BBC

From The TV IV

BBC

Founded	1922
President	Mark Thompson (Director-General)
Notable Works	Doctor Who Eastenders Extras Spooks The Office Match of the Day

BBC stands for British Broadcasting Corporation, which is a publicly funded broadcaster in the UK. This means that there are no ad-breaks in shows and only trailers for shows on BBC channels, promotions for TV Licensing and digital television and (more rarely) Public Information Films between shows.

BBC One was the first national TV channel in the world.

The BBC's principal source of finance is the Television Licence. All UK owners of TV sets must buy a licence, with differential prices for colour and black & white sets (£126.50 and £42 per year respectively, as of 2006); over-75s do not have to pay, and registered blind people receive a 50% concession. Despite its name, the Licence is simply a ring-fenced tax, meaning that the BBC is not financed through general taxation. The ring fencing gives the BBC some (though by no means complete) immunity to government pressure, since it is wholly independent of the general government budgeting, and has proved sufficiently effective in this that governments both left and right have come into conflict with the BBC over the years. The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport sets the fee.

Further safeguards to the independence of the BBC are its management via a Board of Governors and its Royal Charter, which gives it the mission to 'inform, educate and entertain'.

[edit] Television Channels

The BBC broadcasts the following TV channels:

BBC Worldwide (a BBC commercial subsidiary) also has a joint venture with Flextech Television, resulting in UKTV, the second largest multi-channel broadcaster in the UK. Channels include: