The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Generalities Introduction The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service

e broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff. Its main responsibility is to provide public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, Channel Islands (the remnants of the Duchy of Normandy, and are not part of the United Kingdom) and Isle of Man. Compared to news broadcasting in many other countries, it has a worldwide reputation for objectivity and impartiality. Even Hitler's high command are said to have tuned to the BBC, so misleading did they find their own news broadcasts. The BBC is an autonomous public service broadcaster that operates under a Royal Charter (a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate). Within the United Kingdom, its work is funded principally by an annual television licence fee, which is charged to all British households, companies and organisations using any type of equipment to record and/or receive live television broadcasts the level of the fee is set annually by the British Government and agreed by Parliament. Thus, they can remain independent of advertising and government financing. Nicknames: the BBC is sometimes referred to as "Auntie" and "the Beeb".

History The privately owned BBC was the world's first national broadcasting organisation and was founded by six telecommunications companies in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company Ltd. John Reith, the 33 year-old Scot founding father and first general manager was a man with a mission, who saw in radio an opportunity for education and initiation into high culture for the masses. He persuaded famous academics and authors to take part in their programmes, and fought off the politicians' attempts to influence the BBC, while offering the British people programmes to educate, inform and entertain. Its motto is "Nation shall speak peace unto Nation", which draws on the Bible passage from the Book of Micah: "Nation shall not lift up a sword against nation".

In 1924, the monarch speaks to his people as never before. King George V is first heard on radio during a broadcast from the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924. The speech is relayed on loudspeakers outside major department stores and the crowds are so large that they stop the traffic in the road. The same year takes place the first programme relay from the USA. The company was wound-up and in 1927. The Royal Charter transforms the BBC into a public service corporation, deriving its authority from a Royal Charter not from a parliamentary statute. This is an important distinction in terms of future voice and autonomy. Thus, a new noncommercial entity is established, called the British Broadcasting Corporation established. 1936 Edward VIII abdication speech broadcast: this is the unique and memorable moment when a British monarch announces his abdication to his subjects via the airwaves + one year later: George VI's coronation. Television broadcasting was suspended during the Second World War. According to an urban myth, upon resumption of service, the announcer started by saying, "As I was saying before, we were so rudely interrupted... However, radio became identified with democracy and free speech. Winston Churchill uses the power of BBC radio to speak directly to the nation, in words that will become immortal. Alongside its own programming activity the BBC provided a vital information service, monitoring the broadcasts of other nations, identifying foreign propaganda stations, and using its technology in innovative ways to assist the nation in the long struggle for victory. 1953: first total televisation of a coronation ceremony, Elizabeth II 20 million BBC viewers watch the young queen crowned. In 1960, took place the construction of Television Centre, the first ever purpose-built TV centre in the world. The decision was taken to award the BBC a second television channel, BBC2, in 1964, renaming the existing service BBC1, as well as, to broaden the palette of the radio stations to 5 offering a larger variety of programmes: Radio 1 offered continuous "Popular" music, Radio 2 more "Easy Listening", Radio 3 classical music and cultural programmes, and Radio 4 news and non-musical content such as quiz shows, dramas, and plays. Radio 5 was launched in 1990 as a sports and educational station. In 1967, colour comes to television for the first time in Europe, as BBC Two shows Wimbledon tennis in its full colour glory.

A new Scottish Gaelic television channel was launched in 2008, with almost all of its programmes made in Scotland. Since 2008, all the BBC channels are available to watch online. Governance The BBC is a corporation, independent from direct government intervention, with its activities being overseen by the BBC Trust. The 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. It is independent of government interference, though there have been a few occasions when they were banned to show something (ex.: in the 1980s, the transmission of interviews with members of outlawed organizations such as the IRA). Charter The BBC operates under a Royal Charter, which specifies that the mission of the Corporation is to "inform, educate and entertain". It states that the Corporation exists to serve the public interest and promote its public purposes: sustaining citizenship and civil society, promoting education and learning, stimulating creativity and cultural excellence, representing the UK, its nations, regions and communities, bringing the UK to the world and the world to the UK. BBC Trust The BBC Trust was formed in 2007, replacing the Board of Governors. The Trust sets the strategy for the corporation, assesses the performance of the BBC Executive Board, and appoints the Director-General. BBC Trustees are appointed by the British monarch on advice of government ministers. There are trustees for the four nations: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Finance The BBC has the second largest budget of any UK broadcaster with an operating expenditure of 4.26 billion in 2009/10 compared to 5.9 billion for British Sky Broadcasting. Radio The BBC has ten national radio stations, six stations serving the BBC Regions and numerous others covering the local regions in England. In Scotland: BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Radio nan Gaidheal, the latter providing programmes in Scots Gaelic; in Wales these are BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Cymru, the latter providing programming in Welsh, and in Northern Ireland there is BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Radio Foyle. Furthermore, there are 40 BBC Local Radio stations in England and the Channel Islands, usually

covering specific cities and their surrounding areas. For a worldwide audience, the BBC World Service provides programmes in 28 languages around the world and is available in over 150 capital cities. It has an estimated weekly audience of 180 million listeners. Historically, the BBC was the only legal radio broadcaster based in the UK mainland until 1967, when University Radio York was launched as the first legal independent radio station in the country. BBC News BBC News is the largest broadcasting service of its kind in the world, including the BBC News, BBC Parliament, BBC World News, and BBC News Online. In addition to this, the BBC has been developing new ways to access BBC News, and has launched the service on BBC Mobile, making it accessible to mobile phones and PDAs. Ratings figures suggest that during major crises such as the 7 July 2005 London bombings or a Royal Event, the UK audience overwhelmingly turns to the BBC's coverage as opposed to its commercial rivals. On 7 July 2005, BBC News received some 1 billion total hits on the day of the event. BBC Online The BBC's online presence includes a comprehensive news website and archive. The BBC states that 13.2 million people in the UK visit the site's more than two million pages each day. According to Alexa's TrafficRank system, in July 2008 BBC Online was the 27th most popular English Language website in the world, and the 46th most popular overall. The 24-hour international news channel, BBC World News, is available to more than 274 million households, significantly more than CNN's estimated 200 million. Music The BBC employs staff orchestras, a choir, and supports two amateur choruses. Many famous musicians of every genre have played at the BBC, such as The Beatles. Cultural significance Until the development, popularisation, and domination of television, radio was the broadcasting medium upon which people in the United Kingdom relied. It "reached into every home in the land, and simultaneously united the nation, an important factor during the Second World War" (Churchills 1940 speech). BBC was the only legal radio broadcaster until 1968. It was the only television broadcaster in the UK until 1955 when the BBC's monopoly was broken, with the introduction of Independent Television (ITV) ratings war: making the same programmes

better rather than offering other kind or programmes (ITV: Coronation Street, situated in workingclass area Manchester; BBC1: East Enders, situated in working-class area London). Even since the advent of commercial television and radio, the BBC has remained one of the main elements in British popular culture through its obligation to produce TV and radio programmes for mass audiences. The term BBC English (= Received Pronunciation) refers to the former term of Standard English. However, the organisation now makes more use of regional accents in order to reflect the diversity of the UK.