BBC

British Broadcasting Corporation

Logo used since 2021
Company type	Statutory corporation with a royal charter, public broadcasting[a]
Industry	Mass media
Predecessor	British Broadcasting Company
Founded	18 October 1922; 102 years ago (1922-10-18) (as British Broadcasting Company) 1 January 1927; 98 years ago (1927-01-01) (as British Broadcasting Corporation)
Founder	Government of the United Kingdom
Headquarters	Broadcasting House London, England
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Samir Shah (Chair) Tim Davie (Director-General)
Products	Broadcasting Web portals
Services	Television Radio Online
Revenue	£5.389 billion (2024)[3]
Operating income	£199 million (2024)[3]
Net income	£229 million (2024)[3]
Total assets	£1.976 billion (2024)[3]
Number of employees	21,918 (2024)[3]
Divisions	BBC Television BBC Sport BBC Radio BBC News BBC Online BBC Sounds BBC Weather BBC Music BBC English Regions BBC Scotland BBC Cymru Wales BBC Northern Ireland BBC North BBC Bitesize BBC Studios
Website	bbc.com

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current state with its current name on New Year's Day 1927. The oldest and largest local and global broadcaster by stature and by number of employees, the BBC employs over 21,000 staff in total, of whom approximately 17,900 are in public-sector broadcasting.

The BBC was established under a royal charter, and operates under an agreement with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. 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 receive or record live television broadcasts or to use the BBC's streaming service, iPlayer. The fee is set by the British Government, agreed by Parliament, and is used to fund the BBC's radio, TV, and online services covering the nations and regions of the UK. Since 1 April 2014, it has also funded the BBC World Service (launched in 1932 as the BBC Empire Service), which broadcasts in 28 languages and provides comprehensive TV, radio, and online services in Arabic and Persian.

Some of the BBC's revenue comes from its commercial subsidiary BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide), which sells BBC programmes and services internationally and also distributes the BBC's international 24-hour English-language news services BBC World News, and from BBC.com, provided by BBC Global News Ltd. In 2009, the company was awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise in recognition of its international achievements in business.

Since its formation in 1922, the BBC has played a prominent role in British life and culture. It is colloquially known as the Beeb or Auntie.

1. ↑ "British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)". State Media Monitor. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
2. ↑ "Typology". State Media Monitor. Retrieved 6 April 2024.: The State Media Monitor differentiates between seven different degrees of state media outlets: 1. Independent Public Media; 2. Independent State Managed/Owned Media; 3. Independent State Funded Media; 4. Independent State Funded and State Managed/Owned Media; 5. Captured Private Media; 6. Captured Public or State Managed/Owned Media; 7. State Controlled Media
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4} Cite error: The named reference 2023-24-accounts was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).