BBC

BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) (UK) The public broadcasting organization which now controls much of British radio and television. The British Broadcasting Company Limited, as it was originally known, was formed in 1922, by 200 shareholders and manufacturers. It established a system of paid licences for those who owned radio receivers, and it opened transmitters in London, Manchester, Newcastle, and Birmingham. The British Broadcasting Corporation was established by a royal charter in 1926 (operating from 1 January 1927), to provide radio (and later television) programmes for an initial ten years, funded by a system of licences for all radio owners. The charter was renewed periodically, most recently in 1995. The BBC initially broadcast one radio service, the National Programme, and some regional services. A single Home Service replaced these in 1939, and the Forces Programme was added in 1940. In 1945, this latter station was replaced by the Light Programme, and the Third Programme was added in 1946. The BBC's World Service was established in 1932 as the Empire Service, broadcasting BBC programmes around the world. It gained particular significance through its broadcasts to occupied Europe during World War II, and to countries with press censorship (e.g. the Soviet Union, China) since. The BBC thus became a model for, and patron of, broadcasting services established throughout the former British Empire (e.g. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, South African Broadcasting Corporation, etc.) and elsewhere (e.g. the German public broadcasting services, established after 1945).

http://www.bbc.co.uk