   #copyright

BBC

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Media; Television

   The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
       Type     Broadcast radio and
                television
     Country    Flag of United Kingdom  United Kingdom
   Availability National; international (via BBC Worldwide, BBC World
                Service and bbc.co.uk)
     Founder    John Reith
      Slogan    "This is what we do" (Used in various promotional trails for the
                Corporation)
      Motto     "Nation Shall Speak Peace Unto Nation"
    Key people  Sir Michael Lyons, Chair from 1 May 2007
                Mark Thompson, Director-General
   Launch date  1922 (radio)
                1927 (incorporation)
                1932 (television)
    Past names  British Broadcasting Company Ltd. (1922-1927)
     Website    www.bbc.co.uk

   The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC, is the
   largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience
   numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a
   budget of more than GB£4 billion (US$7.9 billion.)

   Founded in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company Ltd, it was
   subsequently granted a Royal Charter and made a state-owned but
   independent corporation in 1927. The corporation produces programmes
   and information services, broadcasting on television, radio, and the
   Internet. The stated mission of the BBC is "to inform, educate and
   entertain", and the motto of the BBC is Nation Shall Speak Peace Unto
   Nation.

   The BBC is a quasi-autonomous Public Corporation operating as a public
   service broadcaster. The Corporation is run by the BBC Trust; however,
   the BBC is, per its charter, to be "free from both political and
   commercial influence and answers only to its viewers and listeners".

   Its domestic programming and broadcasts are primarily funded by levying
   television licence fees (under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949),
   although money is also raised through commercial activities such as
   sale of merchandise and programming. The BBC World Service, however, is
   funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. In order to justify the
   licence fee the BBC is expected to produce a number of high-rating
   shows in addition to programmes that commercial broadcasters would not
   normally broadcast.

   Quite often domestic audiences affectionately refer to the BBC as the
   Beeb (coined by Kenny Everett). Auntie was a nickname used during the
   early years, said to originate in the somewhat old fashioned Auntie
   knows best attitude back when John Reith was in charge. The two terms
   have been used together as Auntie Beeb.

History

   The original British Broadcasting Company was founded in 1922 by a
   group of telecommunications companies (including subsidiaries of
   General Electric and AT&T) to broadcast experimental radio services.
   The first transmission was on 14 November of that year, from station
   2LO, located at Marconi House, London.

   The Company, with John Reith as general manager, became the British
   Broadcasting Corporation in 1927 when it was granted a Royal Charter of
   incorporation and ceased to be privately owned. It started experimental
   television broadcasting in 1932 using an entirely mechanical 30 line
   system developed by John Logie Baird. It became a regular service
   (known as the BBC Television Service) in 1936 alternating between a
   Baird mechanical 240 line system and the all electronic 405 line EMI
   system. The superiority of the electronic system saw the mechanical
   system dropped later that year. Television broadcasting was suspended
   from 1 September 1939 to 7 June 1946 during the Second World War. A
   widely reported urban myth is that, upon resumption of service,
   announcer Leslie Mitchell started by saying, "As I was saying before we
   were so rudely interrupted..." In fact, the first person to appear when
   transmission resumed was Jasmine Bligh and the words said were "Good
   afternoon, everybody. How are you? Do you remember me, Jasmine
   Bligh...?"

   The European Broadcasting Union was formed on 12 February, 1950, in
   Torquay with the BBC among the 23 founding broadcasting organisations.

   Competition to the BBC was introduced in 1955 with the commercially and
   independently operated ITV. As a result of the Pilkington Committee
   report of 1962, in which the BBC was lauded and ITV was very heavily
   criticised for not providing enough quality programming, the BBC was
   awarded a second TV channel, BBC2, in 1964, renaming the existing
   channel BBC1. BBC2 used the higher resolution 625 line standard which
   had been standardised across Europe. BBC2 was broadcast in colour from
   1 July 1967, and was joined by BBC 1 and ITV on 15 November 1969. The
   405 line transmissions were continued for compatibility with older
   television receivers for some years.

   In 1974 the BBC's teletext service, Ceefax, was introduced but was not
   finally transmitted in vision as such until April 1980. In 1978 the BBC
   went on strike just before the Christmas of that year, thus blocking
   out the transmission of both channels and amalgamating all four radio
   stations into one.

   Since the deregulation of the UK television and radio market in the
   1980s, the BBC has faced increased competition from the commercial
   sector (and from the advertiser-funded public service broadcaster
   Channel 4), especially on satellite television, cable television, and
   digital television services.

   The BBC Research Department has played a major part in the development
   of broadcasting and recording techniques. In the early days it carried
   out essential research into acoustics and programme level and noise
   measurement.

   The 2004 Hutton Inquiry, and the subsequent Report raised questions
   about the BBC's journalistic standards and its impartiality. This led
   to resignations of senior management members at the time including the
   then Director General, Greg Dyke. In January 2007, the BBC released
   minutes of the Board meeting which led to Greg Dyke's resignation. Many
   commentators have considered the discussions documented in the minutes
   to have made Dyke's ability to remain in position untenable and
   tantamount to a dismissal.

   Unlike the other departments of the BBC, BBC World Service is funded by
   the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

   The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, more commonly known as the Foreign
   Office or the FCO, is the British government department responsible for
   promoting the interests of the United Kingdom abroad.

Corporation

Royal Charter

   The BBC is a quasi-autonomous Public Corporation operating as a public
   service broadcaster incorporated under a Royal Charter that is reviewed
   every 10 years. Until 2007 The Corporation was run by a board of
   governors appointed by The Queen or King on the advice of the
   government for a term of four years but on 1 January 2007 the Board of
   Governors was replaced with the BBC Trust. The BBC is required by its
   charter to be free from both political and commercial influence and to
   answer only to its viewers and listeners.

   The most recent Charter came into effect on 1 January, 2007. It has
   created a number of important changes to the Corporation's management
   and purpose:
     * Abolition of the Board of Governors, and their replacement by the
       BBC Trust.
     * A redefinition of the BBC's "public services" (which are considered
       its prime function):
          + sustaining citizenship and civil society;
          + promoting education and learning;
          + stimulating creativity and cultural excellence;
          + representing the UK, its nations, regions and communities;
          + bringing the UK to the world and the world to the UK;
          + helping to deliver to the public the benefit of emerging
            communications technologies and services, and taking a leading
            role in the switchover to digital television.
     * The BBC must display at least one of the following characteristics
       in all content: high quality, originality, innovation, to be
       challenging and to be engaging.
     * The BBC must demonstrate that it provides public value in all its
       major activities.

Corporate structure

     * Governance Unit
     * Content Groups
          + Journalism (incorporates News, Sport, Global News and Nations
            and Regions)
          + Vision (incorporates all TV production)
          + Audio and Music
          + Future Media and Technology (Incorporates New Media, R&D,
            Information and Archives)
     * Professional Services
          + Strategy (formerly Strategy and Distribution and merged with
            Policy and Legal)
          + Marketing, Communications and Audiences
          + Finance
          + BBC Workplace (Property)
          + BBC People (to 2004, Human Resources & Internal
            Communications)
          + BBC Training & Development
     * Commercial Groups
          + BBC Resources Ltd
          + BBC Worldwide Ltd

Management

   The BBC is a nominally autonomous corporation, independent from direct
   government intervention, with its activities being overseen by the BBC
   Trust, formerly the Board of Governors. General management of the
   organisation is in the hands of a Director-General, who is appointed by
   the Trust.

BBC Trust

   The BBC Trust came into effect on 1 January 2007, replacing the Board
   of Governors.

     The BBC Trust works on behalf of licence fee payers: it ensures the
     BBC provides high quality output and good value for all UK citizens
     and it protects the independence of the BBC. — BBC Trust

   The Trust sets the overall strategic direction for the corporation and
   assess the performance of the BBC Executive Board. The Trust has twelve
   trustees, currently:
     * Sir Michael Lyons (Chair)
     * Chitra Bharucha (Vice-Chair)
     * Diane Coyle
     * Alison Hastings
     * Patricia Hodgson
     * Rotha Johnston
     * Janet Lewis-Jones
     * David Liddiment
     * Mehmuda Pritchard

   The original trustees, three former governors and eight new members,
   were announced by Tessa Jowell, Secretary of State for Culture, Media
   and Sport, in October 2006.. Michael Grade, then Chairman of the
   Governors, was to become Chairman of the Trust at the time of the
   announcement, but due to his move to ITV, Chitra Bharucha became the
   Acting Chair, with Sir Michael Lyons taking over as Chairman from 1 May
   2007.

Executive Board

   The Executive Board oversees the effective delivery of the
   corporation's objectives and obligations within a framework set by the
   BBC Trust, and is headed by the Director-General, Mark Thompson. In
   December 2006, Thompson announced the final appointments to the new
   Executive Board, consisting of ten directors from the different
   operations of the group, and five non-executive directors, appointed to
   provide independent and professional advice to the Executive Board. The
   members are:
     * Mark Thompson (Board Chairman and Director-General)
     * Mark Byford (Deputy Chairman and Deputy Director-General; Director,
       Journalism Group)
     * Caroline Thomson (Chief Operating Officer)
     * Jana Bennett (Director, BBC Vision)
     * Jenny Abramsky (Director, BBC Audio and Music)
     * Ashley Highfield (Director, Future Media and Technology)
     * John Smith (Chief Executive, BBC Worldwide)
     * Zarin Patel (Group Finance Director)
     * Steve Kelly (Director, BBC People)
     * Tim Davie (Director, Marketing, Communications and Audiences)

   Non-executive directors:
     * Marcus Agius (Senior non-executive director), Chairman, Barclays
     * Dr Mike Lynch OBE, co-founder and Chief Executive, Autonomy
       Corporation
     * David Robbie, Group Finance Director, Rexam
     * Dr Samir Shah OBE, Chief Executive, Juniper Communications
     * Robert Webb QC, General Counsel, British Airways

Governors

   The Board of Governors regulated the group from incorporation in 1927
   until 31 December 2006, when the Board was replaced by the BBC Trust.
   The governors as of the dissolution of the Board were:
     * Anthony Salz (Acting Chairman)
     * Professor Ranjit Sondhi (National Governor for the English regions)
     * Professor Fabian Monds (National Governor for Northern Ireland)
     * Professor Merfyn Jones (National Governor for Wales)
     * Jeremy Peat (National Governor for Scotland)
     * Deborah Bull
     * Baroness Deech
     * Dermot Gleeson
     * Angela Sarkis
     * Richard Tait

Finance

   The BBC has the largest budget of any UK broadcaster with an operating
   expenditure of £4 billion in 2005 compared to £3.2 billion for British
   Sky Broadcasting, £1.7 billion for ITV and £79 million (in 2006) for
   GCap Media (the largest commercial radio broadcaster).

Revenue

   The principal means of funding the BBC is through the television
   licence, costing £11.37 a month if paid by direct debit (as of February
   2007). Such a licence is required to operate a broadcast television
   receiver within the UK. The cost of a television licence is set by the
   government and enforced by the criminal law. The revenue is collected
   privately and is paid into the central government Consolidated fund, a
   process defined in the Communications Act 2003. Funds are then
   allocated by the DCMS and Treasury and approved by Parliament via the
   Appropriation Act(s). Additional revenues are paid by the Department
   for Work and Pensions to compensate for subsidised licences for
   over-75's. As the state controls BBC's funding, it is sometimes
   referred as a "state" broadcaster.

   Income from commercial enterprises and from overseas sales of its
   catalogue of programmes has substantially increased over recent years.
   with BBC Worldwide contributing some £145million in cash to the BBC's
   core public service business.

   According to the BBC's 2005-2006 Annual Report, its income can be
   broken down as follows:
     * £3,100.6 m licence fees collected from consumers.
     * £620.0 m from BBC Commercial Businesses.
     * £260.2 m from the World Service, of which £239.1 m is from grants
       (primarily funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office), £15.8 m
       from subscriptions, and £5.3 m from other sources.
     * £24.2 m from other income, such as providing content to overseas
       broadcasters and concert ticket sales.

Expenditure

   The BBC gives two forms of expenditure statement for the financial year
   2005-2006.

   The amount of each licence fee spent monthly breaks down as follows:
                 Department               Monthly cost (GBP)
                  BBC ONE                 £3.52
                  BBC TWO                 £1.52
     Transmission and collection costs    £1.08
   Nations and English Regions television £1.04
     BBC Radio 1, 2, 3, 4 and Five Live   £1.02
        Digital television channels       £1.00
          Nations' and local radio        68p
                 bbc.co.uk                36p
                  BBC jam                 14p
           Digital radio stations         10p
           Interactive TV (BBCi)          8p
                   Total                  £10.54

   The total broadcasting spend for 2005-2006 is given as:
               Department              Total cost (£million)
               Television              1443
                  Radio                218
                bbc.co.uk              72
                 BBC jam               36
          Interactive TV (BBCi)        18
   Local radio and regional television 370
         Programme related spend       338
        Overheads and Digital UK       315
              Restructuring            107
    Transmission and collection costs  320
                  Total                3237

Headquarters and regional offices

   BBC headquarters, Broadcasting House, London.
   BBC headquarters, Broadcasting House, London.
   BBCNI HQ on Bedford Street, Belfast.
   BBCNI HQ on Bedford Street, Belfast.

   Broadcasting House in Portland Place, London is the official
   headquarters of the BBC. It is home to the national radio networks BBC
   Radio 2, 3, 4, 6 Music, and BBC 7. On the front of the building are
   statues of Prospero and Ariel (from Shakespeare's The Tempest) sculpted
   by Eric Gill.

   Renovation of Broadcasting House began in 2002 and is scheduled for
   completion in 2010. As part of a major reorganisation of BBC property,
   Broadcasting House is to become home to BBC News (both television and
   radio), national radio, and the BBC World Service. The major part of
   this plan involves the demolition of the two post-war extensions to the
   building and construction of a new building beside the existing
   structure. During the rebuilding process many of the BBC Radio networks
   have been relocated to other buildings in the vicinity of Portland
   Place.

   In 2007/2008 BBC News is expected to relocate from the News Centre at
   BBC Television Centre to the refurbished Broadcasting House in what is
   being described as "one of the world's largest live broadcast centres".

   By far the largest concentration of BBC staff in the UK exists in White
   City. Well known buildings in this area include the BBC Television
   Centre, White City, Media Centre, Broadcast Centre and Centre House.

   As well as the various BBC buildings in London, there are major BBC
   production centres located in Cardiff, Belfast, Glasgow, Birmingham,
   Manchester, Bristol, Southampton and Newcastle upon Tyne. Some of these
   local centres (for example Belfast) are also known as "Broadcasting
   House" (see Broadcasting House (disambiguation)). There are also many
   smaller local and regional studios scattered throughout the UK.

   In 2011 the BBC is planning to move several departments of the BBC
   North. The leading candidate is Salford Quays in Greater Manchester.
   This will mark a major decentralisation of the corporation's operations
   from London.

Services

                          Weekly reach of all the BBC's services in the UK
                          Weekly reach of all the BBC's services in the UK

           Weekly reach of the BBC's five national analogue radio stations
           Weekly reach of the BBC's five national analogue radio stations

                    Weekly reach of the BBC's domestic television services
                    Weekly reach of the BBC's domestic television services

                        BBC Television Centre in West London (White City).
                        BBC Television Centre in West London (White City).

News

   BBC News is the largest broadcast news gathering operation in the
   world, providing services to BBC domestic radio as well as television
   networks such as BBC News 24, BBC Parliament and BBC World, as well as
   BBCi, Ceefax and BBC News Online. New BBC News services that are also
   proving popular are mobile services to mobile phones and PDAs. Desktop
   news alerts, e-mail alerts, and digital TV alerts are also available.

   Ratings figures suggest that during major crises such as the 9/11
   terrorist attacks on the United States, the 7 July 2005 London bombings
   or a Royal Funeral, the UK audience overwhelmingly turns to the BBC's
   coverage as opposed to its commercial rivals.

   On 7 July 2005, the day that there were a series of coordinated bomb
   blasts on London's public transport system, the bbc.co.uk website
   recorded an all time bandwidth peak of 11  Gb/s at 12:00 on 7 July. BBC
   News received some 1 billion total hits on the day of the event
   (including all images, text and HTML), serving some 5.5 terabytes of
   data. At peak times during the day there were 40,000 page requests per
   second for the BBC News website. The previous day's announcement of the
   2012 Olympics being awarded to London caused a peak of around 5  Gb/s.
   The previous all time high at bbc.co.uk was caused by the announcement
   of the Michael Jackson verdict, which used 7.2  Gb/s.

Radio

   The BBC has five major national stations, Radio 1 ("the best new music
   and entertainment"), Radio 2 (the UK's most listened to radio station,
   with 12.9 million weekly listeners), Radio 3 (specialist-interest music
   such as classical, world, arts, drama and jazz), Radio 4 (current
   affairs, drama and comedy), and Radio 5 Live (24 hour news, sports and
   talk).

   In recent years some further national stations have been introduced on
   Digital audio broadcasting including Five Live Sports Extra (a
   companion to Five Live for additional events coverage), 1Xtra (for
   black, urban and gospel music), 6 Music (less mainstream genres of
   music), BBC 7 (Comedy, Drama & Kids shows) and BBC Asian Network (
   British South Asian talk, music and news in English and in many South
   Asian languages), a station which had evolved from BBC Local Radio
   origins in the 1970s and still is broadcast on Medium Wave frequencies
   in some parts of England. In addition the BBC World Service is now also
   broadcast nationally in the UK on DAB.

   There is also a network of local stations with a mixture of talk, news
   and music in England and the Channel Islands as well as national
   stations (Nations' radio) of BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru (in
   Welsh), BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio nan Gaidheal (in Scots Gaelic),
   BBC Radio Ulster, and BBC Radio Foyle.

   For a world-wide audience, the BBC produces the Foreign Office funded
   BBC World Service, which is broadcast worldwide on shortwave radio, and
   on DAB Digital Radio in the UK. The World Service is a major source of
   news and information programming and can be received in 150 capital
   cities worldwide, with a weekly audience estimate of 163 million
   listeners worldwide. The Service currently broadcasts in 33 languages
   and dialects (including English), though not all languages are
   broadcast in all areas.

   In 2005, the BBC announced that it would substantially reduce its radio
   broadcasting in Eastern European languages and divert resources instead
   to a new Arabic language satellite TV broadcasting station (including
   radio and online content) in the Middle East to be launched in 2007.

   Since 1943, the BBC has also provided radio programming to the British
   Forces Broadcasting Service, which broadcasts in countries where
   British troops are stationed.

   All of the national BBC radio stations, as well as the BBC World
   Service, are available over the Internet in the RealAudio streaming
   format. In April 2005 the BBC began trials offering a limited number of
   radio programmes as podcasts.

   Historically, the BBC was the only radio broadcaster in the UK until
   1967 when University Radio York (URY), then under the name Radio York,
   was launched as the first (and now oldest) legal independent radio
   station in the country.

Television

   BBC One and BBC Two are the BBC's flagship television channels. The BBC
   is also promoting the new channels BBC Three and BBC Four, which are
   only available via digital television equipment (now in widespread use
   in the UK, with analogue transmission being phased out from October
   2007). The BBC also runs BBC News 24, BBC Parliament, and two
   children's channels, CBBC and CBeebies, on digital.

   BBC One is a regionalised TV service which provides opt-outs throughout
   the day for local news and other local programming. In the Republic of
   Ireland the Northern Ireland regionalised BBC One & BBC Two are
   available via analogue transmissions deflecting signals from the North
   and also carried out on Sky Digital, NTL Ireland and Chorus.

   From June 9, 2006 the BBC began a 6-12 month trial of High-definition
   television broadcasts under the name BBC HD. The corporation has been
   producing programmes in the format for many years, and states that it
   hopes to produce 100% of new programmes in HDTV by 2010.

   Since 1975, the BBC has also provided its TV programmes to the British
   Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS), allowing members of HM Forces
   serving all over the world to watch and listen to their favourite
   programmes from home on two dedicated TV channels.

Internet

   The bbc.co.uk website, formerly known as BBCi and before that BBC
   Online, includes a comprehensive, advertisement-free news website and
   archive. The BBC claims the site to be "Europe's most popular
   content-based site" and boasts that 13.2 million people in the UK visit
   the site's more than 2 million pages. According to Alexa's TrafficRank
   system, in March 2007 bbc.co.uk was the 19th most popular English
   Language website in the world, and the 31st most popular overall.

   The website allows the BBC to produce sections which complement the
   various programmes on television and radio, and it is common for
   viewers and listeners to be told website addresses for the bbc.co.uk
   sections relating to that programme. The site also allows users to
   listen to most Radio output live and for seven days after broadcast
   using its RealPlayer-based "Radio Player"; some TV content is also
   distributed in RealVideo format. A new system known as IPlayer is under
   development, which uses peer-to-peer and DRM technology to deliver both
   radio and TV content for offline use for up to 7 days. Also, through
   participation in the Creative Archive Licence group, bbc.co.uk allowed
   legal downloads of selected archive material via the internet.

   BBC jam is a free online service, delivered through broadband and
   narrowband connections, providing high-quality interactive resources
   designed to stimulate learning at home and at school. Initial content
   was made available in January 2006. BBC jam was suspended on 20th March
   2007

   In recent years some major on-line companies and politicians have
   complained that the bbc.co.uk website receives too much funding from
   the television licence, meaning that other websites are unable to
   compete with the vast amount of advertising-free on-line content
   available on bbc.co.uk. Some have proposed that the amount of licence
   fee money spent on bbc.co.uk should be reduced — either being replaced
   with funding from advertisements or subscriptions, or a reduction in
   the amount of content available on the site. In response to this the
   BBC carried out an investigation, and has now set in motion a plan to
   change the way it provides its online services. bbc.co.uk will now
   attempt to fill in gaps in the market, but will guide users to other
   websites for currently existing market provision. (For example, instead
   of providing local events information and timetables, users will be
   guided to outside websites already providing that information.) Part of
   this plan included the BBC closing some of its websites, and
   rediverting money to redevelop other parts. More recent information on
   web plans at

Interactive television

   BBCi is the brand name for the BBC's interactive digital television
   services, which are available through Freeview (digital terrestrial),
   as well as Sky Digital (satellite), and Virgin Media (cable). Unlike
   Ceefax, BBCi is able to display full-colour graphics, photographs, and
   video, as well as programmes. Recent examples include the interactive
   sports coverage for football and rugby football matches, BBC Soundbites
   which starred young actress Jennifer Lynn and an interactive national
   IQ test, Test the Nation. All of the BBC's digital television stations,
   (and radio stations on Freeview), allow access to the BBCi service.

   BBCi provides viewers with over 100 interactive TV programmes every
   year, as well as the 24/7 service. It also offers video news and
   weather.

Commercial services

   BBC Worldwide Limited is the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the
   BBC responsible for the commercial exploitation of BBC programmes and
   other properties, including a number of television stations throughout
   the world. The cable and satellite stations BBC Prime (in Europe,
   Africa the Middle East, and Asia), BBC America, BBC Canada (alongside
   BBC Kids), broadcast popular BBC programmes to people outside the UK,
   as does UK.TV (co-run with Foxtel and Fremantle Media) in Australasia.
   A similar service, BBC Japan, ceased broadcasts in April 2006 after its
   Japanese distributor folded. BBC Worldwide also runs a 24-hour news
   channel, BBC World and co-runs, with Virgin Media, the UKTV network of
   stations in the UK, producers of amongst others UKTV Gold. In addition,
   BBC television news appears nightly on many Public Broadcasting Service
   stations in the United States, as do reruns of BBC programmes such as
   EastEnders, and in New Zealand on TV One.

   Many BBC programmes (especially documentaries) are sold via BBC
   Worldwide to foreign television stations, and comedy, documentaries and
   historical drama productions are popular on the international DVD
   market.

   BBC Worldwide also maintains the publishing arm of the BBC and it is
   the third-largest publisher of consumer magazines in the United
   Kingdom. BBC Magazines, formerly known as BBC Publications, publishes
   the Radio Times (and published the now-defunct The Listener) as well as
   a number of magazines that support BBC programming such as BBC Top
   Gear, BBC Good Food, BBC Sky at Night, BBC History, BBC Wildlife and
   BBC Music.

   The BBC has traditionally played a major role in producing book and
   music tie-ins with its broadcast material. BBC Records produced
   soundtrack albums, talking books and material from radio broadcasts of
   music.

   Between 2004 and 2006 BBC Worldwide owned the independent magazine
   publisher Origin Publishing.

   BBC Worldwide also licences and directly sells DVD and audio recordings
   of popular programmes to the public, most notably Doctor Who (including
   books and merchandise), and archive classical music recordings,
   initially as BBC Radio Classics and then BBC Legends.

Unions

   Union membership is a private matter between staff and their chosen
   union: staff are not automatically covered by a union, but since the
   BBC is a large employer (in the media sector), membership numbers are
   considerable.

   Staff at the BBC are normally represented by BECTU, along with
   journalistic staff by the NUJ and electrical staff by Amicus. Union
   membership is optional, and paid for by staff members and not by the
   BBC.

Cultural significance

   The BBC was the only television broadcaster in the United Kingdom until
   1955 and the only legal radio broadcaster until 1973. Its cultural
   impact was therefore significant since the country had no choice for
   its information and entertainment from these two powerful media.

   Even after the advent of commercial television and radio, the BBC has
   remained one of the main elements in British in popular culture through
   its obligation to produce TV and radio programmes for the mass
   audiences. However the arrival of BBC2 allowed the BBC also to make
   programmes for minority interests in drama, documentaries, current
   affairs, entertainment and sport. Examples are cited such as I,
   Claudius, Civilisation, Tonight, Monty Python's Flying Circus, and Pot
   Black, but there many other ground-breaking examples can be given in
   each of these fields as shown by the BBC's entries in the British Film
   Institute's 2000 list of the 100 Greatest British Television
   Programmes. In radio the BBC has also maintained a high standard of
   news, drama, entertainment, documentaries, sport and music for all
   tastes, and still draws large audiences, while also serving minority
   tastes.

   The BBC's objective of providing a service to the public, rather than
   just entertainment, has changed the public's perception in a wide range
   of subjects from health to natural history. By maintaining a high
   standard the BBC also defined a quality threshold that the commercial
   companies had to reach to retain their licences but the advent of the
   multi-channel age is lessening this effect. The export of BBC
   programmes, the BBC World Service and BBC World have meant that the
   cultural impact of the BBC has been also experienced world-wide.

   Although the BBC has changed society, the society has also changed the
   BBC. The term BBC English (Received Pronunciation) refers to the former
   use of Standard English with this accent. However the organisation now
   makes more use of regional accents in order to reflect the diversity of
   the UK, though clarity and fluency are still expected of presenters.
   From its 'starchy' beginnings, the BBC has also become more inclusive,
   and now accommodates the interests of all strata of society and all
   minorities, because they all pay the licence fee. The BBC therefore
   plays a major role in maintaining a cohesive society.

   Competition from Independent Television, Channel 4, Sky and other
   broadcast television stations, has slightly lessened the BBC's reach,
   but nevertheless it remains major influence on British popular culture.
   Many popular everyday sayings are derived from BBC-produced television
   shows.

Criticism

   Historically, the BBC has been subject to continuing criticism for
   various policies or perceived biases since its inception. It received
   its most recent serious criticism over its coverage of the events
   leading up to the war in Iraq. The controversy over what it described
   as the "sexing up" of the case for war in Iraq by the government, led
   to the BBC being heavily criticised by the Hutton Inquiry, although
   this finding was much disputed by the British press. Richard Porter,
   head of News, BBC World, recently reported they "no longer have the
   original tapes" of the BBC World version of their 9/11 coverage.. The
   BBC have also been criticised for giving a disproportionate amount of
   time to the discussion of divisive Islamic matters, such as the veil
   case. This, some believe, has lead to many people gaining a false
   impression of the nature of Islam in the UK, and has contributed to a
   loss of public confidence in the concept of multiculturalism.

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