to explain it all, we talk to peter; knowles, the controller of the bbc parliament channel. this is 35 minutes. >> what's the history of the bbc parliament channel? >> that's been a -- there's been a parliament channel for getting on to 20 years, explicitly modeled on c-span in its origins. it was origin family -- originally run by the cable companies. the cable companies didn't prosper in the u.k. as they did in the united states, and they dropped out so the bbc stepped in about 11 years ago and took it over as one of eight or nine digital channels in the u.k. the bbc runs. >> in the beginning, who owned it and who controlled it? >> the cable companies owned it and controlled it. when it was set up, there were quite a number of fairly strict understandings with parliament as to how it was going to operate. most of those actually to some degree still apply to how we operate, because many of them make sense. >> was it originally sold to the bbc or did they just take it over? >> the analog cable license was handed over from the cable companies to the bbc. that since has become

to explain it all, we talked to peter knowles. this is 35 minutes. >> the bbc parliament channel is modeled after c-span. it was run by the cable companies. they did not profit the way they did in the united states. they dropped out and bbc took it over. it is eight or nine different channels in the u.k. that the bbc runs. >> in the beginning, who ran it and who controlled it? >> the cable company owned it and ran it. there were quite a number of strict understandings with parliament as to how it would operate. many of them make sense. >> was an insult to the bbc or did they just take it over? >> the analog cable licenses simply handed it over from the cable companies to the bbc. analog cable hardly exists in the uk. the audience has transferred to satellite and digital cable. >> who controls this audience? >> there is a small team based just across the river in westminster. it is part of bbc news. the mandarin team that produces a great number of programs and a court news channel and a bbc parliament. we have a bbc license fee, j

. >> next, a conversation with peter knowles. at 11:00 p.m., another chance to see "q&a" with columnist robert samuelson. >> tomorrow, a political roundtable with linh to rush and lisa mascaro. and drew big discuss the social security and other pension security and other pension programs

after that, a conversation with peter knowles from bbc and the bbc review of parliament. >> tomorrow, a political roundtable with glen thrush and lisa m. estero -- lisa mascaro. andrew biggs examines the solvency of social security and other programs. and brandon roberts who talks about the economy's impact on low-income-working families. "washington journal," live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> the c-span networks, they provide coverage of politics, public affairs, nonfiction books, and american history. it is all available to you on television, radio,

. >> peter noles, thank you for your time -- knowles thank you for your time and hospitality. >> thank you very much. >> with the house of commons now in recess, prime minister's questions will not be seen live this wednesday. it returns live wednesday, january 12, at 7:00 a.m. on c-span2. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> tomorrow a discussion on the techniques and ethics of lobbying. the panel includes professional lobbyists, professors and journalists. that's tomorrow on c-span3. >> now bbc parliament tv takes a look back at the major events in the british parliament since september. "the record review" covers the election of the new labor party leader derek baits over public spending cuts and a hike in university tuition fees. alicia mccarthy host this is one-hour program. >> hello and welcome to "the record review." let's look back to a freezing autumn and freezing cold winter here. coming up, m.p.'s increased tuition fees for the english university students. there's a new labor leader. and cuts, cut