BBC One, the main channel of the United Kingdom's BBC returns to airing after being off air for 7 years due to the Second World War.
BBC One is a British free-to-air television network owned and operated by the BBC, which operates a public television service. It is the corporation's flagship network, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, including BBC News television bulletins, primetime drama and entertainment, and some sports events.
It was launched on 2 November 1936, as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution. It was renamed BBC TV in 1960, and used this name until the launch of the second BBC channel, BBC2, in 1964. The main channel then became known as BBC1. The current spelling of BBC One was adopted in 1997.
The channel's annual budget for 2012–2013 was £1.14 billion. It is funded by the television licence fee together with the BBC's other domestic television stations, and shows uninterrupted programming without commercial advertising. The television channel was noted to have the highest reach share of any broadcaster in the United Kingdom as at 2019, ahead of its traditional rival for ratings leadership, ITV. In 2013, a major global study for the BBC by the Populus polling organisation found BBC One to be rated the highest quality TV channel in the world, with BBC Two coming in third place.