The British Broadcasting Corporation turns 100 years old this year. Also known as the Beeb and Auntie, she has indeed become a grand old dame this year. It has been, and continues to be, one of our institutions held universally in great respect and admiration.
The BBC, the largest broadcasting company in the world, employing over 20,000 staff now, is the national broadcaster of the UK and operates under a Royal charter. It depends on the annual licence fee paid by the public, the level of fee being set by the government. They receive no advertising income, although by selling products such as tv series globally they generate nearly a quarter of their total income.
The licence fee also funds BBC World Service, which broadcasts in 28 languages, including
comprehensive services in Arabic and Persian. People across the world , in numerous countries, rely upon the World Service to receive what is widely recognised as unbiased news, especially in regimes where the state controls the broadcasting services. It is difficult for us, who have access to so many reliable channels, to comprehend the value the World Service offers to countless people.
Broadcasting in Britain started in 1920 operated by a mixture of British and American electrical companies but, because of interference of the radio waves with Military communications, it didn’t survive. However, in February 1922, the Marconi company was granted a temporary licence to broadcast radio programmes and later the same year, the British Broadcasting Company Ltd was formed, with John Reith as Managing Director. They came under the direction of the General Post Office and, under intense pressure from the public, it was decided to make public broadcasting permanent and the British Broadcasting Corporation was born.
The BBC has been at the forefront of technical innovations of their day: such as branching into television from radio only, and then colour television, catch-up services like the iPlayer, the use of the internet, social media and so forth.
While not everyone will like everything the BBC puts out, their breadth of content is unparalleled, and most people can find in its coverage something they are interested in. It is sad to think that in this age of great consumer choice and hundreds of channels to choose from on a pay-as-you-view basis, the survival of the BBC, in its current form of funding by licence fees, is constantly under threat. We are so fortunate in this country to have had the benefit of the BBC, as well as ITV and other terrestrial channels, to speak truth to power.
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