The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has announced a surplus of £483 million which they have put down to pension reform and the disposal of Animal Planet in its 2010/2011 Annual Report.
Known as “aunty” among media insiders in the UK, the Beeb is funded by a license fee levied on UK residents who own and operate a TV in their home or business. In 2011, the income from this levy was £3.513 billion. The programs and content which are created using this fee are then commercially exploited abroad through the commercial arm of the BBC, called BBC Worldwide.
Zarin Patel, the BBC Chief Financial Officer, explained that the corporation has been increasing its non-licence fee income from BBC Worldwide, BBC World News and BBC Studios & Post Production in anticipation of strong political pressure against increasing the licence fee during a recession.