Starting in 1990, all U.S. government international broadcasting services began to work more closely together. That year the U.S. Information Agency, then Voice of America's (VOA) parent agency, established the Bureau of Broadcasting to consolidate its three broadcasting services – the Voice of America, WORLDNET Television and Film Service, and Radio y Televisión Martí – under one umbrella organization, supported by a single Office of Engineering and Technical Operations.
In 1991, the Bureau created the Office of Affiliate Relations and Audience Analysis (later renamed the Office of Affiliate Relations and Media Training in 1996) to establish and maintain a network of "affiliated" radio and TV stations around the globe that would broadcast VOA- and WORLDNET-produced programs. Today, more than 1,200 radio and TV stations receive programming through the Office of Affiliate Relations.
International broadcasting by the U.S government was consolidated even further when President Clinton signed the International Broadcasting Act (Public Law 103-236) on April 30, 1994. The legislation established the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) within the U.S. Information Agency (USIA), and created a Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) with oversight authority over all international non-military government broadcasting.
The BBG oversees the International Broadcasting Bureau, which provides multimedia broadcast distribution, as well as technical and administrative support to the broadcasting networks. The IBB manages a global network of transmitting sites and an extensive system of leased satellite and fiber optic circuits, along with a rapidly growing Internet delivery system servicing the 61 languages of the BBG networks.
The bipartisan BBG includes the Secretary of State (ex officio) and eight members appointed by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The first Broadcasting Board of Governors was sworn in on August 11, 1995.
The BBG became an independent, autonomous entity on October 1, 1999 as a result of the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 (Pub.L. 105–277). The BBG has 3,592 employees and a budget of US$733 million as of 2014.