British Broadcasting Corporation

The British Broadcasting Corporation, which is usually known more simply as the BBC, is the world's largest broadcasting corporation.

It has 28,500 employees in the United Kingdom alone with an annual budget of more than £4 billion/$8 billion.

The BBC was the first national state broadcasting organisation. Founded on 18 October 1922] as the British Broadcasting Company Ltd, it was subsequently granted a Royal Charter and was made a publicly funded corporation in 1927. The corporation produces programmes and information services, broadcasting globally on television, radio, and the Internet. The stated mission of the BBC is "to inform, educate and entertain" (as laid down by Parliament in the BBC Charter); its motto is "Nation Shall Speak Peace Unto Nation".

The BBC is a quasi-autonomous public corporation as a public service broadcaster]]. The Corporation is run by the BBC Trust; and is, per its charter, supposed to be "free from both political and commercial influence and answers only to its viewers and listeners".

The BBC's domestic programming is primarily funded by levying television licence fees (under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949), although money is also raised through commercial activities such as sale of merchandise and programming. The BBC World Service, however, is funded through a grant-in-aid by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. As part of the BBC Charter, the Corporation cannot show commercial advertising on any services in the United Kingdom (television, radio, or internet). Outside the United Kingdom the BBC broadcasts commercially funded channels such as BBC America, BBC Canada, and BBC World News. In order to justify the licence fee, the BBC is expected to produce a number of high-rating shows in addition to programmes that commercial broadcasters would not normally broadcast.