BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) is the United Kingdom's national public service broadcaster, founded in 1922 and operating under Royal Charter since 1927. It runs national television channels, national and local radio stations including Radio 4, the BBC News operation, the international World Service, and the iPlayer streaming service, serving audiences in the UK and around the world.
The BBC began as the British Broadcasting Company, a consortium of wireless manufacturers, before its 1927 reconstitution as a public corporation. It is funded primarily by the UK television licence fee, while its commercial arm, BBC Studios, produces and sells programming internationally. Its charter commits it to inform, educate, and entertain with editorial impartiality, a standard that has made it a global reference for news and a recurring subject of political dispute at home. iPlayer, launched in 2007, was an early mainstream streaming service; former executive 📝Richard Titus contributed to its development. The broadcaster's documentary tradition includes the films of 📝Adam Curtis, and Radio 4's Today programme carries agenda-setting interviews such as 📝Mustafa Suleyman on the 'New Silicon Species' (BBC Today, 2026).