Q 01/05

In which year was the British Broadcasting Company formed?

A) 1925

B) 1927

C) 1922

D) 1930

Answer · why

C) 1922

It began as a private company owned by a consortium of wireless-set makers, with the GPO issuing a single licence to avoid American-style chaos.

Q 02/05

The BBC became a royal-chartered corporation on 1 January of which year?

A) 1927

B) 1929

C) 1933

D) 1936

Answer · why

A) 1927

The Crawford Committee recommended replacing the commercial company with a non-commercial, Crown-chartered body.

Q 03/05

Who was the BBC's first director general?

A) Hugh Greene

B) Greg Dyke

C) Tony Hall

D) John Reith

Answer · why

D) John Reith

A Scottish Calvinist minister's son, Reith ran the company from 1922 and the corporation from 1927, and was knighted the same year.

Q 04/05

Which motto appears on the BBC's coat of arms?

A) Truth, Liberty and Service

B) Nation shall speak peace unto Nation

C) By Wisdom and Voice

D) To Serve the Realm

Answer · why

B) Nation shall speak peace unto Nation

Adopted in 1927, it adapts a line from the Book of Micah about nations beating swords into ploughshares.

Q 05/05

The Reithian mission is to "inform, educate and" do what?

A) Entertain

B) Enlighten

C) Unite

D) Inspire

Answer · why

A) Entertain

The three verbs still anchor the BBC's public purposes a century after Reith first set them down.