fixed at £145.50 until March 2017. After this time, the fee increased in line with inflation for five years until 2022; the price was raised to £147.


text: The government stated that "while the current licence fee collection system is in operation, the current system of criminal deterrence and prosecution should be maintained".


text: In June 2019, it was announced that free TV licences for all over-75s that were supposed to be funded by the BBC as part of the 2017 agreement, would be abolished in June 2020.


text: The TV Licensing website states that "From 1 June 2020, there will be a new scheme. Under the new scheme, anyone aged 75 or over who receives Pension Credit will still be eligible for a free TV Licence which the BBC will pay for. Households where there is no one aged 75 or over that receives Pension Credit will need to buy a licence if one is needed." This was delayed to 1 August 2020, in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


text: During the 2019 general election campaign, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the government would consider decriminalising non-payment of the television licence, a move which the BBC warned could cost it £200 million a year.


text: In January 2022, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Nadine Dorries announced plans to terminate the licence after the current charter expires.


title: Zen 4

text: Zen 4 is the codename for a CPU microarchitecture by AMD, released on September 27, 2022. It is the successor to Zen 3 and uses TSMC's N5 process for CCDs. Zen 4 powers Ryzen 7000 mainstream desktop processors (codenamed "Raphael") and will be used in high-end mobile processors (codenamed "Dragon Range"), thin & light mobile processors (codenamed "Phoenix"), as well as Epyc 9004 server processors (codenamed "Genoa" and "Bergamo").


title: Zen 4

text: Like its predecessor, Zen 4 in its Desktop Ryzen variants features one or two Core Complex Dies (CCDs) built on TSMC's 5 nm process and one I/O die built on 6 nm. Previously, the I/O die on Zen 3 was built on GlobalFoundries' 14 nm process. Zen 4's I/O die includes integrated RDNA 2 graphics for the first time on any Zen architecture. Zen 4 marks the first utilization of the 5 nm process for x86-based desktop processors.


title: Zen 4

text: On desktop and server platforms, Zen 4 has moved from DDR4 to DDR5 memory; DDR4 is not supported. Additionally, Zen 4 supports new AMD EXPO SPD profiles for more comprehensive memory tuning and overclocking by the RAM manufacturers. Unlike Intel XMP, AMD EXPO is marketed as an open, license and royalty-free standard for describing memory kit parameters, such as operating frequency, timings and voltages. It allows to encode a wider set of timings to achieve better performance and compatibility. However, XMP memory profiles are still supported. EXPO can also support Intel processors.


title: Zen 4

text: All Ryzen desktop processors feature 28 (24 + 4) PCIe 5.0 lanes. This means that a discrete GPU can be connected by 16 PCIe lanes or two GPUs by 8 PCIe lanes each. Additionally, there are now 2 x 4 lane PCIe interfaces, most often used for M.2 storage devices. Whether the lanes connecting the GPUs in the mechanical x16 slots are executed as PCIe 4.0 or PCIe 5.0 can be configured by the mainboard manufacturers. Finally, 4 PCIe 5.0 lanes are reserved for connecting the south bridge chip or chipset.


title: Zen 4

text: Zen 4 is the first AMD microarchitecture to support AVX-512 instruction set extension. Most 512-bit vector instructions are split in two and executed by the 256-bit SIMD execution units internally. The two halves execute in parallel on a pair of execution units and are still tracked as a single micro-OP (except for stores), which means the execution latency isn't doubled compared to 256-bit vector instructions. There are four 256-bit execution units, which gives a maximum throughput of two 512-bit vector instructions per clock cycle, e.g. one multiplication and one addition. The maximum number of instructions per clock cycle is doubled for vectors of 256 bits or less. Load and store units are also 256 bits each, retaining the throughput of up to two 256-bit loads or one store per cycle that was supported by Zen 3. This translates to up to one 512-bit load per cycle or one 512-bit store per two cycles.


title: Zen 4

text: On August 29, 2022, AMD announced four Zen 4-based Ryzen 7000 series desktop processors. The four Ryzen 7000 processors set to be launched on September 27, 2022 consists of one Ryzen 5, one Ryzen 7, and two Ryzen 9 CPUs and they feature between 6 and 16 cores.


title: Zen 4

text: On November 10, 2022, AMD launched the fourth generation of Epyc server and data center processors based on the Zen 4 microarchitecture, codenamed Genoa. Genoa features between 16 and 96 Zen 4 cores, alongside PCIe 5.0 and DDR5, designed for enterprise and cloud datacenter clients.


title: Zen 4

text: Zen 4c is variant on Zen 4 featuring smaller Zen 4 cores with lower clock frequencies, power usage, reduced L3 cache, and is intended to fit a greater number of cores in a given space. Zen 4c cores will feature in AMD's Epyc server processors codenamed Bergamo coming in 2023. Bergamo will feature up to 128 cores and 256 threads. Zen 4c's smaller cores and higher core counts are designed for heavily multi-threaded workloads such as cloud computing.


title: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone

text: , commonly known as NTT, is a Japanese telecommunications company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Ranked 55th in "Fortune" Global 500, NTT is the fourth largest telecommunications company in the world in terms of revenue, as well as the third largest publicly traded company in Japan after Toyota and Sony, as of June 2022.


title: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone

text: The company is incorporated pursuant to the NTT Law (). The purpose of the company defined by the law is to own all the shares issued by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone East Corporation (NTT East) and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone West Corporation (NTT West) and to ensure proper and stable provision of telecommunications services all over Japan including remote rural areas by these companies as well as to conduct research relating to the telecommunications technologies that will form the foundation for telecommunications.


title: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone

text: On 1 July 2019, NTT Corporation launched NTT Ltd., an $11 billion de facto holding company business consisting of 28 brands from across NTT Security, NTT Communications and Dimension Data.


title: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone

text: While NTT is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the OTC Markets Group's Pink (and formerly in the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker code "NTT" and in the London Stock Exchange under the ticker code "NPN"), the Japanese government still owns roughly one-third of NTT's shares, regulated by the NTT Law.


title: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone

text: Established as a state monopoly in August 1952 to take over the Japanese telecommunications system operated by AT&T during the Occupation of Japan, was privatized in 1985 to encourage competition in the country's telecom market. In 1987, NTT made the largest stock offering to date, at US$36.8 billion.


title: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone

text: Because NTT owns most of Japan's last mile infrastructure (incl. FTTC or FTTB/FTTH), it enjoys oligopolistic control over land lines in Japan. In order to weaken NTT, the company was divided into a holding company (NTT) and three telecom companies (NTT East, NTT West, and NTT Communications) in 1999. The NTT Law regulating NTT East and West requires them to serve only short-distance communications and obligates them to maintain telephone service all over the country. They are also obligated to lease their unused optical fiber (dark fiber) to other carriers at regulated rates. NTT Communications is not regulated by the NTT Law.


title: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone

text: In July 2010, NTT and South African IT company Dimension Data Holdings announced an agreement of a cash offer from NTT for Dimension Data's entire issued share capital, in £2.12bn ($3.24bn) deal.


title: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone

text: In late 2010, NTT's Japan-to-US transpacific network reached 400 Gbit/s. In August 2011, its network capacity was expanded to 500 Gbit/s.


title: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone

text: NTT Group consists of the following major companies, divided into five segments. NTT East, NTT West, NTT Communications, NTT Docomo, and NTT Data are most major subsidiaries. NTT Docomo and NTT Data are listed on the stock markets. NTT Urban Development is a subsidiary involved in real estate. NTT Communications' business outside of Japan became part of NTT Ltd. on 1 July 2019.


title: Gyo

text: , fully titled in Japan, is a horror "seinen" manga written and illustrated by Junji Ito, appearing as a serial in the weekly manga magazine "Big Comic Spirits" from 2001 to 2002. Shogakukan collected the chapters into two bound volumes from February to May 2002. The story revolves around a couple, Tadashi and Kaori, as they fight to survive against a mysterious horde of undead fish with metal legs powered by an odor known as the "death stench". The work also includes a pair of bonus stories, titled "The Sad Tale of the Principal Post" and "The Enigma of Amigara Fault".


title: Gyo

text: Viz Media published an English-language translation of the two volumes in North America from September 2003 to March 2004 and re-released it from October 2007 to January 2008.


title: Gyo

text: "Gyo" opens with a crew of fishermen aboard a trawler dragging up a number of strange-looking fish in the boat's net. Upon trying to inspect the unusual creatures, they discover that the strange fish seem to have legs. The fish then suddenly scuttle away, diving back into the ocean.


title: Gyo

text: Meanwhile, in Okinawa, Tadashi, a young man, and his longtime girlfriend Kaori arrive on the island to enjoy a scuba-diving vacation. Encountering a fish with legs, Kaori, who has a hyper-sensitive sense of smell, becomes irritated by its smell and begs Tadashi to get rid of it. He seals it in a bag, but it manages to escape. The next day, large amounts of marine life with legs invade Okinawa, including a legged great white shark which menaces the protagonists. Tadashi and Kaori manage to return to Tokyo, although Kaori becomes irritated and paranoid, claiming to smell the fish. They both encounter the bagged fish they originally encased and present it to his uncle, Doctor Koyanagi.


title: Gyo

text: Koyanagi reveals that the creature is the result of the Japanese Army's World War II research into a virus that causes its host to produce a deadly and repulsive stench, in a desperate effort to turn the tide of the war. His father developed a "walking machine", which pumps the virus into a host and causes the host to release the gas which powers the machine's movement; walking machines were built to carry the hosts farther, allowing them to reach and sicken enemy troops. However, during the war, enemy aircraft sunk the ship carrying the prototypes for the walking machines.


title: Gyo

text: A short while later, Tadashi returns to find Koyanagi missing an arm. As he was examining the machine in detail, it used a series of spikes and tubes to latch on to his arm, forcing him to amputate it. The walking machine scuttles into the room, now carrying Koyanagi's arm instead of the fish. Soon, Kaori and Tadashi discover that hordes of marine life with legs are in the process of overrunning Tokyo, having gradually invaded the Kantō region. Infected by the gas, Kaori becomes depressed by being subjected to her illness's symptoms, and attempts to commit suicide. Tadashi takes her to Koyanagi in an effort to save her but falls into a canal where he passes out after being injured by thousands of small walking fish. Awakening a month later, he discovers that Koyanagi has placed her into a custom-built walking machine. Upon switching the machine on, Koyanagi is mortally wounded by Kaori, who quickly escapes.


title: Gyo

text: Wandering through the desolate city streets, Tadashi finds that most of the walking fish have decayed, and that the walking machines are now carrying infected citizens instead. He then encounters a circus, where he learns from the ringmaster that the gas appears to be alive, taking on a soul-like appearance when ignited. Tadashi encounters Kaori and retrieves her from one of the acts at the circus. As the pair arrive at Koyanagi's lab, Koyanagi's assistant, Ms. Yoshiyama, reveals that the doctor died from his wounds. When she attempts to remove the walking machine from Kaori, Koyanagi appears, now mutated by the infection and attached to a modified walking machine in the form of an airship that allows him to fly. Kaori notices Tadashi and Ms. Yoshiyama together and attempts to attack her. During the uproar, Koyanagi manages to capture Ms. Yoshiyama and fly away.


title: Gyo

text: Large groups of walking machines attack Kaori, and Tadashi becomes lost in his attempt to save her. He continues to search for her, when he notices the circus troupe attack Koyanagi's airship, which deploys a set of wings and escapes. Tadashi encounters a group of students from Kyoto University, who explain that they are immune, and that the virus created the walking machines after synthesizing them from shipwrecks. He joins the students in their research to defeat the virus and save humanity. As the group walk together, Tadashi encounters Kaori's burnt remains and remarks that she is free from the smell.


title: Gyo

text: Two unrelated stories, and , are included as a pair of bonus stories, placed at the very end after the conclusion of "Gyo". Although both are completely different and unrelated stories (both to each other and to "Gyo"), they were merged as one chapter altogether. The former is the shorter story, merely consisting of four pages, compared to the latter's thirty-one pages.


title: Gyo

text: The story starts with a family celebrating their new home. After noticing that her father is missing, the family's daughter hears him crying out in pain and leads her mother and brother into the basement to look for her father. In horror, the three find the father, who has somehow gotten stuck underneath a huge pillar, one of several that support the house, crushing his body. The mother tries in vain to save her husband but he warns that the pillar that traps him is the principal post of the house; if it is moved, the building will collapse. He tells his family that there is no way he can be saved, and he will sacrifice himself so his family can have their home. That evening the man succumbs to his injuries and dies, and his family places a shrine at the post. Time moves on, but his skeleton remains still trapped underneath the post, along with the mystery of how he got stuck in the first place.


title: Gyo

text: A huge earthquake has struck an unnamed prefecture, leaving a fault to be discovered by the people on the Amigara mountain (the name "Amigara" means "empty shell"). People from all over Japan, including a team of scientists, arrive at the mountain to see the strange sight for themselves.


title: Gyo

text: Two hikers, Owaki and Yoshida, meet while hiking, having the same intention to see the fault. The fault is shrouded in mystery; its face being covered human-shaped holes. It has captured nationwide interest, and several attempts to examine how far the fault goes have all ended in vain. People discussed the origins of the fault, noting that the holes are definitely not natural and must have been dug from the inside of the mountain, but questioning why the holes were made or who would have the technology to make them.


title: Gyo

text: Owaki notices Yoshida is looking for something, to which she replies she is looking for a hole shaped like herself. Owaki dismisses the idea, stating it to be ridiculous, but another hiker, Nakagaki, overhearing their conversation and siding with Yoshida, claims he has found his own hole. He takes them to his hole, pointing out that it is precisely his size and shape, and that he fits into it exactly. After removing his clothes to his underwear, Nakagaki disappears into the hole before Owaki can stop him. Scientists cannot find any trace of Nakagaki inside the hole, and a rescue squad composed of people small enough to squeeze into the hole has to retreat after barely getting deep.


title: Gyo

text: Later that night, Owaki has a nightmare about Nakagaki trapped inside the hole because it has been deformed by the earthquake. He wakes up to find Yoshida claiming she has found her own hole, located near the foot of the fault. Meanwhile, Nakagaki still has not been found. Another man claims a hole is made for him, and disappears into it in a panic, leading to an outburst in which several other people descend into the mountain, much to the horror of the scientists, who flee the scene. That night, Yoshida feels that the hole is calling her name and luring her into it, and she knows if she goes there, she will be trapped. Owaki tries to calm her down by stuffing her hole with rocks, and stays the night with her.


title: Gyo

text: Owaki has another nightmare. He dreams that he is in the distant past, and, having committed a horrendous crime, is sentenced by a tribe living in the mountain's caves to enter a hole carved in his likeness, forced to keep walking deeper into the mountain's interior in the ever-narrowing tunnel. Owaki enters the hole and after some time moving forward in it, he can feel his neck and limbs being tortuously stretched and distorted, but he remains alive and in agony. He wakes up screaming and finds out that Yoshida has unblocked her hole and disappeared into it. As he sits mournfully in front of Yoshida's hole, he drops his flashlight and discovers his own hole, much to his horror, located near Yoshida's. Mesmerized, he strips off his clothes and enters his hole.


title: Gyo

text: Several months later, the scientists are informed of another fault on the other side of the mountain, revealed during the same earthquake which exposed the first fault, but had gone undiscovered until now. This, too, has holes in it, but they are not human-shaped; instead the shapes are long and distorted. One worker examines one of the holes, and as he shines his flashlight in it, notices that a horrifyingly disfigured being is slowly inching out of the chasm.


title: Gyo

text: "Gyo" was written and illustrated by Junji Ito. In his words, the inspiration came from Steven Spielberg's "Jaws": "He masterfully captured the essence of fear in the form of a man-eating shark. I thought it would be even greater to capture that fear in a man-eating shark that goes on land as well as sea." The manga, published by Shogakukan, was serialized in the weekly manga magazine "Big Comic Spirits" from 2001 to 2002. Shogakukan compiled the chapters into two bound volumes and published them from February 2002 to May 2002. In North America, Viz Media published volumes of the series from September 2003 to March 2004. Viz Media later re-released the series with new covers from October 2007 to January 2008.


title: Gyo

text: An OVA adaptation was produced by Ufotable. It was directed by Takayuki Hirao while character designs were provided by Takuro Takahashi. The OVA was originally planned to be 30 minutes long but had evolved to 75 minutes throughout production. It was originally slated to release on December 14, 2011 but was delayed and released on February 15, 2012.


title: Gyo

text: Terracotta screened the film in London at the Prince Charles Cinema from April 12–15, 2012 as part of their Terracotta Far East Film Festival. Terracotta released the film on DVD September 3, 2012. Both DVD and Blu-ray versions were also released in Australia in March 2013 by Hanabee and DVD-only in North America on July 9, 2013 by Aniplex of America.


title: Gyo

text: In France, "Gyo" was nominated at the 37th annual Angoulême International Comics Festival. Katherine Dacey of Mangacritic.com placed the manga at #1 on her Favorite Spooky Manga list.


title: Gyo

text: For the first volume, Carl Kimlinger of Anime News Network praised the art and the bizarre relationship that Tadashi and Kaori share. Josephine Fortune of Mania gave it an A, praising the artwork, specifically the detail of the backgrounds. Fortune also praised the pacing of the story although noted that the plot contradicts itself later in the volume. Ken Haley of PopCultureShock gave it a B+ praising the silly moments the manga had and how they resembled that of an action/horror story normally seen in theaters. Michael Aronson of Manga Life gave it an A, echoing similar praise regarding story stating, "Logic holes and an absurd concept be damned, this is still an utterly compelling read that's sure to squeeze at one's stomach a few times." Greg McElhatton of Read About Comics noted Ito's art skill as keeping the story from becoming "silly".


title: Gyo

text: For the second volume, Kimlinger continued to praise the story stating: "This final volume may be one of the most genuinely nauseating books ever to blight a shelf." Fortune gave it a B+ again praising the artwork and pacing of the plot, although noted that the plot had some holes in its logic and that readers who enjoy concrete and definitive endings may not like the ending of the manga. Aronson also noted issues with the plot, however noted, "It's still a gorgeous piece of scar tissue that seems like a polished experiment more than a deeply considered publication."


title: Thelma Todd

text: Thelma Alice Todd (July 29, 1906 – December 16, 1935) was an American actress and businesswoman who carried the nicknames "The Ice Cream Blonde" and "Hot Toddy". Appearing in about 120 feature films and shorts between 1926 and 1935, she is remembered for her comedic roles opposite ZaSu Pitts, and in films such as Marx Brothers' "Monkey Business" and "Horse Feathers" and a number of Charley Chase's short comedies. She co-starred with Buster Keaton and Jimmy Durante in "Speak Easily". She also had roles in several Wheeler and Woolsey and Laurel and Hardy films, the last of which ("The Bohemian Girl") featured her in a part that was cut short by her sudden death in 1935 at the age of 29.


title: Thelma Todd

text: Todd was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, to John Shaw Todd, an upholsterer from Ireland, later, a superintendent of streets, an alderman, and Lawrence's commissioner of health and charities in 1912 and Alice Elizabeth Edwards, an immigrant from Canada. She had an older brother, William, who died in an accident in 1910. She was a bright and successful student. Intending to become a schoolteacher, she enrolled at the Lowell Normal School (now University of Massachusetts, Lowell) after graduating from high school in 1923. As a student, she earned money as a model, entered beauty pageants in her late teens, gained the attention of Elks Lodge 65, was crowned 1925 Miss Lawrence, and won the title of 1925 Miss Massachusetts. While representing her home state, she was spotted by a Hollywood talent scout. She was offered a slot at the Paramount Players School in Astoria, Queens, New York City, at a time when Paramount Studios was training would-be-actors in acting, diction, athletics and manners. Of the 16 members of her cohort, only Charles "Buddy" Rogers also made it to Hollywood. Todd later found work, in 1929, at Hal Roach Studios.


title: Thelma Todd

text: During the silent film era, Todd appeared in numerous supporting roles that made full use of her beauty but gave her little chance to act. With the advent of the talkies, she was able to expand her roles when producer Hal Roach signed her to appear with comedy stars such as Harry Langdon, Charley Chase, and Laurel and Hardy.


title: Thelma Todd

text: In 1931, Roach cast Todd in her own series of 17-to-27-minute slapstick comedy shorts. Attempt to create a female version of Laurel and Hardy, Roach teamed Todd with ZaSu Pitts for 17 shorts, from "Let's do Things" (June 1931) through "One Track Minds" (May 1933). When Pitts left in 1933, she was replaced by Patsy Kelly, who appeared with Todd in 21 shorts, from "Beauty and the Bus" (September 1933) through "An All American Toothache" (January 1936). These shorts often cast Todd as a levelheaded working girl doing her best to remain poised and charming despite numerous problems and her ditzy sidekick's embarrassing antics.


title: Thelma Todd

text: In 1931, Todd starred in "Corsair", a film directed by Roland West, with whom she become romantically involved.


title: Thelma Todd

text: Todd became highly regarded as a capable film comedian, and Roach loaned her to other studios to play opposite Wheeler & Woolsey, Buster Keaton, Joe E. Brown, and the Marx Brothers. She also successfully appeared in dramas, such as the original 1931 version of "The Maltese Falcon" starring Ricardo Cortez as Sam Spade, where she played Miles Archer's treacherous widow. She appeared in around 120 feature films and shorts in her career.


title: Thelma Todd

text: Todd continued her short-subject series through 1935 and was featured in the full-length Laurel and Hardy comedy "The Bohemian Girl". It was her last role before her untimely death at age 29. Although she had completed all of her scenes, producer Roach had them re-shot, fearing negative publicity. He deleted all of Todd's dialogue, and limited her appearance to one musical number.


title: Thelma Todd

text: Originally built in 1928, by architect Mark Daniels, as the Castellammare housing tract business block, in August 1934, Todd opened, in partnership with Jewel Carmen and Roland West, Thelma Todd's Sidewalk Cafe, at 17575 Pacific Coast Highway, Castellammare, Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles. The ground floor of the building housed the restaurant. On the second floor, Todd and West lived in adjoining ocean-view apartments—with only a sliding wooden door separating their bedrooms—and held parties in the adjacent, private nightclub named Joya (for West's ex-wife Jewel Carmen) that took up the rest of the second floor. The third-floor, hexagonally-shaped, had a dance floor and bandstand. It attracted a diverse clientele of Hollywood celebrities, and many tourists.


title: Thelma Todd

text: Todd was briefly married to Pat DiCiccio, who supposedly had ties to the mob. The relationship was volatile with DiCiccio being very abusive to Todd, resulting in her filing for divorce & changing her will to only leaving him $1- so he couldn't contest it and try to get more.


title: Thelma Todd

text: On the morning of Monday, December 16, 1935, Todd was found dead, wearing a mauve and silver gown, mink wrap and expensive jewelry, in her chocolate-colored 1934 Lincoln Phaeton convertible inside the garage of Jewel Carmen, a former actress and former wife of Todd's lover and business partner Roland West. Carmen's house was approximately a block from the topmost side of Todd's restaurant. Her death was determined to have been caused by carbon monoxide poisoning. West is quoted in a contemporaneous newspaper account as having locked her out, which may have caused her to seek refuge and warmth in the car. Todd had a wide circle of friends and associates and a busy social life.


title: Thelma Todd

text: Police investigations revealed that she had spent the previous Saturday night (December 14) at the Trocadero, a popular Hollywood restaurant, at a party hosted by entertainer Stanley Lupino and his actress daughter Ida. She had a brief but unpleasant exchange there with her ex-husband, Pat DiCicco. However, her friends stated that she was in good spirits and were aware of nothing in her life that suggested a reason for her to commit suicide. She was driven home from the party in the early hours of December 15 by her chauffeur, Ernest O. Peters.


title: Thelma Todd

text: LAPD detectives concluded that Todd's death was accidental, the result of her either warming up the car to drive it or using the heater to keep herself warm. A coroner's inquest into the death was held on December 18, 1935. Autopsy surgeon A. P. Wagner testified that there were "no marks of violence anywhere upon or within the body" with only a "superficial contusion on the lower lip." There are informal accounts of greater signs of injury. The jury ruled that the death appeared accidental, but recommended "further investigation to be made into the case, by proper authorities."


title: Thelma Todd

text: A grand jury probe was subsequently held to determine whether Todd was murdered. After four weeks of testimony, the inquiry concluded with no evidence of foul play. The case was closed by the Homicide Bureau, which declared the death "accidental with possible suicide tendencies." However, investigators found no motive for suicide, and Todd left no suicide note.


title: Thelma Todd

text: Todd's memorial service was held at Pierce Brothers Mortuary at 720 West Washington Blvd in Los Angeles. The body was cremated. After her mother's death in 1969, Todd's remains were placed in her mother's casket and buried in Bellevue Cemetery in her hometown of Lawrence, Massachusetts.


title: Thelma Todd

text: For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Todd has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6262 Hollywood Blvd.


title: Wolverine and the X-Men (TV series)

text: Wolverine and the X-Men is a 2009 American animated series by Marvel Studios. It is the fourth of five animated adaptations of the X-Men characters, the other four being "", "", "", and an anime adaptation known simply as "X-Men".


title: Wolverine and the X-Men (TV series)

text: The story begins with Wolverine and Rogue having an argument about him leaving. When Wolverine goes to Charles and Jean Grey, they get headaches. An explosion occurs, and Charles and Jean disappear. The resulting trauma caused the X-Men team to disband and go their separate ways, leaving Xavier's once highly revered league of mutant peace preservers out of commission.


title: Wolverine and the X-Men (TV series)

text: Due to the loss of the Professor, Jean, and severe damage to the mansion, many of the X-Men have withered in their faith towards the stability of their former team and have since detached themselves from their former community. Some examples include Cyclops' subsequent isolation resulting from Jean's disappearance, Storm's relocation back to her home continent of Africa, and Iceman's move back into his parents' home in the quiet suburbs.


title: Wolverine and the X-Men (TV series)

text: One year later, the MRD (short for the Mutant Response Division), a government-supported organization created for the detainment and subsequent registration of existing mutants, begins capturing mutants from all over the country in response to the countless human protesters determined to protect the safety of humankind. This course of action causes Wolverine and Beast to ally and resolve to bring the once defunct X-Men team back together again.


title: Wolverine and the X-Men (TV series)

text: Meanwhile, Rogue is in the street and attacked by the Brotherhood of Mutants. They trick her into joining them, and she later smiles devilishly as she enters their base, appearing to have switched allegiance to become an evil mutant. Thanks to the generosity, wealth, and resourcefulness of Angel, the slowly reforming X-Men team begins to see a promising return to its former glory with the rejoining of junior members Iceman, Shadowcat and Forge along with the reconstruction of the previously demolished Xavier Institute. Unfortunately, without the necessary capabilities of a competent telepath to operate Cerebro, the possibility of locating some of the more globally scattered X-Men members along with the missing Charles Xavier and Jean seems all but a pipe dream.


title: Wolverine and the X-Men (TV series)

text: Fortunately, this problem does not last for very long when Emma Frost, the beautiful former Headmistress of a now inactive mutant school of her own in Massachusetts, makes a surprising appearance on the doorstep of the Mansion with an interesting proposal: membership with the X-Men in exchange for utilizing her telepathy to pinpoint the missing Xavier's whereabouts. Upon the team's – and particularly Wolverine's – reluctant acceptance of the offer, Emma's efforts prove successful as she is able to locate a comatose Charles on the shores of Genosha in the care of Magneto. After their arrival on Genosha and a short confrontation with the Master of Magnetism himself, Magneto eventually permits the X-Men to take his old friend's body back to the sanctity of the Mansion where he is certain that Xavier will be placed in proper care. Upon their return, Xavier telepathically contacts the X-Men twenty years from the present in an alternate dystopian future and informs Wolverine that he is to lead and reunite the X-Men if they wish to successfully prevent the inevitable war that will cause the world to fall under the domination of Master Mold and the Sentinels.


title: Wolverine and the X-Men (TV series)

text: Throughout the course of the entire season, Emma's role as the X-Men's primary acting telepath enables the team to relocate the rest of the other members in the hopes of reforming once again and assisting in Xavier's cause. While some were met with initial hesitancy such as with Nightcrawler, others such as Storm were more than willing to accept the offer once Xavier's vision had been put into perspective. The X-Men overcome many hardships and obstacles along the way, eventually achieving their ultimate goal of locating Jean and finally discovering the truth surrounding the mystery of what caused the Mansion's explosion, along with Xavier and Jean's subsequent disappearances.


title: Wolverine and the X-Men (TV series)

text: Meanwhile, Magneto welcomes new mutants to Genosha, one of whom is Nightcrawler. Magneto claims that Genosha is a safe and secure area for mutants, rather than a threat. At first Nightcrawler believes this, but upon closer inspection, Genosha is exposed as a method to use mutants' powers by Magneto. Nightcrawler eventually escapes, but is captured by Mystique when he arrives back at the mansion.


title: Wolverine and the X-Men (TV series)

text: Elsewhere, Wolverine begins to have some visions from the past, and Emma offers to sort out his visions telepathically. In his visions, Wolverine meets a lone mutant girl, figure from the past Sabretooth, and finally discovers many mysteries about his past. Cyclops has constant memories about Jean and is depressed. He believes she is still alive, so, with the help of Emma, he seeks out Mister Sinister. The X-Men and Mister Sinister have a confrontation that does not result in them finding out any new info about Jean's whereabouts. Wolverine has Cyclops swear an oath to be in the X-Men again and promise not to go off searching for Jean. Somewhere across town, Jean is shown waking up in a random hospital after months of being in a coma.


title: Wolverine and the X-Men (TV series)

text: It is later revealed in the three-part first-season finale "Foresight" that the previously assumed attack on the Mansion was not from the efforts of a third party, but rather from the result of Jean who unwittingly releases the immense and highly destructive strength and power of the Phoenix Force, that originally lay dormant deep within her subconscious, in an attempt to halt an oncoming telepathic attack led by Emma (who was secretly working as a double agent for the Inner Circle and the Stepford Cuckoos). Along with Sebastian Shaw, Selene, Harry Leland, and Donald Pierce, it was the Inner Circle's utmost duty to not only obtain the power of the Phoenix Force by abducting Jean from the protection of Xavier and the Mansion, but to also obliterate the ancient being's existence before it could fully mature and consequently bring forth unparalleled destruction onto the world as it had done numerous times in the past throughout Earth's history. However, in a move that was completely unknown to Emma at the time, the rest of the Inner Circle members all shared an entirely different and more sinister vision than Frost had initially believed: to control and manipulate the power of the Phoenix Force and have it cater to their own hidden agenda. Upon realizing the error of her ways, Emma betrays the Inner Circle and attempts to redeem herself in the eyes of the X-Men by not only rescuing Jean but, by also following through with her original plan of destroying the cosmic entity before it could mature. Unfortunately, her actions result in her apparent death. Rogue apologizes to Wolverine, and finally rejoins the X-Men for good. The now fully reformed X-Men are praised for their actions by Professor Xavier, but are warned of a new danger approaching: the Age of Apocalypse.


title: Wolverine and the X-Men (TV series)

text: The overall situations and the look of the series and character designs were inspired by the Astonishing X-Men comic series.


title: Wolverine and the X-Men (TV series)

text: Toonz Animation India and First Serve International formed a joint venture Toonz First Serve to produce "Wolverine". By November 2007, Toonz First Serve began production on the series. The show was being sold by Marvel Entertainment in the US and by Liberation Entertainment internationally. In May 2008, the series was pick up by CBeebies.


title: Wolverine and the X-Men (TV series)

text: On November 4, 2008, a second season, consisting of 26 episodes was confirmed as being in production by Toonz Entertainment and Marvel Animation. During Comic Con 2009, images of season 2 were shown, consisting of Bastion, Cable, Colossus, Deadpool, Havok, Jubilee, and Magik. It was announced that these characters were to appear in season 2. Colossus was set to receive a reintroductory storyline and would have been a regular character in season 2. Joshua Fine also revealed that Holocaust, Sunfire, and Unus The Untouchable would have made appearances in season 2. Joshua Fine confirmed that Deadpool would have been in a Weapon X episode also featuring X-23 / Laura Kinney, and other obscure characters.


title: Wolverine and the X-Men (TV series)

text: On April 13, 2010, Comics Continuum reported that (according to an inside source) a second season seemed very unlikely. On April 15, 2010, Marvel Animation Age confirmed the recent report that "Wolverine and the X-Men" would not be returning for a second season. The reason for this was due to financial problems with their financing partner due to Disney purchasing Marvel while Fox owned the movie rights to the X-Men.


title: Wolverine and the X-Men (TV series)

text: However, the speculation came to a rest as according to Marvel Quarterly reports, the show was set to air in the United States in Spring 2009. It was also confirmed in an article by USA Today's website in which it specifically mentions the cartoon starting on January 23, 2009, on Nicktoons. On January 23, 2009, the show premiered in the United States, with the first two episodes shown back-to-back on NickToons, which were re-aired on Nickelodeon two days later. The next 6 episodes followed weekly before a two-month break. New episodes began on May 22, 2009, as advertised with commercials on the channel then stopped after June 19, 2009, till the network advertised that they will be showing new episodes on July 31, 2009, after or before new episodes of "".


title: Wolverine and the X-Men (TV series)

text: On June 23, 2008, a second preview for the series, starring the main X-Men team, was released to announce the special screening of the 3-part pilot episodes that aired at the San Diego Comic-Con in late July 2008. Press releases indicated that the first episode was due to premiere on August 2, 2008, on BBC Two in the UK, however, it was postponed and premiered on January 4, 2009, on the CBBC Channel. Initially, one new episode aired every Sunday, but on January 25, 2009, CBBC started airing two new episodes every Sunday. The time slots varied, and the episodes were available for viewing on the BBC iPlayer for a limited time after they aired. As of mid February 2009, some new episodes were shown on weekdays instead of at the weekend. Some episodes with scenes showing heavy violence were censored and Episode 17 was not shown on CBBC as there was a duel to the death in the storyline (along with one scene depicting blood). CBBC in the UK overtook Canada on March 4, 2009, when it aired the 20th episode, "Breakdown.” In 2009, BBC Alba started broadcasting the series dubbed into Scottish Gaelic as "An Sionnach Sgianach is Na Seòid". premiere on November 16, 2013, on Kix channel in the UK.


title: Wolverine and the X-Men (TV series)

text: Early news had speculated the show to air in Fall 2008 in the United States. The series started airing on YTV on Saturday, September 6, 2008, in the 7:00 p.m. time slot. When its time slot was switched to Saturday morning programming, Crunch, it aired at 11:30 a.m. Starting in January 2009, the show was also shown on Teletoon, where only episodes that previously aired on YTV were shown.


title: Wolverine and the X-Men (TV series)

text: In Brazil and Latin America, the series aired on Jetix Brazil and Jetix (Latin America) starting August 25, 2008 from Mondays to Thursdays at 4:30 p.m. Unusually, all 26 episodes of the first season were aired in Brazil and Latin America before the series started in any other country. Also, the series airs in Rede Record in Brazil from Mondays to Fridays at 7:00 p.m., starting November 9, 2009. In Mexico, the series aired on Azteca 7.


title: Wolverine and the X-Men (TV series)

text: In Australia, the first series aired on ABC1 Sunday mornings. The series was then repeated weekdays in early morning and late afternoon timeslots. The show then aired on ABC3, along with other series from Marvel Animation on Sunday nights.


title: Wolverine and the X-Men (TV series)

text: Hasbro produced a Wolverine and the X-Men toyline as a tie-in to the series. The first wave consisted of Avalanche, Beast, Colossus, Cyclops, Logan (not in classic outfit), Iceman, Magneto, and Wolverine. Wave two contained the new figures Nightcrawler and a Black Uniform Wolverine. Wave Three, the final wave, added Forge and Toad to the line. The toy line ended before any of the main females of the series were turned into toys; notably missing were Emma Frost, Jean Grey, Shadowcat, Rogue, and Storm.


title: Wolverine and the X-Men (TV series)

text: Due in part to the abundance of advertising for the series done by Nicktoons and Marvel, the Nicktoons premiere of "Wolverine and the X-Men" garnered over 3,500,000 viewers, one of the network's highest ratings ever.