The Melba broadcast caught the people's imagination and marked a turning point in the British public's attitude to radio. It was sponsored by the Daily Mail 's Lord Northcliffe and featured the famous Australian soprano Dame Nellie Melba. The birth of British broadcasting, 1920 to 1922īritain's first live public broadcast was made from the factory of Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company in Chelmsford in June 1920. Historyįor a chronological guide, see Timeline of the BBC. It is colloquially known as the Beeb, Auntie, or a combination of both ( Auntie Beeb). Since its formation in 1922 the BBC has played a prominent role in British life and culture. In 2009, the company was awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise in recognition of its international achievements. 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.Īround 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. 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. 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 watch using iPlayer. The BBC is established under a royal charter and operates under its agreement with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. 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. The British Broadcasting Corporation ( BBC) is the national broadcaster of the United Kingdom, based at Broadcasting House in London, England.

Bbc bring up the bodies