"We have always innovated, changed, adapted," said BBC President Richard Sharp, calling for the anniversary to look to the future.

"Our path has always been guided by the needs of the public", "we are aware of this today as we always have been", he added, "by continuing to put the public first, we will continue to inform, educate and entertain for a new century".

The BBC was formed on October 18, 1922 by a group of entrepreneurs, but it was on November 14 that the first program was broadcast: at 6:00 p.m. a news bulletin started and the first words "2LO calling" crackled.

Princess Elizabeth, future Queen Elizabeth II, and her sister Princess Margaret speak to evacuated children on the BBC, in Windsor (UK) in October 1940, during the Second World War - POOL/AFP

"It was read the first time, then repeated immediately after half as fast" so that the listeners understood well, explains James Stirling, responsible for the 100th anniversary of the BBC.

Ten years later, in 1932, progress was such that King George V addressed the British Empire on the radio: it was the start of the BBC Empire Service, the ancestor of today's BBC World Service.

The king's voice was heard for the first time by millions of people simultaneously.

Television was born in 1936.

Since then, the public audiovisual group has produced its world-famous series such as Peaky Blinders and Fleabag.

Its news programs set the tone of the British political agenda and its entertainment has millions of followers.

Fee in question

With a worldwide audience of 492 million people per week, programs in some forty languages, the BBC extends far beyond the borders of the United Kingdom, of which it constitutes a very powerful tool of "soft power".

But it is bearing the brunt of competition from paid platforms, particularly among young people, and criticism from the ruling Conservatives, who accuse it of biased coverage, particularly on Brexit, and centered on the concerns of urban elites rather than classes. popular.

The government - then led by Boris Johnson - froze the fee (159 pounds, or 181 euros per year) in January for two years, creating a gaping hole in its accounts as inflation approaches 10% in the country.

He had also posed the threat in the long term of an outright abolition of the fee.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrives at the premises of the BBC for a political broadcast, October 4, 2020 in London (United Kingdom) JUSTIN TALLIS AFP

Under budgetary pressure, the group announced in May a plan to make 500 million pounds (586 million euros) in savings per year.

Around 1,000 jobs (out of a total of around 22,000 employees) are being cut, channels are being merged and others are moving exclusively online.

The centenary is marked by a series of special programs.

Charles, who was not yet king during the filming, will appear in "The Repair Shop", a program which gives new life to old objects dear to the hearts of their owners.

This is how he entrusted to the expert hands of the show an 18th century clock, from the collection of his foundation, and a ceramic painted for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria, in this program filmed between the fall 2021 and March 2022.

© 2022 AFP