The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) nicknamed 'Auntie' is a public channel. It is financed by the state and is the sole beneficiary of the television licence fee. It receives income from the sale of programmes as well as from a vast range of publications. The BBC manuals on the production of television programmes are regarded as the industry standard worldwide

The channel's content is often of variable quality featuring everything from critically acclaimed period drama to Australian soap operas. 'Auntie' normally avoids the worst excesses of game shows and 'reality TV but high quality content is now increasingly sacrificed in the quest for higher viewing figures. Though there are of course cost considerations (the production of original drama costs around £500,000 per hour, whereas the repeat screening of a programme bought from another channel may only cost £13,000 per hour) the BBC has been widely criticised, in recent years, for 'dumbing down' the quality of their output. It has an annual budget in excess of £2,000,000,000 and one of the biggest web sites on the net. Last year they spent around £110,000,000 on it.