British Broadcasting Corporation

The British Broadcasting Corporation is the biggest broadcasting company in the world. It is situated in London and was founded in 1927. Until today, the BBC has played an essential part for the British population and still has an impact on cultural life in Britain. The public service broadcaster is financed by licence fees which households have to pay. A Royal Charter gives it permission for transmitting.

History

In 1896, Guglielmo Marconi invented the wireless transmission. Over the years, radio transmission became more and more popular and thus the Marconi Company was allowed to transmit speech and concert programmes in 1922. In October 1922, the Marconi Company, the General Electric Company and other organisations founded the British Broadcasting Company and its first Director-General was John Reith. The Post Office gave the first broadcasting licence to the company on 18 January 1923. It was determined that the licence fees sold to households should fund the company and advertising should not be used. Moreover, in 1925, the Crawford Committee established by the government of that time decided that the company should not be supervised or lead by the state since objectivity should be kept. Royal Charters authorised the company by then. The first one was passed for ten years on 1 January 1927 when the British Broadcasting Company was changed into the British Broadcasting Corporation. During the 30s, the status of the BBC increased since more licences were given to households. On 2 November 1936, the BBC broadcasted its first television programme. Its importance during the Second World War can be recognised by the fact that the transmitted programmes were listened to at home and by British soldiers in the world. In 1954, the Television Act of 1954 was passed. It was the foundation for another system of television unlike the BBC which financed itself by advertisement. This new system was called Independent Television (ITV). Until 1955, the BBC was a strong monopoly, but now competition increased due to the Television Act and technological aspects which facilitated setting up television. The BBC had to modify its programmes since people could also choose other programmes covering their interests more. Despite the competition, the BBC was able to stay popular in the 60s and 70s because it also set up new programmes. Today, the BBC still has to compete with other television companies for the audience. The last Royal Charter was passed on 1 January 2007 and lasts until 2016. The current Director-General of the BBC is Mark Thompson.

Function

The BBC was founded on the principle to provide information, education and entertainment. The Corporation wants to offer credible and independent information and add cultural value to the British society. The broadcaster wants to be transparent, for example by releasing annual reports and blogs by their employees. The BBC wants to serve the demand of the viewers and listeners. That is why the BBC tries to represent the British society in all its multicultural varieties.

Politics

Although the BBC wants to stay independent, political parties have always tried to influence the corporation. The leading party could manipulate the BBC by adjusting the licence fees, by choosing the associates of the BBC Trust, the governing body of the BBC, and by setting the date for the renewal of the Royal Charter. There have been many occasions on which the government wanted to influence the BBC for their personal benefit. But often the BBC was also suspected to have positive tendencies towards specific parties, mostly by the governing parties. During the 80s, the BBC had to deal with Margaret Thatcher’s political views as well. She saw the BBC as “overstaffed, subject to no market discipline, the recipient of a flat-rate tax, generally wasteful and unresponsive to the public”. (Spangenberg 1)

Sources

Spangenberg, Jochen. "The BBC in Transition. Reasons, Results and Consequences." Wiesbaden: Dt. Univ.-Verl., 1997.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/ 28 November 2011