BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster. Headquartered in London, it is the world's oldest national broadcaster, and the largest broadcaster in the world by number of employees, employing over 21,000 staff in total, of whom approximately 17,900 are in public-sector broadcasting.[1][2][3][4][5]

British Broadcasting Corporation

Logo used since 2021
Type	Statutory corporation with a royal charter
Industry	Mass media
Predecessor	British Broadcasting Company
Founded	18 October 1922; 100 years ago (1922-10-18) (as British Broadcasting Company) 1 January 1927; 96 years ago (1927-01-01) (as British Broadcasting Corporation)
Founder	HM Government
Headquarters	Broadcasting House, London, England
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Richard Sharp (Chairman) Tim Davie (Director-General)
Products	Broadcasting Web portals
Services	Television Radio Online
Revenue	£5.330 billion (2022)[1]
Operating income	£124 million (2022)[1]
Net income	£206 million (2022)[1]
Total assets	£3.414 billion (2022)[1]
Number of employees	21,281 (2022)[1]
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 BBC Bitesize
Website	www.bbc.com

The BBC is established under a royal charter[6] and operates under its agreement with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.[7] Its work is funded principally by an annual television licence fee[8] which is charged to all British households, companies, and organisations using any type of equipment to receive or record live television broadcasts or watch using iPlayer.[9] The fee is set by the British Government, agreed by Parliament,[10] 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.

Around a quarter 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.[11]

Since its formation in 1922, the BBC has played a prominent role in British life and culture.[12] It is colloquially known as the Beeb, Auntie, or a combination of both (Auntie Beeb).[13][14]