Public Media Sector

The BBC is a British public service broadcasting corporation. Its main responsibility is to provide impartial public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man. It is the largest broadcaster in the world by number of employees, with about 23,000 staff.

The BBC is headquartered at Broadcasting House in London and has major production centres in Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, London and Salford Quays and smaller production centres throughout the UK.

The principal means of funding the BBC is through the television licence, costing £145.50 per year per household since April 2010. 

According to the BBC's 2011/12 Annual Report its income can be broken down, as follows:

• £3,606.3 million in licence fees collected from householders;
• £222 million from BBC Commercial Businesses;
• £279.4 million from government grants;
• £271.9 million from other income, such as providing content to overseas broadcasters and concert ticket sales