Portal:BBC

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The BBC Portal

Logo used since 2021

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current state with its current name on New Year's Day 1927. The oldest and largest local and global broadcaster by stature and by number of employees, the BBC employs over 21,000 staff in total, of whom approximately 17,900 are in public-sector broadcasting.

The BBC was established under a royal charter, and operates under an agreement with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Its work is funded principally by an annual television licence fee which is charged to all British households, companies, and organisations using any type of equipment to receive or record live television broadcasts or to use the BBC's streaming service, iPlayer. The fee is set by the British Government, agreed by Parliament, and is used to fund the BBC's radio, TV, and online services covering the nations and regions of the UK. Since 1 April 2014, it has also funded the BBC World Service (launched in 1932 as the BBC Empire Service), which broadcasts in 28 languages and provides comprehensive TV, radio, and online services in Arabic and Persian.

Some of the BBC's revenue comes from its commercial subsidiary BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide), which sells BBC programmes and services internationally and also distributes the BBC's international 24-hour English-language news services BBC World News, and from BBC.com, provided by BBC Global News Ltd. In 2009, the company was awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise in recognition of its international achievements in business. (Full article...)

Selected article

"Nana's Party" is the fifth episode of the second series of the British dark comedy anthology television programme Inside No. 9. It was first broadcast on 23 April 2015 on BBC Two. Written and directed by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, the episode starred Claire Skinner as the obsessive-compulsive and aspirational Angela, who is hosting a party for the 79th birthday of her mother Maggie, played by Elsie Kelly. Angela's husband Jim, played by Pemberton, is keen to play a prank on Pat, Angela's brother-in-law, who is a practical joker. Pat is played by Shearsmith, while Carol, a recovering alcoholic who is Pat's wife and Angela's sister, is played by Lorraine Ashbourne. The episode also features Eve Gordon as Katie, Angela and Jim's teenage daughter, and Christopher Whitlow as a paramedic seen at the beginning and end of the episode.

Much of the episode's plot revolves around a practical joke with a fake cake that Jim has set up in an attempt to fool Pat. Moving the cake reveals the head of the person hiding under the table, but, in the meantime, the hidden character can hear conversations taking place nearby, unbeknownst to those who are not in on the joke. The episode plays on viewers' guesses as to what has led to the arrival—seen at the opening of the episode—of a paramedic. In particular, the person under the table is at risk of injury if candles burn down or someone puts a knife into the "cake". (Full article...)

Selected image

Protesters outside BBC Television Centre during the Question Time British National Party controversy
Protesters outside BBC Television Centre during the Question Time British National Party controversy

Protesters gathered outside BBC Television Centre in London during the Question Time British National Party controversy in October 2009. The first appearance of British National Party leader Nick Griffin on the BBC series Question Time sparked public and political debate in the United Kingdom.

Selected list article

The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award is the main award of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony, which takes place each December. The winner is the sportsperson, judged by a public vote, to have achieved the most that year. The recipient must either be British or reside and play a significant amount of their sport in the United Kingdom. The winner is selected from a pre-determined shortlist. The most recent award-winner is footballer Mary Earps, who won the 2023 award. (Full article...)

Related portals

Selected biography

Agnew at the Adelaide Oval in 2006

Jonathan Philip Agnew, MBE, DL (born 4 April 1960) is an English cricket broadcaster and a former professional cricketer. He was born in Macclesfield, Cheshire, and educated at Uppingham School. He is nicknamed "Aggers", and, less commonly, "Spiro" – the latter, according to Debrett's Cricketers' Who's Who, after former US Vice-President Spiro Agnew.

Agnew had a successful first-class career as a fast bowler for Leicestershire from 1979 to 1990, returning briefly in 1992. In first-class cricket he took 666 wickets at an average of 29.25. Agnew won three Test caps for England, as well as playing three One Day Internationals in the mid-1980s, although his entire international career lasted just under a year. In county cricket, Agnew's most successful seasons came toward the end of his career, after his last international match, when he had learned to swing the ball. He was second- and third-leading wicket-taker in 1987 and 1988 respectively, including the achievement of 100 wickets in a season in 1987. He was named as one of the five Cricketers of the Year by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 1988. (Full article...)

Selected building

The Glasgow Studios, home to BBC Scotland
The Glasgow Studios, home to BBC Scotland

BBC Pacific Quay was opened in 2007 as BBC Scotland's television and radio studio complex at Pacific Quay, Glasgow, when it became home to the BBC in Scotland.

Did you know

Highlights from Wikipedia's Did you know

  • ... that BBC traffic reporter Sally Traffic has also narrated poetry albums for the blind?

BBC topics

Categories

Select [►] to view subcategories

WikiProjects

WikiProject BBC logo
WikiProject BBC logo

This portal is maintained by members of WikiProject BBC, in particular those listed on the Portal Maintenance page.

To join the project, please add your username to the list of members.

WikiProject BBC Navigation
Main page | WikiProject talk | Assessment | Requests | Templates
BBC Portal (Maintenance) | Radio task force | Sitcoms task force

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Discover Wikipedia using portals