BBC facts for kids
Logo used since 20 October 2021
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Statutory corporation with a royal charter | |
Industry | Mass media |
Predecessor | British Broadcasting Company |
Founded | 18 October 1922 1 January 1927 (as British Broadcasting Corporation) |
(as British Broadcasting Company)
Founder | HM Government |
Headquarters | Broadcasting House London, England |
Area served
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Worldwide |
Key people
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Products |
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Services |
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Revenue | £5.064 billion (2021) |
Operating income
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£290 million (2021) |
£227 million (2021) | |
Total assets | £2.11 billion (2021) |
Owner | Public owned (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) |
Number of employees
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22,219 (2021) |
Divisions | BBC Television BBC Studios 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 |
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), known by the BBC, is an organisation in the UK. It broadcasts in the United Kingdom and other countries on television, radio and the Internet. The BBC also sells its programmes to other broadcasting companies around world.
The organisation is run by a group of twelve governors who have been given the job by the Queen, on the advice of government ministers. The governors appoint a Board of Management to take care of running the business of the BBC. The head of the Board of Management is called the Director General.
BBC Charter
The BBC is established under a royal charter, which allows the BBC to broadcast. In 2006, the British Government looked at the charter to see if it needed changing.
Another agreement, which goes with the Charter, recognises that the BBC should be independent from any other organisation. It also says what the BBC should do for the people in Britain (the public).
Finance
Every household in the UK that watches or records "live" programmes, (as they’re being broadcast, or distributed to the public in any other way) or watches BBC Iplayer, is required, by law, to pay for a TV Licence. As the BBC gets its money from TV licences, it does not take money from companies or shareholders, so it does not have to do what they want. Also, it is not allowed to broadcast commercials in the middle of a programme, although they can show commercials in between programmes.
The BBC makes extra money in several ways. One way is by selling its programmes to other broadcasting companies. Another way is by selling audio tapes and CDs of its best radio programmes, and videos and DVDs of its best television programmes. Still another way is by selling books based on programmes, and magazines about science and natural history.
Radio Times
In 1923, BBC Magazines started publishing a magazine which printed listings of the week's BBC radio and television programmes in the United Kingdom. The magazine was called the Radio Times. In 1991, the magazine began to print listings of programmes broadcast by other providers in the United Kingdom. Today the magazine is still printed and provides online listings too. It also prints stories about programmes, the people who make them, and the people who appear in them. The Radio Times is one of the best selling magazines in the United Kingdom. In August 2011, the BBC agreed to sell the magazine to Exponent, if Britain's Office of Fair Trading approves.
BBC Report
The BBC has to publish a report every year, which tells people what it has done and how much money it has made and spent.
If someone has a complaint about something broadcast by the BBC, they can complain to the BBC, the BBC Trust, or directly to Ofcom, the government's regulator of broadcasting.
Locations
The headquarters of the BBC is Broadcasting House in Portland Place, London. The BBC also has other offices such as the BBC Television Centre in White City, London, BBC Radio Berkshire, as well in other cities like Cardiff, Belfast, Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Southampton and Newcastle upon Tyne. Rather than hire local reporters everywhere, the BBC's journalists work in many countries across the world. This means BBC workers are sometimes in danger, especially in war zones. Most recently Alan Johnston was kidnapped and held hostage for many months in Gaza before being safely released.
BBC iPlayer
Between October 2005 and 28 February 2006, the BBC offered a service called the BBC iPlayer on their website - bbc.co.uk. It allowed people to catch up on the last seven days of TV and radio on the BBC. Users could either watch (stream) it or download the content on their computers. The downloading options are for Microsoft Windows computers and Apple devices. The iPlayer service was released to the public on 25 December 2007. The slogan for BBC iPlayer is 'Making the Unmissable, Unmissable.'
Images for kids
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The Radio Times masthead from 25 December 1931, including the BBC motto "Nation shall speak peace unto Nation"
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Television pioneer John Logie Baird (seen here in 1917) televised the BBC's first drama, The Man with the Flower in His Mouth, on 14 July 1930, and the first live outside broadcast, The Derby, on 2 June 1931.
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King George V giving the 1934 Royal Christmas Message on BBC Radio. The annual message typically reflects on the year's major events.
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Statue of George Orwell outside Broadcasting House, headquarters of the BBC
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BBC Television Centre at White City, West London, which opened in 1960 and closed in 2013
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England fans in Manchester during a 2006 FIFA World Cup game shown on the BBC Big Screen
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BBC Pacific Quay in Glasgow, which was opened in 2007
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The new extension to the BBC's Broadcasting House, completed in 2012
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The headquarters of the BBC at Broadcasting House in Portland Place, London. This section of the building is called Old Broadcasting House.
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Filming an episode of BBC One's Sherlock (with Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes pictured) in July 2011
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Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman being interviewed on BBC Radio in October 1954
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The new newsroom in Broadcasting House, central London, officially opened by the Queen in 2013
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2008 advertisement for BBC iPlayer at Old Street, London
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BBC Studios is headquartered at Television Centre (BBC Television's former headquarters) in west London
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Blue plaque at Alexandra Palace, commemorating the launch of the world's first high-definition television service, BBC Television, in 1936
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The nature documentaries of David Attenborough, such as The Blue Planet, Planet Earth and Life on Earth, are produced by the BBC Natural History Unit, the largest wildlife documentary production house in the world.
See also
In Spanish: BBC para niños