[Picture: BBC logo] The British Broadcasting Corporation, which is usually known simply as the BBC, is the world's largest broadcasting corporation. It has 28,000 employees in the United Kingdom alone and an annual budget of more than £4 billion. Founded on 18 October 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company Ltd, it was subsequently granted a Royal Charter and made a state-owned corporation in 1927. The corporation produces programmes and information services, broadcasting globally on television, radio, and the Internet. The stated mission of the BBC is "to inform, educate and entertain" (as laid down by Parliament in the BBC Charter);its motto is "Nation Shall Speak Peace Unto Nation". The BBC is a quasi-autonomous public corporation as a public service broadcaster. The Co...more >>rporation is run by the BBC Trust; and is, per its charter, "free from both political and commercial influence and answers only to its viewers and listeners".