B13

The British Broadcasting Company was formed in 1922. Its introduction saw the start of the first national radio broadcasting service in the UK.

Introduce

B14

The company was privately owned at first, but in 1926 it changed into a public corporation. In other words, it became owned by the state.

Private

B15

John Reith was the Director General of the new corporation. He insisted that the BBC must be completely independent rather than under the control of the government.

Dependent

B16

Reith's aim was to broadcast radio, and later TV, programmes that were both informative and very entertaining.

Entertain

B17

The BBC began regular TV broadcasts in 1934, and in 1964 opened a second TV channel, BBC2, renaming the original channel as BBC1.

Origin

B18

Today, the BBC has millions of viewers and listeners all round the world.

View