This post is primarily about the BBC’s flagship building in London’s Portland Place rather than the corporation itself, but it would be nigh on impossible to talk about Broadcasting House without talking about the business that uses it.

The British Broadcasting Corporation was established on 1^st January 1927 after it was granted a royal charter to succeed the fledgling British Broadcasting Company. This charter, which technically allows for independence from any state control, is normally renewed every ten years, and the current one expires on 31^st December 2027.

The freedom from government control does not necessarily mean that the corporation is a law unto itself, as it has to operate under an agreement with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport that allows regulation by the government-approved Office of Communications, more commonly known as Ofcom. Amongst other things, Ofcom has wide-ranging powers across the telecoms industry that ‘protects the general public from harmful or offensive material’.

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Originally posted 2024-08-30 09:10:19.