TheEuropean Broadcasting Union (EBU; French:Union européenne de radio-télévision,UER) is an alliance ofpublic service media organisations in countries within theEuropean Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who aremembers of the Council of Europe. As of 2024[update], it is made up of 123 member organisations from 56 countries,[2] and 31 associate members from a further 20 countries.[3] It was established in 1950, and has its administrative headquarters in Geneva.
The EBU owns and operates theEurovision and Euroradiotelecommunications networks on which major television and radio broadcasts are distributed live to its members. It also operates the daily Eurovision news exchange in which members share breaking news footage. In 2017, the EBU launched the Eurovision Social Newswire, an eyewitness and video verification service. Led by Head of Social Newsgathering, Derek Bowler, the service provides members of the EBU with verified and cleared-for-use newsworthy eyewitness media emerging on social media.[4]
The classic opening ident that preceded allEurovision network transmissions until 1994. The logotypes of both the sending and receiving companies were shown in the middle. This sample shows the 1988-1997 logo of theBBC.European Commission presidency candidates atEurovision Debate (May 2019). Left to right: Zahradil, Cué, Keller, Vestager, Timmermans, Weber.
EBU members come from as far north as Iceland and as far south as Algeria, from Portugal in the west to Azerbaijan in the east, and almost every nation from geographical Europe in between. Associate members from the United States includeABC,CBS,NBC,CPB,NPR,APM, and the only individual station,Chicago-basedclassical music radioWFMT.[3]
Access to content ranging from exclusive sports rights to exchanges for news, music, and children's programmes.
Representatives inBrussels, and in other international arenas, lobbying for PSM and ensuring the optimal legal and technical framework for broadcasters.
Opportunities for sharing, learning and collaborating through conferences, working groups, training, and dedicated advice and guidance.
A centre for learning and sharing new technology and innovation with a team of experts providing strategic advice and guidance.
Radio collaborations includeEuroclassic Notturno—an overnight classical music stream, produced byBBC Radio 3 and broadcast in the United Kingdom asThrough the Night—and special theme days, such as the annual Christmas music relays from around Europe.[7] The EBU is a member of theInternational Music Council.
Most EBU broadcasters have group deals to carry major sporting events including theFIFA World Cup and the inauguralEuropean Championships. Another annually recurring event which is broadcast across Europe through the EBU is theVienna New Year's Concert.[8]
Eurovision Media Services is the business arm of the EBU and provides media services for many media organisations and sports federations around the world.
The theme music played before and after every EBU broadcast isMarc-Antoine Charpentier'sPrelude toTe Deum. It is played before and after the Eurovision Song Contest and other important events.[9]
The EBU was a successor to theInternational Broadcasting Union (IBU) that was founded in 1925 and had its administrative headquarters in Geneva and technical office in Brussels. It fostered programming exchanges between members and mediated technical disputes between members that were mostly concerned with frequency and interference issues. It was in effect taken over byNazi Germany during the Second World War, and thereafter theAllies viewed it as a compromised organisation that they could not trust.
In the spring of 1946, representatives of theSoviet radio committee proposed forming a new organisation; however, at the same time preparations were being made for an inter-governmental "European Broadcasting Conference" inCopenhagen in 1948 to draw up a new plan for frequency use in the European Broadcasting Area. It was considered necessary to have an organisation that could implement the "Copenhagen Wavelength Plan" but there was disagreement among broadcasters and particularly a fear expressed by theBBC that a new association might be dominated by theUSSR and its proposal to give each of itsconstituent states one vote. France proposed that it would have four votes with the inclusion ofits North African colonies. The United Kingdom felt it would have little influence with just one vote.
On 27 June 1946, the alternativeInternational Broadcasting Organisation (IBO) was founded with 26 members and without British participation. The following day the IBU met in General Assembly and an attempt was made to dissolve it but failed; though 18 of its 28 members left to join the IBO.[10] For a period of time in the late 1940s both the IBU and IBO vied for the role of organising frequencies but Britain decided to be in involved in neither. The BBC attempted but failed to find suitable working arrangements with them. However, for practical purposes, the IBO rented the IBU technical centre in Brussels and employed its staff. The BBC then proposed a new solution based on the IBO changing its constitution so there will be only one member perInternational Telecommunication Union (ITU) country, thus ensuring a Western majority over the USSR and its satellite states. In August 1949 a meeting took place inStresa, Italy, but it resulted in disagreement between delegates on how to resolve the problems. One proposal was for the European Broadcasting Area to be replaced by one that would excludeEastern Europe, theLevant, andNorth Africa.
After Stresa, a consensus emerged among theWestern Europeans to form a new organisation and the BBC proposed it be based inLondon. Meetings inParis on 31 October and 1 November 1949 sealed the fate of the IBU and IBO, but it was decided not to allow any broadcaster fromWest Germany to be a founder of the new organisation. On 13 February 1950 the European Broadcasting Union had its first meeting with 23 members from the ITU defined European Broadcasting Area at the Imperial Hotel inTorquay, United Kingdom. The first president was Ian Jacob of the BBC who remained at the helm for ten years while its operation was largely dominated by the BBC due to its financial, technical, and staff input. The most important difference between the EBU and its predecessors was that EBU membership was for broadcasters and not governments. Early delegates said EBU meetings were cordial and professional and very different from the abrupt tone of its predecessors. Broadcasters from West Germany were admitted since 1951 and a working relationship forged with its Eastern counterpart, theInternational Radio and Television Organisation (OIRT), which existed in parallel with the EBU until its merger on 1 January 1993.[10]
In 1967, the first concert in the International Concert Season of the European Broadcasting Union was broadcast from theQueen Elizabeth Hall in London.[11]
The objective of theEBU's technical activities is simply to assist EBU Members (see below) in this period of unprecedented technological changes. This includes the provision of technical information to Members via conferences and workshops, as well as in written form (such as theEBU Technical Review, and theEBU tech-i magazine).
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 asMPEG-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, formally known asAES3;
Serial and parallel interfaces for digital video (ITU-R Recommendations 601 and 656);
RDS – the radio data system used on FM broadcasting.
DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting) through the DVB Project and DigiTAG.
Digital radio in the bands currently used for AM broadcasting throughDigital Radio Mondiale (DRM).
Standardisation ofPVR systems through theTV-Anytime Forum.
Development of other content distribution networks on the internet throughP2PTV; EBU Project Group D/P2P, from November 2007 to April 2008, with a trial of selected member channels, thanks to Octoshape's distribution platform.[12] The EBU is also part of the European P2P-Next project.
On 11 June 2013, the Greek government shut down the state broadcasterHellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) on short notice, citing government spending concerns related to theEuropean debt crisis.[13] In response, the EBU set up a makeshift studio the same day near the former ERT offices in Athens in order to continue providing EBU members with the news-gathering and broadcast relay services which had formerly been provided by ERT.[14] The EBU put out a statement expressing its "profound dismay" at the shutdown, urging theGreek Prime Minister "to use all his powers to immediately reverse this decision" and offered the "advice, assistance and expertise necessary for ERT to be preserved".[15] Starting on 4 May 2014, the new state broadcasterNew Hellenic Radio, Internet and Television (NERIT) began nationwide transmissions, taking over ERT's vacant active membership slot in the EBU.[16] On 11 June 2015, two years after ERT's closure, NERIT was renamed as Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT),[17][18] which reopened with a comprehensive program in all radio stations (with nineteen regional, two world-range and five pan-Hellenic range radio stations) and three TV channelsERT1,ERT2 andERT3.
TheBelarusian Television and Radio Company (BTRC) has been accused of repressing its own employees, having fired more than 100 people since a wave ofanti-Lukashenko protests in 2020 following alleged election fraud. Many of them have also been jailed. Many voices have been raised against the participation of BTRC in theEurovision Song Contest 2021 representing Belarus, the argument being that the EBU would make a political statement if it did endorse BTRC by essentially and silently saying that democracy is unimportant and so are basic human rights such as freedom of speech.[19]
On 28 May 2021, the EBU suspended the BTRC's membership as they had been "particularly alarmed by the broadcast of interviews apparently obtained under duress". BTRC was given two weeks to respond before the suspension came into effect, but did not do so publicly.[20] The suspension of the broadcaster was made effective on 1 July 2021.[21][22] Although initial reports mentioned that it would expire after three years, in April 2024 the EBU confirmed that the suspension had been made indefinite.[23]
The three Russian members of the EBU,Channel One Russia,VGTRK, and Radio Dom Ostankino are all controlled by the Russian government.[24] On 21 February 2022, the Russian government recognized the independence of theDonetsk andLuhansk People's Republics, disputed territories that are internationally recognized as part of Ukraine. Ukraine's public broadcasterSuspilne called on the EBU to terminate the membership of Channel One Russia and VGTRK, and to consider preventing them from participating in theEurovision Song Contest 2022 representing Russia, citing the Russian government's use of both outlets to spreaddisinformation surrounding the Russo-Ukrainian war.[25] Following theRussian invasion of Ukraine, several other public broadcasters joined UA:PBC in calling for Russia's exclusion from the 2022 Contest; Finland'sYle and Estonia'sERR stated that they would not send a representative if Russia was allowed to participate.[26][27] After initially stating that both Russia and Ukraine would be allowed to compete,[28] the EBU announced on 25 February 2022 that it would ban Russia from participating in the Contest.[29]
The three Russian broadcasters announced, via a statement released by Russian state media, that they would withdraw from the EBU on 26 February, citing increased politicization of the organization.[30] The EBU released a statement saying that it was aware of the reports, but that it had not received any formal confirmation.[31] On 1 March, a further statement from the EBU announced that it had suspended its Russian members from its governance structures.[32] On 26 May, the EBU made effective the suspension of its Russian members indefinitely.[33][34]
TheGaza war has led to calls for the EBU to exclude Israel and its broadcasterKan from the Eurovision Song Contest, and demonstrations against its participation took place in2024 and2025.[36][37][38][39]
Any group or organisation from anInternational Telecommunication Union (ITU) member country, which provides a radio or television service outside of the European Broadcasting Area, is permitted to submit applications to the EBU for Associate Membership.[47]
It is also noted by the EBU that any broadcaster that is granted Associate Member status does not gain access into Eurovision events[3] – notable exceptions being those from Australia, who have participated in theEurovision Song Contest since2015 and theJunior Eurovision Song Contest between2015 and2019; Canada, who participated in theEurovision Young Dancers between1987 and1989; and Kazakhstan, who participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest between2018 and2022 – all of which were individually invited.
The list of Associate Members of EBU comprised the following 30 broadcasting companies from 20 countries as of June 2024[update].[3]
Any groups or organisations from a country withInternational Telecommunication Union (ITU) membership, which does not qualify for either the EBU's Active or Associate memberships, but still provide a broadcasting activity for the EBU, are granted a unique Approved Participants membership, which lasts approximately five years. An application for this status may be submitted to the EBU at any given time, providing an annual fee is paid.[62]
The following eight EBU broadcast members had status as Approved Participants in November 2024.[63]
The EBU in co-operation with the respective host broadcaster organises competitions and events in which its members can participate if they wish to do so. These include:
A replica of the Eurovision Song Contest trophy on display inRotterdam, host city of the2021 edition
TheEurovision Song Contest (French:Concours Eurovision de la chanson)[64] is an annual international song competition between EBU members, that was first held inLugano, Switzerland, on 24 May 1956. Seven countries participated – each submitting two songs, for a total of 14. This was the only contest in which more than one song per country was performed: since 1957, all contests have allowed one entry per country. The1956 contest was won by the host nation,Switzerland.[65] The winner of themost recent contest, which took place inBasel, Switzerland, isAustria.
Let the Peoples Sing is a biennial choir competition, the participants of which are chosen from radio recordings entered by EBU radio members. The final, encompassing three categories and around ten choirs, is offered as a live broadcast to all EBU members. The overall winner is awarded theSilver Rose Bowl. The first winner was Glasgow Phoenix Choir, conducted by their Chorus MasterPeter Mooney, from Scotland in the 1961 competition that was held inLondon. The most recent winner is Copenhagen Girls Choir from Denmark, conducted by Anne-Terese Sales, in the 2024 competition that was held in London.
Jeux sans frontières (English:Games Without Borders,lit. 'Games Without Frontiers') was a Europe-wide television game show. In its original conception, it was broadcast from 1965 to 1999 under the auspices of the EBU. The original series' run ended in 1982, but was revived in 1988 with a different composition of nations and was hosted by smaller broadcasters.
Eurovision Young Musicians is a competition for European musicians that are between the ages of 12 and 21 years old. It is organised by the EBU and is a member ofEMCY. Thefirst competition was held inManchester, United Kingdom on 11 May 1982. The televised competition is held every other year, with some countries holding national finals. Since its inaugural edition in 1982, it has become one of the most important music competitions on an international level. The winner of themost recent contest, which took place inBodø Municipality, Norway, is Austria.
Eurovision Young Dancers was a biennial dance showcase broadcast on television throughout Europe. Theinaugural competition was held inReggio Emilia, Italy on 16 June 1985. It uses a format similar to the Eurovision Song Contest. Every participating country has the opportunity to send a dance act to compete for the title of Eurovision Young Dancer. The competition is for solo dancers, and all contestants must be between the ages of 16 and 21, and not professionally engaged. The winner of themost recent contest, which took place inPrague, Czech Republic, is Poland.
Euroclassic Notturno is a six-hour sequence of classical music recordings, assembled byBBC Radio from material supplied by EBU members and streamed back to those broadcasters by satellite for use in their overnight classical-music schedules. The recordings used are taken not from commercial CDs, but from earlier (usually live) radio broadcasts.[66][67]
TheJunior Eurovision Song Contest (French:Concours Eurovision de la Chanson Junior)[68] is an annual international song competition that was first held inCopenhagen, Denmark, on 15 November 2003. Sixteen countries participated in theinaugural edition, with each submitting one song. The inaugural contest was won byCroatia. The winner of themost recent contest, which took place inMadrid, Spain, isGeorgia.[69]
TheEurovision Dance Contest (not to be confused withEurovision Young Dancers) was an international dancing competition that was held for the first time inLondon, United Kingdom, on 1 September 2007. Theinaugural contest was won by Finland. The competition was repeated in2008 when it was held inGlasgow, United Kingdom, but has not been held since. The winner of the most recent contest is Poland.
TheMagic Circus Show was an entertainment show organised by the EBU, which took place in 2010, 2011 and 2012 inGeneva, Switzerland. Children aged between 7–14 representing eight countries within the EBU membership area performed a variety of circus acts at the Geneva Christmas Circus (French:Cirque de Noël Genève). The main show was also accompanied by the Magic Circus Show Orchestra.[70]
The inauguralEurovision Choir, featuring non-professional choirs selected by EBU members, took place on 22 July 2017 inRiga, Latvia, hosted by the Latvian broadcasterLatvijas Televīzija (LTV). Nine countries took part in the first edition. Carmen Manet from Slovenia was the first winner and the winner of themost recent contest, which took place inGothenburg, Sweden, was Vocal Line from Denmark.
TheEuropean Sports Championships is a multi-sport event involving some of the leading sports in Europe. The European Governing Bodies for athletics, aquatics, cycling, rowing, golf, gymnastics and triathlon, coordinated their individual championships as part of thefirst edition[71] in the summer of 2018, hosted by the cities ofBerlin, Germany (already chosen as the host for the2018 European Athletics Championships) andGlasgow, United Kingdom (already chosen as the host for the2018 European Aquatics Championships, and which concurrently also hosted the events of the other sports).[72][73]
The EBU first covered theOlympic Games in 1956, and has historically acquired broadcasting rights on behalf of its members.[74] The amount paid by the EBU steadily increased over time, paying US$22 million for broadcasting rights forLos Angeles 1984, US$240 million forAtlanta 1996,[75] US$394 million forAthens 2004[76] and US$746million forVancouver 2010 andLondon 2012.[77]
In 2008, theInternational Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to negotiate individually with broadcasters for rights to the 2014-2016 Olympic Games – as the EBU had not "offered enough money".[78][79] The IOC subsequently signed individual deals with broadcasters in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Turkey and the UK, selling the remainder of the broadcasting rights toSportfive for US$315 million.[80] Despite an attempt by the EBU to purchase broadcasting rights for the 2018-2024 Olympic Games, the IOC awarded a contract toDiscovery Communications in June 2015.[81][82] The EBU criticised the decision, stating that it shows a "shift in the IOC’s positioning of the Olympic Games as a free-to-air event that reached all of the European television audience – to a pay event with minimum free-to-air obligations".[83]
In January 2023, the IOC announced that a joint bid from the EBU andWarner Bros. Discovery had been awarded rights for all Olympic Games from the 2026 Winter Olympics to the 2032 Summer Olympics. The joint bid follows criticism of the 2015 deal to award European television rights to Discovery.[84] Each EBU member will broadcast at least 200 hours of coverage of the Summer Olympics and at least 100 hours of the Winter Olympics, whereas Warner Bros. Discovery will have unlimited rights.[85][86]
^Succeeded by Radio i televizija Crne Gore (RTCG) of Montenegro and Radio-televizija Srbije (RTS) of Serbia separately (previously these were sub-broadcasters of UJRT)
^Succeeded by Radio and Television of Slovakia (RTVS)
^Succeeded by United Kingdom Independent Broadcasting (UKIB)
^Founded as Association of Independent Radio Contractors (AIRC) in 1973. It became CRCA in 1996 and merged withRadio Advertising Bureau in 2006 to createRadiocentre.[46]
^"Russia media guide". BBC News. 8 June 2021.Archived from the original on 24 March 2022. Retrieved27 February 2022.
^Chernotytsky, Mykola."Суспільне вимагає припинити членство російських ЗМІ у ЄМС" [Suspilne demands the termination of the membership of the Russian media in the EBU].suspilne.media (Press release) (in Ukrainian). Suspilne.Archived from the original on 24 February 2022. Retrieved24 February 2022.
^"Rusijos televizijos traukiasi iš EBU" [Russian television stations leave the EBU].lrt.lt (in Lithuanian). 26 February 2022.Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved27 February 2022.
^"Case Study: The European Broadcasting Union".www.itu.int. Retrieved22 July 2024.The EBU has secured the rights to broadcast the Atlanta Olympic Games for a cost of $US240 million. Within its coverage area, 54 television organizations will broadcast the event throughout 44 countries, making use of 20 satellite channels.
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