[p_j_w]

Yeah, not sure what that guy's on about. PBS, NPR, and other not for profit news orgs like BBC aren't perfect, but then what is? If I had to choose a single news source to try to stay informed, I'd take any one of those three over any of their for-profit competition.

[denton-scratch]

Don't mistake the BBC for a "not-for-profit". BBC Worldwide is a commmercial operation. The BBC has large shares in various commercial TV operations.

The only parts of the BBC that are arguably not-for-profit are iPlayer, and domestic TV and Radio; and the BBC World Service. These are paid for by a controversial hypothecated tax, controlled by the government of the day; as a consequence, the Beeb is fairly consistently pro the government of the day, and anti the official opposition (they can see which side their bread is buttered on).

[Edit] The World Service is paid for out of general taxation, specifically the Foreign Office budget. It's not paid for out of the Licence Fee.