About the BBC

The BBC is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world. Its mission is to enrich people's lives with programmes that inform, educate and entertain. See Mission and values.

It is a public service broadcaster, established by a Royal Charter and funded by the licence fee that is paid by UK households.
See Royal Charter and Agreement, The licence fee.

The BBC uses the income from the licence fee to provide services including 8 national TV channels plus regional programming, 10 national radio stations, 40 local radio stations and an extensive website, bbc.co.uk.
See BBC services on TV, radio and online.

BBC World Service broadcasts to the world on radio, on TV and online, providing news and information in 33 languages. It is funded by a government grant, not from the licence fee.
See BBC World Service.

The BBC has a commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, which operates a range of businesses including selling programmes around the world and publishing books, DVDs and merchandise. Its profits are returned to the BBC for investment in new programming and services.
See BBC Worldwide.

The BBC is governed by the BBC Trust, which represents the interests of licence fee payers and sets the overall strategy. The Trust's Chairman is Sir Michael Lyons.
See BBC Trust.

The BBC's Executive Board, chaired by the Director-General, Mark Thompson, manages the day-to-day operation of the corporation.
See How the BBC is run.