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<span id="openzim-page-title" class="mw-page-title-main"><span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Charter</span></span>
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<p>The <b>Royal Charter for the continuance<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>a<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> of the British Broadcasting Corporation</b>, short: <b>BBC Charter</b>, is a <a href="Royal_charter" title="Royal charter">royal charter</a> setting out the arrangements for the governance of the <a href="BBC" title="BBC">British Broadcasting Corporation</a>. It, and an accompanying agreement recognise its <a href="Editorial_independence" title="Editorial independence">editorial independence</a> and set out its public obligations.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>The initial BBC Charter established the BBC on 1 January 1927<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> as a replacement for the <a href="British_Broadcasting_Company" title="British Broadcasting Company">British Broadcasting Company</a>, which had provided the broadcasting service until that point. As the royal charter created an entirely new body, separate arrangements were made to transfer the assets of the British Broadcasting Company to the new British Broadcasting Corporation via the <a href="Postmaster_General_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Postmaster General of the United Kingdom">Postmaster General</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> It was felt that establishing a body under a royal charter to replace the private company would allow the creation of a body that acted "as a trustee for the national interest" and would "endow the [BBC] with a prestige and influence which will be of special value to it."<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>Upon the expiry of the first charter, it was renewed with a replacement charter – a process that has continued ever since. It, and each subsequent royal charter, was initially for a period for ten years, except for the charter from 1947 to 1952, which ran for five years, and the charter from 2006 to 2017, which ran for eleven years. However, several charters were extended in duration, including 1947 (six months), 1952 (two years), and 1964 (two extensions totalling five years).<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>The most recent charter took effect on 1 January 2017 and will run until 31 December 2027.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="History">History</h2></div>
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</style><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>AND WHEREAS it has been made to appear to Us that more than two million persons in our Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland have applied for and taken out Licences to instal and work apparatus for wireless telegraphy for the purpose of receiving Broadcast programmes[.]</p></blockquote><div class="templatequotecite"><p style="display: inline; padding-left: 2.3em;">— <a href="George_V" title="George V">George V</a>, Royal Charter for 1927</p></div>
<p>The 1927 charter incorporated the BBC as independent of the Government similar to institutions like the Bank of England. With a royal charter—not as a <a href="Governmental_department" class="mw-redirect" title="Governmental department">governmental department</a>, and therefore independent of it. It established the <a href="Board_of_Governors_of_the_BBC" title="Board of Governors of the BBC">Board of Governors of the BBC</a> and the <a href="Postmaster_General_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Postmaster General of the United Kingdom">Postmaster General</a> was set to supervise and give licence to the broadcaster. Interestingly, the charter did not spell out 'independence' as such, yet.
</p><p>In 1937, after having been made to appear that 7.5 million persons now used wireless telegraphy, the charter was renewed, and had the Postmaster General continue giving licence to the BBC.
</p><p>After several subsequent charters, the 1981 charter moved the responsibilities of licensing the BBC to an unspecified Secretary of State. The 1997 charter specified the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.
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<blockquote class="templatequote"><p>The BBC shall be independent in all matters concerning the content of its output, the
times and manner in which this is supplied, and in the management of its affairs.</p></blockquote><div class="templatequotecite"><p style="display: inline; padding-left: 2.3em;">— <a href="Elizabeth_II" title="Elizabeth II">Elizabeth II</a>, Royal Charter for 2007</p></div>
<p>Though it is held that the BBC had throughout the history of broadcasting held a large degree of independence than other West European broadcasters earlier,<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGoodwin2005_9-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGoodwin2005-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup class="reference nowrap"><span title="Page / location: 96">: 96 </span></sup> comparing the different charters, that editorial independence had developed as part of the 'object' and 'governance' of the corporation and thus largely in implication. The 2007 charter was the first to spell it out in a manner separate.
</p><p>The 2007 charter transformed the Board of Governors into the <a href="BBC_Trust" title="BBC Trust">BBC Trust</a>.
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Notes">Notes</h2></div>
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<li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">The initial charter of 1927 read: <i>Royal Charter for the incorporation of the British Broadcasting Corporation</i>.</span>
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>
<div class="reflist">
<div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references">
<li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">
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</style><cite class="citation book cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/about/how_we_govern/2016/agreement.pdf"><i>An Agreement Between Her Majesty's Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and the British Broadcasting Corporation</i></a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. 7 November 2016. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>978-1-4741-3894-9</bdi>. Cm 9366.</cite></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/regulatory_framework/charter_agreement/archive/1927.pdf">"Royal Charter for the incorporation of the British Broadcasting Corporation"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. <i>BBC</i>. 20 December 2016.</cite></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFEarl_of_Lucan1926" class="citation book cs1"><a href="George_Bingham%2C_5th_Earl_of_Lucan" title="George Bingham, 5th Earl of Lucan">Earl of Lucan</a>, <a href="Lord-in-waiting" title="Lord-in-waiting">Lord-in-waiting</a> (15 December 1926). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1926/dec/15/british-broadcasting-corporation">"British Broadcasting Corporation"</a>. <i><a href="Hansard" title="Hansard">Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)</a></i>. House of Lords. col. 1698<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">29 October</span> 2021</span>.</cite><span class="cs1-maint citation-comment"><code class="cs1-code">{{cite book}}</code>: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)</span></span>
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<li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFBalfour1926" class="citation web cs1"><a href="Arthur_Balfour" title="Arthur Balfour">Balfour, Arthur</a> (19 November 1926). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/twenties-britain-part-two/royal-charter-for-bbc/">"Letter to Lord Chancellor on the granting of a Royal Charter to the BBC"</a>. <i><a href="The_National_Archives_(United_Kingdom)" title="The National Archives (United Kingdom)">The National Archives</a></i>. PC 8/1089<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">29 October</span> 2021</span>.</cite></span>
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<li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/research/royal-charter">"BBC Royal Charter archive"</a>. <i>History of the BBC</i>. British Broadcasting Corporation<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">29 October</span> 2021</span>.</cite></span>
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<li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.bbc.com/aboutthebbc/governance/charter">"BBC Charter and Agreement"</a>. <i>About the BBC</i>. British Broadcasting Corporation<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">29 October</span> 2021</span>.</cite></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation book cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/about/how_we_govern/2016/charter.pdf"><i>Copy of Royal Charter for the continuance of the British Broadcasting Corporation</i></a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. 2016. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>978-1-4741-3892-5</bdi>. Cm 9365. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170712193850/http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/about/how_we_govern/2016/charter.pdf">Archived</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span> from the original on 12 July 2017<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">29 October</span> 2021</span>.</cite></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEGoodwin2005-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGoodwin2005_9-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFGoodwin2005">Goodwin 2005</a>.</span>
</li>
</ol></div></div>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Works_cited">Works cited</h2></div>
<ul><li><cite id="CITEREFGoodwin2005" class="citation journal cs1"><a href="Peter_Goodwin" title="Peter Goodwin">Goodwin, Peter</a> (2005). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.16997%2Fwpcc.10">"Low Conspiracy? – Government interference in the BBC1"</a>. <i>Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture</i>. <b>2</b> (1): <span class="nowrap">96–</span>118. <a href="Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<span class="id-lock-free" title="Freely accessible"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.16997%2Fwpcc.10">10.16997/wpcc.10</a></span>. <a href="ISSN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISSN (identifier)">ISSN</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1744-6708">1744-6708</a>.</cite></li></ul>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2></div>
<ul><li><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.bbc.com/aboutthebbc/governance/charter">"BBC Charter and Agreement"</a>. <i>About the BBC</i>. British Broadcasting Corporation.</cite></li></ul>
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