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BBC Handbooks, Annual Reports, and Accounts, 1927–2002 - Volumes
Volumes
2 volumes in BBC Handbooks, Annual Reports, and Accounts, 1927–2002
BBC annual reports and accounts
With the exception of World War II, when a single report covered the years between 1939 and 1944, the BBC's annual reports and accounts have been a statutory requirement, submitted year by year to Parliament, and summarising how the Corporation has spent the money received from radio and television licence fees.From 1973 to 1987, their publication was incorporated with the handbook. Annual reports for that period can therefore be found in the separate series for BBC handbooks. See the introduction by Hugh Chignell of the Media School at Bournemouth University. Read more →
BBC handbooks
The BBC's handbooks were published yearly from 1928 to 1987, apart from a two-year break in 1953-1954. Alongside the Annual Report and Accounts, which the BBC is required to submit to Parliament, these handbooks were intended to be a publicly available report of what it did and why. The handbooks' aims have been summarised thus by Sir Ian Jacob, former Director-General (BBC handbook, 1955): "To provide a clear and reliable guide to the workings of the BBC, to survey the year's work in British broadcasting, and to bring together as much information about the BBC as can be assembled within the covers of a small book."With occasional changes of title (from 'Handbook' to 'Yearbook' to 'Annual' and back), but generally following the same format (a review of the year; information on notable programmes; basic factual material, including the names of senior staff and governors; engineering developments; audience trends; accounts; a copy of the BBC's charter), for its last seven years of publication (1981-1987), the handbooks also incorporated the Corporation's statutory annual report and accounts. A useful introduction to this particular reference series is The BBC handbooks : some observations for broadcasting historians by Hugh Chignell, Media School, Bournemouth University. Read more →
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