The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the largest broadcasting organisation in the world.^[1] Its global headquarters are located in London London is a leading global city, the world's largest financial centre alongside New York, and has the largest city GDP in Europe. Central London is home to the headquarters of most of the UK's top 100 listed companies and more than 100 of Europe's 500 largest. London's influence and strengths in the arts, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, and its main responsibility is to provide public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom In the United Kingdom the term "public service broadcasting" refers to broadcasting intended for the public benefit rather than for purely commercial concerns. The communications regulator Ofcom, requires that certain television and radio broadcasters fulfil certain requirements as part of their licence to broadcast. All of the BBC's, Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey, neither of which is part of the United Kingdom; rather they are considered the remnants of the Duchy of Normandy. They have a and Isle of Man The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann (Manx: Mannin, [ˈmanɪn]), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is represented by a Lieutenant Governor. The island is. The BBC is an autonomous public service broadcaster Public broadcasting includes radio, television and other electronic media outlets that receive some or all of their funding from the public. Public broadcasters may receive their funding from individuals through voluntary donations, a specific tax such as a television license fee, or as direct funding by the state^[1] that operates under a Royal Charter In medieval Europe, royal charters were used to create cities . The date that such a charter was granted is considered to be when a city was "founded", regardless of when the locality originally began to be settled.^[2] Within the United Kingdom its work is funded principally by an annual television licence fee In the United Kingdom and its Crown dependencies, any household in possession of a device capable of receiving live television transmissions and which actually does watch live TV broadcasts from any source, BBC or independent, must purchase a television licence, every year. As of 2010, this costs £145.50 for colour and £49.00 for black and white,^[3] which is charged to all United Kingdom households, companies and organisations using any type of equipment to record and/or receive live television broadcasts;^[4] the level of the fee is set annually by the British Government Her Majesty's Government is the central government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Under the British constitution, executive authority notionally lies with the monarch but is exercised by and on the advice of the Cabinet, a collective body of the Queen's most senior ministers. In British parlance, "the Government& and agreed by Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories. Parliament alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and its territories. At its head is the Sovereign, Queen Elizabeth.^[5]

Outside the UK, the BBC World Service The BBC World Service is arguably the most widely recognised international broadcaster, currently broadcasting in 32 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays. It is politically independent , non-profit, and commercial-free has provided services by direct broadcasting and re-transmission contracts by sound radio since the inauguration of the BBC Empire Service in December 1932, and more recently by television and online. Though sharing some of the facilities of the domestic services, particularly for news and current affairs output, the World Service has a separate Managing Director, and its operating costs are funded mainly by direct grants from the UK government. These grants are determined independently of the domestic licence fee.

The Corporation's 'guaranteed' income from the licence fee and the World Service grants are supplemented by profits from commercial operations through a wholly owned subsidiary, BBC Worldwide BBC Worldwide Limited is the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in 1995. In the year to 31 March 2009 it made a profit of £86m on a turnover of £1.04bn, mainly affected by the administration of Woolworths Group with which BBC Worldwide had Ltd. The company's activities include programme- and format-sales, magazines including Radio Times Radio Times is the BBC's weekly television and radio programme listings magazine. It also provides on-line listings and book publishing. The BBC also earns additional income from selling certain programme-making services through BBC Studios and Post Production Ltd. BBC Studios and Post Production is a wholly owned subsidiary of the BBC, providing television studio and network post-production facilities in London, formerly BBC Resources Ltd BBC Studios and Post Production is a wholly owned subsidiary of the BBC, providing television studio and network post-production facilities in London, another wholly owned trading subsidiary of the corporation.

History

The BBC was the world's first national broadcasting organisation^[6] and was founded on 18 October 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company Ltd The British Broadcasting Company Ltd was a British commercial company formed on 18 October 1922 by British and American electrical companies doing business in the United Kingdom and licensed by the British General Post Office. Its original office was located on the second floor of Magnet House, the GEC buildings in London and consisted of a room. The original company was founded in 1922 by a group of six telecommunications companies—Marconi The Marconi Company Ltd. was founded by Guglielmo Marconi in 1897 as The Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company . It was renamed Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company in 1900 and The Marconi Company in 1963, Radio Communication Company, Metropolitan-Vickers Metropolitan-Vickers, Metrovick, or Metrovicks, was a British heavy electrical engineering company of the early-to-mid 20th century formerly known as British Westinghouse. Highly diversified, they were particularly well known for their industrial electrical equipment such as generators, steam turbines, switchgear, transformers, electronics and, General Electric The General Electric Company or GEC was a major UK company involved in consumer and defence electronics, communications and engineering. The Company was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index: it was renamed Marconi Corporation plc in 1999 after its defence arm was sold to British Aerospace. In 2005 Ericsson purchased the bulk of Marconi and the, Western Electric Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering company, the manufacturing arm of AT&T from 1881 to 1995. It was the scene of a number of technological innovations and also some seminal developments in industrial management. It also served as the purchasing agent for the member companies of the Bell System, and British Thomson-Houston British Thomson-Houston was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbines. They were merged with the similar Metropolitan-Vickers company in 1928, but the two maintained their own identities until 1960. The holding company,^[7]—to broadcast experimental radio services. The first transmission was on 14 November of that year, from station 2LO 2LO was the second radio station to regularly broadcast in the United Kingdom . It began broadcasting on 11 May 1922, for one hour a day from the seventh floor of Marconi House in London's Strand. This building, opposite Somerset House, was demolished in 2006, apart from the listed façade, which will be incorporated into a new hotel complex, located at Marconi House, London.^[8]

The British Broadcasting Company Ltd. was created by the British General Post Office (GPO) and John Reith applied for a job with the existing company and later became its General Manager. The company was wound-up and on 1 January 1927 ^[9] a new non-commercial entity called the British Broadcasting Corporation established under a Royal Charter In medieval Europe, royal charters were used to create cities . The date that such a charter was granted is considered to be when a city was "founded", regardless of when the locality originally began to be settled became successor in interest.

To represent its purpose and values, the Corporation adopted the coat of arms The coat of arms of the BBC was adopted in March 1927 to represent the purpose and values of the corporation. While the coat of arms is now in relative obscurity — it does not appear on BBC programmes for example - this was not always the case. From 1993 to 1999 a computer generated 3-D glass sculpture appeared prominently at the beginning and, incorporating the motto "Nation shall speak peace unto Nation". The motto is generally attributed to Montague John Rendall, former headmaster of Winchester College Winchester College is a boys' fee-charging private school in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England. It is the oldest of the original nine English public schools, and member of the first BBC Board of Governors.^[10] The motto is said to be a "felicitous adaptation" of Micah 4: 3 "nation shall not lift up a sword against nation".^[11]

Experimental television broadcasts were started in 1932 using an electromechanical 30 line system developed by John Logie Baird John Logie Baird was a Scottish engineer and inventor of the world's first working television system, also the world's first fully electronic colour television broadcast. Although Baird's electromechanical system was eventually displaced by purely electronic systems (such as those of Vladimir Zworykin and Philo Farnsworth), his early successes. Limited regular broadcasts using this system began in 1934, and an expanded service (now named the BBC Television Service BBC One is the primary television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular public television service with a high level of image resolution. It was later renamed BBC tv until the launch of sister channel BBC2 in 1964. The channel has an) started in 1936, alternating between an improved Baird mechanical 240 line system and the all electronic 405 line The 405-line monochrome analogue television broadcasting system was the first fully electronic television system to be used in regular broadcasting Marconi-EMI system. The superiority of the electronic system saw the mechanical system dropped early the following year.^[12] Television broadcasting was suspended from 1 September 1939 to 7 June 1946 during the Second World War. A widely reported urban myth is that, upon resumption of service, announcer Leslie Mitchell Leslie Mitchell , was famous in the United Kingdom as the first voice heard on BBC Television at its inception on 2 November 1936, and also for making the first announcement on Associated-Rediffusion, the first ITV company, on 22 September 1955. His voice was perhaps most recognised, however, from his long association with British Movietone News, started by saying, "As I was saying before we were so rudely interrupted ..." In fact, the first person to appear when transmission resumed was Jasmine Bligh Jasmine Lydia Bligh was one of the first three BBC Television Service presenters in the 1930s, along with Leslie Mitchell and Elizabeth Cowell, providing continuity announcements and introducing programmes in-vision and the words said were "Good afternoon, everybody. How are you? Do you remember me, Jasmine Bligh ...?"^[13]

The European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; French: Union européenne de radio-télévision ) is a confederation of 75 broadcasting organisations from 56 countries, and 43 associate broadcasters from a further 25. It is unrelated to the European Union. Members are radio and television companies, most of which are government-owned public service was formed on 12 February 1950, in Torquay with the BBC among the 23 founding broadcasting organisations.

Competition to the BBC was introduced in 1955 with the commercial and independently operated television network ITV ITV is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK, having begun broadcasting in 1955. Since 1990 and the Broadcasting Act 1990, its legal name has been Channel 3, the number 3. However, the BBC monopoly on radio services would persist into the 1970s. As a result of the Pilkington Committee The Pilkington Committee was set up on 13 July 1960 under the chairmanship of British industrialist Sir Harry Pilkington to consider the future of broadcasting, cable and "the possibility of television for public showing". One of its main conclusions stated that the British public did not want commercial radio broadcasting and it offered report of 1962, in which the BBC was praised for the quality and range of its output, and ITV was very heavily criticised for not providing enough quality programming,^[14] the decision was taken to award the BBC a second television channel, BBC2 BBC Two is the second television network of the BBC, aimed at a wide range of subject matter and interests, and specialising in intelligent yet popular programme genres. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio networks, it is commercial-free and yet remains a comparatively well funded public service network, regularly attaining a much higher, in 1964, renaming the existing service BBC1 BBC One is the flagship television network of the British Broadcasting Corporation . It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular public television service with a high level of image resolution. It was later renamed BBC tv until the launch of sister channel BBC2 in 1964, whereupon it was known. BBC2 used the higher resolution 625 line standard which had been standardised across Europe. BBC2 was broadcast in colour from 1 July 1967, and was joined by BBC 1 and ITV on 15 November 1969. The 405 line VHF VHF is the radio frequency range from 30 MHz to 300 MHz. Frequencies immediately below VHF are denoted High frequency (HF), and the next higher frequencies are known as Ultra high frequency (UHF). The frequency allocation is done by ITU transmissions of BBC 1 (and ITV) were continued for compatibility with older television receivers until 1985.

Starting in 1964 a series of pirate radio The term pirate radio usually refers to illegal or unregulated radio transmissions. Its etymology can be traced to the unlicensed nature of the transmission, but historically there has been occasional but notable use of sea vessels – fitting the most common perception of a pirate – as broadcasting bases. The term is most commonly used to stations (starting with Radio Caroline Radio Caroline is an English radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly, to circumvent the tight hold the record companies had on the broadcast of popular music in the UK. It originally commenced transmissions as an offshore radio station broadcasting from a ship anchored in international waters off the coast of South East England) came on the air, and forced the British government finally to regulate radio services to permit nationally based advertising-financed services. In response the BBC reorganised and renamed their radio channels. The Light Programme was split into Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the BBC which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock or interviews. It is aimed primarily at the 15–29 age group, although the offering continuous "Popular" music and Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the UK. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres. Radio 2 broadcasts throughout the UK on FM between 88.1 and 90.2 more "Easy Listening".^[15] The "Third" programme became Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera music, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation Artists scheme promotes young musicians of all offering classical music and cultural programming. The Home Service became Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a domestic UK radio station that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967 offering news, and non-musical content such as quiz shows, readings, dramas and plays. As well as the four national channels, a series of local BBC radio stations were established in 1967, including Radio London BBC London 94.9 is London's BBC Local Radio station, and part of BBC London. Broadcasting across Greater London and beyond on 94.9 FM, DAB, Virgin Media Channel 930, Sky Digital Channel 0152 and also online. Previously known as BBC London Live, GLR and Radio London. BBC London 94.9's Managing Editor is David Robey.^[16]

In 1974, the BBC's teletext service, Ceefax Ceefax is the BBC's teletext information service transmitted via the analogue signal, started in 1974 and running until 2012, was introduced, created initially to provide subtitling, but developed into a news and information service. In 1978 BBC staff went on strike just before the Christmas of that year, thus blocking out the transmission of both channels and amalgamating all four radio stations into one.^[17][18]

Since the deregulation of the UK television and radio market in the 1980s, the BBC has faced increased competition from the commercial sector (and from the advertiser-funded public service broadcaster Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel Four Television Corporation, a public body), especially on satellite television Satellite television is television delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by a satellite dish and set-top box. In many areas of the world it provides a wide range of channels and services, often to areas that are not serviced by terrestrial or cable providers, cable television Cable television is a system of providing television to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through fixed optical fibers or coaxial cables as opposed to the over-the-air method used in traditional television broadcasting in which a television antenna is required. FM radio programming, high-speed Internet, telephony,, and digital television Digital television is the transmission of audio and video by discrete (digital) signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV services.^{[citation needed]}

The BBC Research Department has played a major part in the development of broadcasting and recording techniques. In the early days it carried out essential research into acoustics and programme level and noise measurement.^{[citation needed]}

The 2004 Hutton Inquiry and the subsequent Report raised questions about the BBC's journalistic standards and its impartiality. This led to resignations of senior management members at the time including the then Director General, Greg Dyke. In January 2007, the BBC released minutes of the Board meeting which led to Greg Dyke's resignation.^[19]

Unlike the other departments of the BBC, BBC World Service is funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, more commonly known as the Foreign Office or the FCO, is the British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom abroad.

On 18 October 2007, BBC Director General Mark Thompson announced a controversial plan to make major cuts and reduce the size of the BBC as an organisation. The plans included a reduction in posts of 2,500; including 1,800 redundancies, consolidating news operations, reducing programming output by 10% and selling off the flagship Television Centre building in London.^[20] These plans have been fiercely opposed by unions, who have threatened a series of strikes, however the BBC have stated that the cuts are essential to move the organisation forward and concentrate on increasing the quality of programming.

Governance

The BBC is a corporation, independent from direct government intervention, with its activities being overseen by the BBC Trust (formerly the Board of Governors).^[21] General management of the organisation is in the hands of a Director-General, who is appointed by the Trust; he is the BBC's Editor-in-Chief and chairs the Executive Board.^[22]

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