European Broadcasting Union

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The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; French: L'Union Européenne de Radio-Télévision ("UER"), and unrelated to the European Union) is a confederation of 75 broadcasting organisations from 56 countries, and 43 associate broadcasters from a further 25. Members are radio and television companies, most of which are government-owned public service broadcasters or privately owned stations with public missions. Full active Members are based in countries from Algeria to the Vatican State, including almost all European countries. Associate members aren't limited to those from European countries and the Mediterranean but include broadcasters from Canada, Japan, Mexico, India and Hong Kong, as well as many others. Associate Members from the United States include ABC, CBS, NBC, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and Time Warner.

Active members are those whose states fall within the European Broadcasting Area, or otherwise those who are members of the Council of Europe.

The EBU's highest profile production is the Eurovision Song Contest organised by its Eurovision Network. The ability of any country from which there are full members of the EBU to enter this contest leads both to the ever growing number of entries, and the counter-intuitive inclusion of countries, such as Morocco and Israel, which aren't geographically or politically part of Europe. The Eurovision Network also organises the Eurovision Young Dancers competition, the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, and other competitions for young musicians and screenwriters, which are modelled along similar lines. The countries in the EBU have also often worked together to create documentaries and (animated) children's programming.

Most EBU broadcasters have a group deal to carry the Olympics and FIFA World Cup (particularly, the games of their country and the Final). Another annually recurring event is broadcast across Europe through the EBU is the Vienna New Year's Concert.

The theme music played before EBU broadcasts is Marc-Antoine Charpentier's Prelude to Te Deum. It is well known to Europeans as it is played before and after the Eurovision Song Contest and other important events (click [1] to listen).

[edit] History

The classic opening ident that preceded all Eurovision network transmissions until the mid-90s. The logotypes of both the sending and receiving company were shown in the middle. For example, the BBC.

It was formed on 12 February 1950 by 23 broadcasting organisations from Europe and the Mediterranean at a conference in the coastal resort of Torquay in Devon, England. In 1993, the International Radio and Television Organisation (OIRT), an equivalent organisation of broadcasters from Central and Eastern Europe, was merged with the EBU.

The first co-production was the animated series The Animals of Farthing Wood from 1993 based on the books of the same title by Colin Dann. The second animated collaboration was Noah's Island from 1997 and more recently, Pitt and Kantrop. Another important EBU program is Jeux sans frontières.

[edit] Technical activities

The objective of the EBU’s technical activities is simply to assist EBU Members (see below) in this period of unprecedented technological changes. This includes provision of technical information to Members via conferences and workshops, as well as in written form (such as the EBU Technical Review).

The EBU also encourages active collaboration between its Members on the basis that they can freely share their knowledge and experience, thus achieving considerably more than individual Members could achieve by themselves. Much of this collaboration is achieved through Project Groups which study specific technical issues of common interest: for example, EBU Members have long been preparing for the revision of the 1961 Stockholm Plan.

The EBU places great emphasis on the use of open standards. Widespread use of open standards (such as MPEG-2, DAB, DVB, etc.) ensures interoperability between products from different vendors, as well as facilitating the exchange of programme material between EBU Members and promoting "horizontal markets" for the benefit of all consumers.

EBU Members and the EBU Technical Department have long played an important role in the development of many systems used in radio and television broadcasting, such as:

• The AES/EBU digital audio interface;
• Serial and parallel interfaces for digital video (ITU-R Recommendations 601 and 656);
• RDS - the Radio Data System used on FM broadcasting.

The EBU has also actively encouraged the development and implementation of:

• Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) through Eureka Project 147 and the WorldDAB Forum;
• Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) through the DVB Project and DigiTAG;
• Digital radio in the bands currently used for AM broadcasting through DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale);
• Standardisation of PVR systems through the TV-Anytime Forum.
• Development of other content distribution networks on the internet through P2PTV; EBU Project Group D/P2P, from November 2007 to April 2008, with a trial of selected member channels, thanks to Octoshape's distribution platform. [2]. The EBU is also part of the European P2P-Next project.

Links to:

• EBU Technical homepage
• EBU Technical Review

[edit] Members

[edit] European members

A map illustrating the entry dates of EBU member states. Some states have more than one channel so only the earliest is counted.

Country	Broadcasting organisation	Abbr.	Year
Albania	Albanian Public Radio and Television (Radio Televizioni Shqiptar)	RTSH	1999
Andorra	Radio and Television of Andorra (Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra)	RTVA	2002
Armenia	Armenian Public Television (Հայաստանի հանրային հեռուստաընկերություն)	ARMTV	2005
Austria	Austrian Broadcasting (Österreichischer Rundfunk)	ORF	1953
Azerbaijan	Public Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (İctimai Televiziya və Radio Yayımları Şirkəti)	İTV	2007
Belarus	National State Teleradiocompany (Нацыянальная дзяржаўная тэлерадыёкампанія Рэспублікі Беларусь)	BTRC	1993
Belgium	Flemish Radio- and Television Network (Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep)	VRT	1950
	Radio-Télévision Belge de la Communauté Française (Radio-Télévision Belge de la Communauté Française)	RTBF	1950
Bosnia & Herzegovina	Radiotelevision of Bosnia-Herzegovina (Radio-televizija Bosne i Hercegovine)	BHRT	1993
Bulgaria	Bulgarian National Radio (Българско национално радио)	BNR	1993
	Bulgarian National Television (Българска национална телевизия)	BNT	1993
Croatia	Croatian Radiotelevision (Hrvatska radiotelevizija)	HRT	1993
Czech Republic	Czech Radio (Český rozhlas)	ČR	1993
	Czech Television (Česká televize)	ČT	1993
Cyprus	Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (Ραδιοφωνικό Ίδρυμα Κύπρου) (Kıbrıs Yayın Kurumu)	CY/CBC	1968
Denmark	Danish Radio (Danmarks Radio)	DR	1950
	TV2	DK/TV2	1990
Estonia	Estonian Public Broadcasting (Eesti Rahvusringhääling)	ERR	1993
Finland	MTV3 (Mainostelevisio 3)	FI/MTV	1993
	YLE (Yleisradio Oy)	YLE	1950
France	- TF1 (Télévision Française 1) - France 2 - France 3 - Canal+ - Radio France - Radio France Internationale	GRF	1950
	Europe 1	E1	1982
Georgia	Georgian Public Broadcasting (საქართველოს საზოგადოებრივი მაუწყებელი)	GPB	2005
Germany	ARD (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten)	ARD	1952
	ZDF (Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen)	ZDF	1963
Greece	Hellenic Radio Television (Ελληνική Ραδιοφωνία Τηλεόραση)	ERT	1950
Hungary	Hungarian Radio (Magyar Rádió)	MR	1993
	Hungarian Television (Magyar Televízió)	HU/MTV	1993
Iceland	National Broadcasting Service (Ríkisútvarpið)	RÚV	1956
Ireland	Ireland's National Television and Radio Broadcaster (Radio Telefís Éireann)	RTÉ	1950
	TG4 (Teilifís na Gaeilge)	TG4	2007
Italy	Italian Radiotelevision (RAI-Radiotelevisione Italiana)	RAI	1950
Latvia	Latvian Radio (Latvijas Radio)	LR	1993
	Latvian Television (Latvijas Televīzija)	LTV	1993
Lithuania	Lithuanian National Radio and Television (Lietuvos Radijas ir Televizija)	LRT	1993
Luxembourg	CLT Multi Media	RTL	1950
	Radio 100,7	ERSL	1996
Malta	Public Broadcasting Services	MT/PBS	1969
Moldova	Teleradio-Moldova	TRM	1993
Monaco	Radio Monte-Carlo (Groupement de Radiodiffuseurs Monégasques)	TMC	1950
Montenegro	Radio Television of Montenegro (Радио Телевизија Црне Горе)	RTCG	2001
Netherlands	Netherlands Public Broadcasting (Nederlandse Publieke Omroep)	NPO	1950
Norway	Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (Norsk rikskringkasting)	NRK	1950
	TV2	NO/TV2	1992
Poland	Polish Television (Telewizja Polska)	TVP	1993
	Polish Radio (Polskie Radio)	PR	1993
Portugal	Radio and Television of Portugal (Rádio e Televisão de Portugal)	RTP	1950
FYR Macedonia	Macedonian Radio-Television (Македонска Радио Телевизија)	MKRTV	1993
Romania	Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company (Societatea Română de Radiodifuziune)	ROR	1993
	Romanian Television (Televiziunea Română)	TVR	1993
Russia	Channel One (Первый канал)	C1R	1993
	Radio House Ostankino (Радиодом Останкино)	RDO	1993
	Russia TV Channel (Телеканал Россия)	RTR	1993
San Marino	San Marino RTV	SMRTV	1995
Serbia	Radio Television of Serbia (Радио-телевизија Србије)	RTS	2001
Slovakia	Slovak Radio (Slovenský rozhlas)	SK/SR	1993
	Slovak Television (Slovenská televízia)	SK/STV	1993
Slovenia	Radio-Television Slovenia (Radiotelevizija Slovenija)	RTVSLO	1993
Spain	RTVE (Radiotelevisión Española)	RTVE	1955
	Cadena SER (Sociedad Española de Radiodifusión)	SER	1975
	Cadena COPE (Cadena de Ondas Populares de España)	COPE	1998
Sweden	Swedish Radio (Sveriges Radio)	SR	1950
	Swedish Television (Sveriges Television)	SVT	1979
	Swedish Educational Broadcasting (Sveriges Utbildningsradio)	UR	1985
	TV4	TV4	2004
Switzerland	Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR idée suisse)	SSR	1950
Turkey	Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (Türkiye Radyo-Televizyon Kurumu)	TRT	1950
Ukraine	National Television Company of Ukraine (Національна Телекомпанія України)	NTU	1993
	National Radio Company of Ukraine (Національна радіокомпанія України)	NRU	1993
United Kingdom	British Broadcasting Corporation	BBC	1950
	United Kingdom Independent Broadcasting	UKIB	1959
Vatican City	Vatican Radio (Radio Vaticana)	RV	1950
Yugoslavia	Yugoslav Radio Television (Jugoslovenska radiotelevizija)	JRT	1950-92

[edit] Non-European members

Country	Broadcasting organisation	Abbr.	Year
Algeria	National Television Company (المـؤسـسـة العمومية للتـلـفزيـون)	ENTV	1969
	National Sound-broadcasting Company (الإذاعة الجزائري)	ENRS	1969
	Television of Algeria (التلفزيون في الجزائر)	TDA	1969
Egypt	Egyptian Radio and Television Union (التلفزيون المصري)	ERTU	1950-1957, 1984
Israel	Israel Broadcasting Authority (רָשׁוּת השׁידוּר)	IBA	1957
Jordan	Jordan Radio and Television Corporation (الفضائية)	JRTV	1969
Lebanon	Télé Liban	TL	1950
Libya	Libya Jamahiriya Broadcasting	LJB	1974
Morocco	Société Nationale de Radiodiffusion et de Télévision	SNRT	1950-1961, 1968
Tunisia	Etablissement de la Radiodiffusion-Télévision Tunisienne	ERTT	1950

[edit] Associate Members

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Country	Broadcasting organisation	Abbr.	Year
Australia	National Television Company	ABC Australia
	SBS Australia	SBS
Bangladesh	National Broadcasting Authority of Bangladesh
Canada	Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (Societé Radio Canada)	CBC/SRC
Chile	Canal 13 (Chile)	UCCTV
Cuba	Cuban Television	ICRT
Gambia	Gambia Radio & Television Service	GRTS
Greenland	Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa	KNR
Hong Kong	Radio Television Hong Kong	RTHK
India	All India Radio	AIR
Iran	Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting	IRIB
Japan	Nippon Hoso Kyokai	NHK
Malaysia	Radio Television Malaysia	RTM
Mauritania	TV de Mauritanie	MR/TVM
Mauritius	Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation	MBC
Nepal	Nepal Television	NTVC
New Zealand	Television New Zealand Ltd	TVNZ
Oman	Oman Directorate General of Radio and Television	ODGRT
Pakistan	Pakistan Television Corporation	PK/PTV
Qatar	Al Jazeera Children's Channel	JCC
South Africa	South African Broadcasting Corporation	SABC
United States of America	National Broadcasting Company	NBC
Venezuela	Radio Caracas Televisión / Radio Caracas Radio	RCTV
Zimbabwe	Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation	ZBC
Qatar	Al Jazeera Children's Channel	JCC

[edit] Potential active EBU members

•  Liechtenstein: Currently Liechtenstein has no national television station, but if they form one, they will be eligible to join the EBU (this technicality had affected them once before when they weren't allowed to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 1969).
•  Morocco: The second commercial channel of Morocco 2M TV have asked for membership to the EBU. It is still unknown if Morocco will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest or the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.
•  Syria: ORTAS (Organisme de la Radio-Télévision Arabe Syrienne) - currently an associate member only (1950-57).
•  Palestine: PRTV are showing interest in joining the EBU.
•  Kosovo: RTK have shown interest in joining the EBU.

[edit] See also

Eurovision Portal

• Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union
• Eurovision Song Contest
• Eurovision Dance Contest
• Eurovision Young Musicians
• Eurovision Young Dancers
• Junior Eurovision Song Contest

[edit] External links

• EBU Website

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