The European Broadcasting Union ('''EBU'''), known in French as '''L'Union Européenne de Radio-Télévision''' ('''UER'''), and unrelated to the European Union , was formed February 12 , 1950 by 23 broadcasting organizations 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.
As Of 2004 , the EBU has active full members from 52 countries, and associate members from a further 29. 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 are not limited to those from European countries and the Mediterranean but include broadcasters from Canada , Japan , Mexico , Brazil , 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 .
The EBU's most well-known production is probably 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, which are generally not considered to be part of Europe. The Eurovision Network also organises the Eurovision Young Dancers competition, which is modelled along similar lines.
The countries in the EBU have also often worked together to create documentaries and (animated) children's programming. The first such co-production was the animated series The Animals Of Farthing Wood from the year 1993 based on the books of the same title by Colin Dann .
The theme music played before EBU broadcasts, is Marc-Antoine Charpentier 's Prelude to Te Deum . It is well known to europeans as played before and after the Eurovision Song Contest .
EBU 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:
Links to:
Full EBU members
European members
- (Radiotelevizioni Shqiptar).
- (Radio i Television d'Andorra, S.A.).
- (Public Television & Radio Company of Armenia)
- (Österreichischer Rundfunk).
- (Belaruskaja Tele-Radio Campanija).
- (Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep), RTBF (Radio-Télévision Belge de la Communaute francaise).
- (Public Broadcasting Service of Bosnia and Herzegovina).
- (Bâlgarsko Nationalno Radio), BNT (Bâlgarska Nationalna Televizija).
- (Hrvatska Radiotelevizija).
- (Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation).
- (Český rozhlas), ČT (Česká televize).
- (Danmarks Radio), DK/TV2 (TV2/Danmark).
- (Eesti Raadio), EE/ETV (Eesti Televisioon)
- (MTV Oy), YLE (Oy Yleisradio Ab).
- (Groupement des radiodiffuseurs francais - comprising Télévision Française 1 (TF1), France Télévisions (FT), Canal+ , Radio France Internationale (RFI) and Radio France ), and Europe 1 .
- (Georgian TV & Radio Broadcasting)
- (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland), ZDF (Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen).
- (Elliniki Radiophonia - Tileorassi SA).
- ), HU/MTV ( Magyar Televízió ).
- (Ríkisútvarpið).
- ).
- (RAI - Radiotelevisione Italiana).
- (Latvijas Radio), LTV (Latvijas Televizija).
- (Lietuvos Radijas ir Televizija).
- (CLT Multi Media), ERSL (Etablissement de Radiodiffusion Socioculturelle du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg), RTL (Radio Télé Lëtzebuerg)
- (MKRTV).
- Malta : PBS (Public Broadcasting Services).
- (Teleradio-Moldova).
- (Groupement de Radiodiffusion monégasque).
- (Nederlandse Omroep Stichting).
- (Vlaanderen-Nederland TV)
- (Norsk Rikskringkasting AS), NO/TV2 (TV 2 AS).
- , TVP (Telewizja Polska).
- (Radiodifusão Portuguesa SA), RTP (Radiotelevisão Portuguesa Serviço Público de Televisão SA).
- (Societatea Româna de Radiodifuziune), RO/TVR (Societatea Româna de Televiziune).
- (Channel One Russia), RDO (Radio Dom Ostankino), RTR (RossijskoeTeleradio).
- (San Marino RTV).
- ( Radio-televizija Srbije ) and RTCG (Radio-televizija Crne Gore)
- (Slovensky Rozhlas), SK/STV (Slovenská Televizia).
- (Radiotelevizija Slovenija).
- (Radiotelevisión Española), SER (Sociedad Española de Radiodifusión), COPE (Radio Popular SA Cope).
- and Sveriges Radio ), TV4 (The TV4 group)
- (SRG SSR idée suisse - Sociéte Suisse de Radiodiffusion et Télévision).
- (Türkiye Radyo-Televizyon Kurumu).
- (Natsionalna Telekompanija Ukraïny/Natsionalna Radiokompanya Ukraïny).
- (British Broadcasting Corporation), UKIB (United Kingdom Independent Broadcasting - representing ITV (Independent Television), Channel 4 and S4C (Sianel Pedwar Cymru - Channel Four Wales)).
- ).
Non-European members
- (Entreprise nationale de Télévision), ENRS (Entreprise nationale de Radiodiffusion sonore) and TDA (Télédiffusion d'Algérie).
- (Egyptian Radio and Television Union).
- (Israel Broadcasting Authority).
- (Jordan Radio and Television Corporation).
- (Télé-Liban).
- (Libya Jamahiriya Broadcasting).
- (Radiodiffusion-Télévision Marocaine).
- (Etablissement de la Radiodiffusion-Télévision Tunisienne).
Future & Potential EBU Members
- Azerbaijan : currently no Azeri television or radio station complies with EBU membership rules, but after October 2005 it will be possible for Azeri broadcasters to become full EBU members
- Liechtenstein : currently Liechtenstein has no national television or radio station, but when they get one it will be possible for them to join the EBU
- (Organisme de la Radio-Télévision Arabe Syrienne) - currently an associate member only
- - currently an associate member
External links
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