14 Facts About BBC News Channel

1. BBC News Channel is largely financed by annual television licensing fees, which are paid by those who own TV sets or watch live television transmissions on such devices as computers.

2. BBC News Channel has partnered with PBS on a new big-budget natural history series, Green Planet, while Sir David Attenborough is back with a new landmark factual project.

3. BBC News Channel was banned in Burma after their coverage and commentary on anti-government protests there in September 2007.

4. BBC News Channel has faced accusations of holding both anti-Israel and anti-Palestine bias.

5. In 2008, the BBC News Channel was criticised by some for referring to the terrorists who carried out the November 2008 Mumbai attacks as "gunmen".

6. BBC News Channel is required by its charter to be free from both political and commercial influence and answers only to its viewers and listeners.

7. BBC News Channel is a quasi-autonomous corporation authorised by Royal Charter, making it operationally independent of the government, who have no power to appoint or dismiss its director-general, and required to report impartially.

8. BBC News Channel has now unveiled the specialists and correspondents who will form the bedrock of the show.

9. BBC News Channel says the change of timings for its flagship news bulletin more closely mirrors what the BBC has historically done and what the BBC already does on a Friday.

10. BBC News Channel is said to be concerned about losing younger viewers to rivals such as Netflix, Amazon and Now TV, which are taking a much broader audience share.

11. BBC News Channel was criticised at launch for its style of presentation, with accusations of it being less authoritative than the BBC One news bulletins, with presenters appearing on-screen without jackets.

12. BBC News Channel's sports bulletins have always had a separate, dedicated production gallery, which is responsible for the graphics.

13. BBC News Channel maintains guidelines for procedures to be taken for breaking news.

14. On 16 July 2013, the BBC News Channel announced that a high-definition simulcast of BBC News would be launched by early 2014.