Portal:BBC
The BBC Portal
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current state with its current name on New Year's Day 1927. The oldest and largest local and global broadcaster by stature and by number of employees, the BBC employs over 21,000 staff in total, of whom approximately 17,900 are in public-sector broadcasting.
The BBC was established under a royal charter, and operates under an agreement with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. 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 to use the BBC's streaming service, iPlayer. 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. 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.
Some 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 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 in business. (Full article...)
Selected article
The Office is the original British mockumentary television sitcom first broadcast in the UK on BBC Two on 9 July 2001. Created, written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, it follows the day-to-day lives of office employees in the Slough branch of the fictional Wernham Hogg paper company. Gervais also starred in the series as central character David Brent.
Two six-episode series were made, followed by a two-part Christmas special. When it was first shown on BBC Two, ratings were relatively low, but it has since become one of the most successful of all British comedy exports. As well as being shown internationally on BBC Worldwide and channels such as BBC Prime, BBC America, and BBC Canada, it has been sold to broadcasters in over 80 countries, including ABC1 in Australia, The Comedy Network in Canada, TVNZ in New Zealand, and the pan-Asian satellite channel Star World, based in Hong Kong. It was shown in the United States on BBC America from 2001 to 2016, and later on Cartoon Network's late night programming block Adult Swim from 2009 to 2011. (Full article...)Selected image
Protesters gathered outside BBC Television Centre in London during the Question Time British National Party controversy in October 2009. The first appearance of British National Party leader Nick Griffin on the BBC series Question Time sparked public and political debate in the United Kingdom.
Selected list article
| Series | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | Network | |||
| 1 | 6 | 9 July 2001 | 20 August 2001 | BBC Two | |
| 2 | 6 | 30 September 2002 | 4 November 2002 | ||
| Christmas | 2 | 26 December 2003 | 27 December 2003 | BBC One | |
| Revisited | 15 March 2013 | ||||
List of selected list articles
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Related portals
Selected biography
Sir David Cecil Clementi (born 25 February 1949) is a British business executive. He is a former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, a former Chairman of Prudential plc, and a former Chairman of the BBC.
In March 2008, he was announced as Warden of Winchester College and, in 2010, was Master of the Mercers' Company. (Full article...)Selected building
BBC Pacific Quay was opened in 2007 as BBC Scotland's television and radio studio complex at Pacific Quay, Glasgow, when it became home to the BBC in Scotland.
Did you know
Highlights from Wikipedia's Did you know
- ... that the proposed BBC television special Planet Relief, created to raise awareness of climate change, was cancelled before it was made, for fear that it would be biased against climate sceptics?
- ... that the episodes of the BBC 7 sitcom Knocker have titles such as "Privinvasionacy", "Obselejectivitysence" and "Confidentialitydence"?
- ... that Matt Kirshen's Bigipedia article on the "Bee Whisperer" was inspired by an article found using the random article function on Wikipedia?
- ... that the composer Zbigniew Preisner wrote the title music for the monumental BBC documentary People's Century, which spans 26 parts?
- ... that Up the Women was the last sitcom to be filmed before an audience at BBC Television Centre?
- ... that Dahiru Musdapher, the 12th chief justice of Nigeria, was once a BBC World Service contributor for West Africa and Hausa?
- ... that South African physician Tlaleng Mofokeng is the United Nations special rapporteur on the right to health, and was named one of the BBC's 100 Women?
- ... that in 2014, BBC Three cancelled a debate on being gay and Muslim featuring Asifa Lahore, a Muslim drag queen, citing security concerns at the mosque where it was filmed?
- ... that throughout the Cold War, "subversive" persons at the BBC had their files marked with a "Christmas tree"?
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