BBC Television Centre at White City in West London is the headquarters of BBC Television. Officially opened on 29 June 1960, it is one of the most readily recognisable such facilities anywhere having featured over the years as backdrop to many BBC programmes. It remains one of the largest such facilities in the world and is the second oldest television studios in the United Kingdom after Granada Studios, which was home to the BBC's great rival for many years, Granada Television Manchester.
Radio 5 Live and most of the corporation's national TV and radio news output comes from Television Centre with most of the pre-recorded television output coming from the nearby Broadcast Centre at 201 Wood Lane care of Red Bee Media. Live television events from studios and routing of national and international sporting events still happen within Television Centre before being passed onto the Broadcast Centre for transmission.
On 21 September 2010, the BBC's Director of Vision, Jana Bennett, announced that the BBC will cease broadcasting from Television Centre in 2013. On 13 June 2011 the BBC announced that Television Centre was on the market, and that it was 'inviting bid proposals from people looking for a conventional, freehold property or those interested in a joint venture', suggesting that it may yet remain connected to the Corporation. The radio and television news departments will move to Broadcasting House in central London in 2011, the traditional home of BBC Radio, as part of an ongoing reorganisation of the BBC's facilities.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff. Its main responsibility is to provide public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, Channel Islands and Isle of Man.
The BBC is an autonomous public service broadcaster that operates under a Royal Charter and a Licence and Agreement from the Home Secretary. Within the United Kingdom its work is funded principally by an annual television licence fee, which is charged to all British households, companies and organisations using any type of equipment to record and/or receive live television broadcasts; the level of the fee is set annually by the British Government and agreed by Parliament.
Outside the UK, the BBC World Service has provided services by direct broadcasting and re-transmission contracts by sound radio since the inauguration of the BBC Empire Service in December 1932, and more recently by television and online. Though sharing some of the facilities of the domestic services, particularly for news and current affairs output, the World Service has a separate Managing Director, and its operating costs have historically been funded mainly by direct grants from the British government. These grants were determined independently of the domestic licence fee. A recent spending review has announced plans for the funding for the world service to be drawn from the domestic licence fee.