The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the national public service broadcaster of the United Kingdom, operating under a Royal Charter that ensures its editorial independence. Its core mandate is to inform, educate, and entertain audiences across television, radio, and digital media domestically and internationally. Founded on October 18, 1922, as a private company, it was reconstituted as a public corporation in 1927 and launched the world's first regular high-definition television service in 1936.