BBC

From dKosopedia

The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), nicknamed "The Beeb," enjoys a rare status as an autonomous (less so since the Hutton Inquiry), non-commercially funded media company. Its Board of Governors, each appointed to serve for ten year terms by the United Kingdom's Parliament, cannot influence day-to-day coverage. BBC's principal revenue comes from a permanent "licence fee" (tax), paid by all U.K. citizens who own televisions. This levy is much less than a cable or satellite television bill for comparison. The licence fee allows the BBC's domestic TV and radio services to be advertising-free, although international services must be self-sustaining, which is why BBC America (http://www.bbcamerica.com) airs advertising.

Millions of listeners turn to the BBC World Service, for unbiased, reliable coverage of world events, particularly in parts of the world too often ignored by corporate media outlets. While the BBC World Service is among the best known BBC products internationally, the BBC also offers numerous other radio stations, including Radio 1 (youth-orientated pop music), Radio 2 (music for a more mature audience), Radio 3 (classical music), the erudite speech Radio 4 and Radio Five Live (talk radio, phone-ins and sport). Most of the BBC's audio services are available worldwide over the Internet. The BBC also runs as seven UK-based television stations, including the rolling news channel BBC News 24, as well as worldwide television, non-English programming and an acclaimed website.

The BBC prides itself on the impartiality of its news coverage. In 2003, Prime Minister Tony Blair supposedly tried to influence the BBC's coverage of the invasion of Iraq, although he was cleared by subsequent enquiries into the matter. The Chairman of the BBC resigned as a result, which undermined its independence from government.

The BBC also undertakes significant research and engineering in communications technologies. Most recently, the BBC introduced a free, open source, and high quality codec for streaming audio and video over the Internet.

BBC

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