BBC

==Governance==
The BBC is a [[Statutory corporation#United Kingdom|statutory corporation]], independent from direct government intervention, with its activities being overseen from April 2017 by the [[BBC Board]] and regulated by [[Ofcom]].<ref name=Ofcom>{{cite web|url=https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations-and-statements/ofcom-and-the-bbc|title=BBC regulation|website=Ofcom|date=29 March 2017|access-date=27 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170429184602/https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations-and-statements/ofcom-and-the-bbc|archive-date=29 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2017/board-appointments|title=BBC Board Appointments|website=BBC Media Centre|date=23 March 2017|access-date=20 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190821172324/https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2017/board-appointments|archive-date=21 August 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The chairman is Samir Shah.<ref name=ShahAppointment />

===Charter and Agreement===
{{Main|BBC Charter}}
The BBC is a [[State media|state owned]] [[public broadcasting]] company and operates under a [[royal charter]]. The charter is the constitutional basis for the BBC, and sets out the BBC's Object, Mission and Public Purposes.<ref name="BBConCA">{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.com/aboutthebbc/governance/charter | title=Charter and Agreement }}</ref> It emphasises [[public service]], (limited){{efn|The BBC itself wrote on the matter (in about 2005) that it can not "express its own editorial opinion about current affairs or matters of public policy", and that that "is not to say, of course, that controversial programmes are never broadcast, but great care is taken to ensure that arguments are well balanced."<ref name="BBCon">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/us/001108_wsfunding.shtml|title=The BBC on funding, and the charter.|work=BBC World Service}}</ref>}} [[editorial independence]], prohibits [[advertising]] on domestic services and proclaims the BBC is to "seek to avoid adverse impacts on competition which are not necessary for the effective fulfilment of the Mission and the promotion of the Public Purposes".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/about/how_we_govern/2016/charter.pdf|title=ECopy of Royal Charter for the continuance of the British Broadcasting Corporation|website=BBC|date=December 2016|access-date=16 February 2024}}</ref>

The charter also sets out that the BBC is subject to an additional 'Agreement' between it and the [[Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport|Culture Secretary]], and that its [[Broadcast license|operating licence]] is to be set by Ofcom, an external [[Regulatory agency|regulatory body]]. It used to be that the [[Home Secretary]] be departmental to both Agreement as well as Licence, and regulatory duties fall to the [[BBC Trust]], but the 2017 charter changed those 2007 arrangements.<ref name="bbchow">{{cite web|title=BBC World Service – Institutional – How is the World Service funded?|publisher=BBC World Service|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/institutional/2009/03/000000_funding.shtml|quote=The BBC, including World Service, operates under two constitutional documents – its Royal Charter and the Licence and Agreement. The Charter gives the Corporation legal existence, sets out its objectives and constitution, and also deals with such matters as advisory bodies. Under the Royal Charter, the BBC must obtain a licence from the Home Secretary. The Licence, which is coupled with an Agreement between the Minister and the Corporation, lays down the terms and conditions under which the BBC is allowed to broadcast.|access-date=20 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008072648/http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/institutional/2009/03/000000_funding.shtml|archive-date=8 October 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

The charter, too, outlines the Corporation's governance and regulatory arrangements as a statutory corporation, including the role and composition of the BBC Board. The current Charter began on 1 January 2017 and ends on 31 December 2027; the Agreement being coterminous.<ref name="BBConCA" />

===BBC Board===
{{Main|BBC Board}}
The BBC Board was formed in April 2017. It replaced the previous governing body, the BBC Trust, which itself had replaced the [[Board of Governors of the BBC|board of governors]] in 2007. The board sets the strategy for the corporation, assesses the performance of the BBC's executive board in delivering the BBC's services, and appoints the director-general. Ofcom is responsible for the regulation of the BBC. The board consists of the following members:<ref name="Board and Executive">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/aboutthebbc/whoweare|title=Who we are|website=About the BBC|date=1 April 2019|access-date=1 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401172417/https://www.bbc.com/aboutthebbc/whoweare|archive-date=1 April 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2017/board-appointments|title=Board Appointment|website=BBC Media Centre|date=23 March 2017|access-date=20 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190821172324/https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2017/board-appointments|archive-date=21 August 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
!Name
!Position
! colspan="2" |Term of office
|-
| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;" |[[Elan Closs Stephens|Dame Elan Closs Stephens]], {{post-nominals|DBE}}
| style="text-align:center;" |Acting [[Chairman of the BBC|Chairwoman]]
| style="text-align:center;" |27 June 2023
| style="text-align:center;" |27 June 2024{{notetag|Appointed for a year or until a new permanent chair has been appointed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65787514|title=Dame Elan Closs Stephens appointed acting BBC chairwoman|work=[[BBC News]]|date=2 June 2023|access-date=2 June 2023|archive-date=2 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602115107/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65787514|url-status=live}}</ref>}}
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |Member for Wales
| style="text-align:center;" |20 July 2017
| style="text-align:center;" |19 July 2020
|-
| style="text-align:center;" |20 January 2021
| style="text-align:center;" |20 July 2023
|-
| style="text-align:center;" |[[Tim Davie]], {{post-nominals|GB|CBE}}
| style="text-align:center;" |[[Director-General of the BBC|Director-General]]
| style="text-align:center;" |1 September 2020
| style="text-align:center;" |—
|-
| style="text-align:center;" |[[Nicholas Serota]], {{post-nominals|GB|CH}}
| style="text-align:center;" |Senior Independent Director
| style="text-align:center;" |3 April 2017
| style="text-align:center;" |2 April 2024
|-
| style="text-align:center;" |Shumeet Banerji
| style="text-align:center;" |Non-executive Director
| style="text-align:center;" |1 January 2022
| style="text-align:center;" |31 December 2025
|-
| style="text-align:center;" |[[Damon Buffini|Sir Damon Buffini]]
| style="text-align:center;" |Non-executive Director and Deputy Chair{{notetag|The title of deputy chair is an honorary one held [[Ex officio member|ex-officio]] by the chair of the BBC's Commercial Board<ref>{{cite web|url=https://downloads.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/whoweare/bbcboard/board-minutes-8-december-2022.pdf|page=6|title=Meeting of the BBC Board – Minutes – 8 December 2022|publisher=BBC|access-date=28 April 2023|archive-date=29 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230429001034/https://downloads.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/whoweare/bbcboard/board-minutes-8-december-2022.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>}}
| style="text-align:center;" |1 January 2022
| style="text-align:center;" |31 December 2025
|-
| style="text-align:center;" |Shirley Garrood
| style="text-align:center;" |Non-executive Director
| style="text-align:center;" |3 July 2019
| style="text-align:center;" |2 July 2023
|-
| style="text-align:center;" |[[Ian Hargreaves]], {{post-nominals|GB|CBE}}
| style="text-align:center;" |Non-executive Director
| style="text-align:center;" |2 April 2020
| style="text-align:center;" |2 April 2023
|-
| style="text-align:center;" |[[Robbie Gibb|Sir Robbie Gibb]]
| style="text-align:center;" |Member for England
| style="text-align:center;" |7 May 2021
| style="text-align:center;" |6 May 2024
|-
| style="text-align:center;" |[[Muriel Gray]]
| style="text-align:center;" |Member for Scotland
| style="text-align:center;" |3 January 2022
| style="text-align:center;" |2 January 2026
|-
| style="text-align:center;" |''To be appointed by the [[Northern Ireland Executive]]''
| style="text-align:center;" |Member for Northern Ireland
| style="text-align:center;" |—
| style="text-align:center;" |—
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |[[Charlotte Moore (TV executive)|Charlotte Moore]]
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |Chief Content Officer
| style="text-align:center;" |1 September 2020
| style="text-align:center;" |1 September 2022
|-
| style="text-align:center;" |1 September 2022
| style="text-align:center;" |31 August 2024
|-
| style="text-align:center;" |Leigh Tavaziva
| style="text-align:center;" |Chief Operating Officer
| style="text-align:center;" |1 February 2021
| style="text-align:center;" |31 January 2025
|-
| style="text-align:center;" |[[Deborah Turness]]
| style="text-align:center;" |CEO, BBC News and Current Affairs
| style="text-align:center;" |5 September 2022
| style="text-align:center;" |4 September 2024
|}
{{notefoot}}

===Executive committee===
The executive committee is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the broadcaster. Consisting of senior managers of the BBC, the committee meets once per month and is responsible for operational management and delivery of services within a framework set by the board, and is chaired by the [[Director-General of the BBC|director-general]], currently [[Tim Davie]], who is chief executive and (from 1994) editor-in-chief.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/aboutthebbc/whoweare/exco|title=Executive committee|website=About the BBC|access-date=3 September 2020|archive-date=22 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201222173834/https://www.bbc.com/aboutthebbc/whoweare/exco|url-status=live}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
!Name !!Position
|-
|[[Tim Davie]] || Director-general (chair)
|-
|Kerris Bright || Chief Customer Officer
|-
|Alan Dickson || Chief Financial Officer
|-
|Tom Fussell || CEO, [[BBC Studios]]
|-
|Leigh Tavaziva|| Chief Operating Officer
|-
|[[Charlotte Moore (TV executive)|Charlotte Moore]] || Chief Content Officer
|-
|Uzair Qadeer || Chief People Officer
|-
|Alice Macandrew || Group Corporate Affairs Director
|-
|[[Rhodri Talfan Davies]] || Director, Nations
|-
|Gautam Rangarajan || Group Director of Strategy and Performance
|-
|Deborah Turness || CEO, BBC News and Current Affairs
|}

===Operational divisions===
The corporation has the following in-house divisions covering the BBC's output and operations:<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2020/charlotte-moore|title=Charlotte Moore appointed to BBC Board|publisher=BBC Media Centre. 3 September 2020|access-date=3 September 2020|archive-date=9 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210409134658/https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2020/charlotte-moore|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=BBC Radio and Education moves to new division |url=https://radiotoday.co.uk/2020/09/bbc-radio-and-education-moves-to-new-division/ |access-date=25 June 2022 |work=Radio Today |archive-date=25 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220625090235/https://radiotoday.co.uk/2020/09/bbc-radio-and-education-moves-to-new-division/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
* '''Content''', headed by [[Charlotte Moore (TV executive)|Charlotte Moore]] is in charge of the corporation's [[BBC Television|television channel]]s including the commissioning of programming.
* '''Nations and Regions''', headed by Rhodri Talfan Davies is responsible for the corporation's divisions in [[BBC Scotland|Scotland]], [[BBC Northern Ireland|Northern Ireland]], [[BBC Cymru Wales|Wales]], and the [[BBC English Regions|English Regions]].

===Commercial divisions===
The BBC also operates a number of wholly owned commercial divisions:
* '''[[BBC Studios]]''' is the former in-house television production; Entertainment, Music & Events, Factual and Scripted (drama and comedy). Following a merger with [[BBC Worldwide]] in April 2018, it also operates international channels and sells programmes and merchandise in the UK and abroad to gain additional income that is returned to BBC programmes. It is kept separate from the corporation due to its commercial nature.
* '''[[BBC World News]]''' department is in charge of the production and distribution of its commercial global television channel. It works closely with the BBC News group, but is not governed by it, and shares the corporation's facilities and staff. It also works with BBC Studios, the channel's distributor.
* '''[[BBC Studioworks]]''' is also separate and officially owns and operates some of the BBC's studio facilities, such as the [[BBC Elstree Centre]], leasing them out to productions from within and outside of the corporation.<ref name="autogenerated2">[https://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/running/bbcstructure/ bbc.co.uk About The BBC section] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715004020/http://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/running/bbcstructure/ |date=15 July 2011 }}. Retrieved 9 July 2011</ref>

===MI5 vetting policy===
From as early as the 1930s until the 1990s, MI5, the British domestic intelligence service, engaged in vetting of applicants for BBC positions, a policy designed to keep out persons deemed subversive.<ref name="vetting">{{cite news |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-43754737 |website=BBC News |title=The vetting files: How the BBC kept out 'subversives' |date=22 April 2018 |access-date=22 April 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180422000203/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-43754737 |archive-date=22 April 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1522875/Revealed-how-the-BBC-used-MI5-to-vet-thousands-of-staff.html |newspaper=Daily Telegraph |location= London |title=Revealed: how the BBC used MI5 to vet thousands of staff |date=2 July 2006 |access-date=22 April 2018 |last1=Hastings |first1=Chris |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180426100703/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1522875/Revealed-how-the-BBC-used-MI5-to-vet-thousands-of-staff.html |archive-date=26 April 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1933, BBC executive Colonel Alan Dawnay began to meet the head of MI5, Sir [[Vernon Kell]], to informally trade information; from 1935, a formal arrangement was made wherein job applicants would be secretly vetted by MI5 for their political views (without their knowledge).<ref name="vetting"/> The BBC took up a policy of denying any suggestion of such a relationship by the press (the existence of MI5 itself was not officially acknowledged until the [[Security Service Act 1989]]).<ref name="vetting"/>

This relationship garnered wider public attention after an article by [[David Leigh (journalist)|David Leigh]] and Paul Lashmar appeared in ''[[The Observer]]'' in August 1985, revealing that MI5 had been vetting appointments, running operations out of Room 105 in Broadcasting House.<ref name="vetting"/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cambridgeclarion.org/press_cuttings/mi5.bbc.page9_obs_18aug1985.html |newspaper=The Observer |location= London |title=The Blacklist in Room 105 |date=18 August 1985 |access-date=22 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190513210628/http://www.cambridgeclarion.org/press_cuttings/mi5.bbc.page9_obs_18aug1985.html |archive-date=13 May 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> At the time of the exposé, the operation was being run by [[Ronnie Stonham]]. A memo from 1984 revealed that blacklisted organisations included the far-left Communist Party of Great Britain, the [[Socialist Workers Party (UK)|Socialist Workers Party]], the [[Workers Revolutionary Party (UK)|Workers Revolutionary Party]] and the [[Militant Tendency]], as well as the far-right [[National Front (UK)|National Front]] and the [[British National Party]]. An association with one of these groups could result in a denial of a job application.<ref name="vetting"/>

In October 1985, the BBC announced that it would stop the vetting process, except for a few people in top roles, as well as those in charge of [[Wartime Broadcasting Service]] emergency broadcasting (in event of a nuclear war) and staff in the [[BBC World Service]].<ref name="vetting"/> In 1990, following the Security Service Act 1989, vetting was further restricted to only those responsible for wartime broadcasting and those with access to [[Security clearance|secret government information]].<ref name="vetting"/> Michael Hodder, who succeeded Stonham, had the MI5 vetting files sent to the [[BBC Information and Archives]] in [[Reading, Berkshire]].<ref name="vetting"/>