European Broadcasting Union

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; Template:Langx, UER) is an alliance of public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are members of the Council of Europe. Template:As of, it is made up of 123 member organisations from 56 countries, and 31 associate members from a further 20 countries. It was established in 1950, and has its administrative headquarters in Geneva.

The EBU owns and operates the Eurovision and Euroradio telecommunications 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.

The EBU, in co-operation with its members, produces programmes and organises events in which its members can participate, such as the Eurovision Song Contest, its best known production, or the Eurovision Debates between candidates for president of the European Commission for the 2014, 2019 and 2024 parliamentary elections. Noel Curran has been director-general since 2017.

General description

File:Eurovision old logo.svg

The classic opening ident that preceded all Eurovision 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 the BBC.

The candidates standing onstage

European Commission presidency candidates at Eurovision Debate (May 2019). Left to right: Zahradil, Cué, Keller, Vestager, Timmermans, Weber.

EBU members are public service media (PSM) broadcasters established by law but are non-partisan, independent, and run for the benefit of society as a whole.

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 include ABC, CBS, NBC, CPB, NPR, APM, and the only individual station, Chicago-based classical music radio WFMT.

Membership is for media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA), as defined by the International Telecommunication Union, or who are members of the Council of Europe.

Members benefit from:

• Access to content ranging from exclusive sports rights to exchanges for news, music, and children's programmes.
• Representatives in Brussels, 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.

The EBU's highest-profile production is the Eurovision Song Contest. The EBU also organises the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, the Eurovision Young Musicians competition, and other competitions which are modeled along similar lines.

Radio collaborations include Euroclassic Notturno—an overnight classical music stream, produced by BBC Radio 3 and broadcast in the United Kingdom as Through the Night—and special theme days, such as the annual Christmas music relays from around Europe. The EBU is a member of the International Music Council.

Most EBU broadcasters have group deals to carry major sporting events including the FIFA World Cup and the inaugural European Championships. Another annually recurring event which is broadcast across Europe through the EBU is the Vienna New Year's Concert.

Eurovision Media Services is the business arm of the EBU and provides media services for many media organisations and sports federations around the world.

Ident

The hymn played before and after every EBU broadcast is Marc-Antoine Charpentier's Prelude to Te Deum. It is played before and after the Eurovision Song Contest and other important events.

History

File:The New Years Eve Concert 2013 at The Wiener Musikverein (8336464777).jpg

Vienna New Year's Concert

The EBU was a successor to the International 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 by Nazi Germany during the Second World War, and thereafter the Allies viewed it as a compromised organisation that they could not trust.

In the spring of 1946, representatives of the Soviet radio committee proposed forming a new organisation; however, at the same time preparations were being made for an inter-governmental "European Broadcasting Conference" in Copenhagen 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 the BBC that a new association might be dominated by the USSR and its proposal to give each of its constituent states one vote. France proposed that it would have four votes with the inclusion of its North African colonies. The United Kingdom felt it would have little influence with just one vote.

On 27 June 1946, the alternative International 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. 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 per International Telecommunication Union (ITU) country, thus ensuring a Western majority over the USSR and its satellite states. In August 1949 a meeting took place in Stresa, 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 exclude Eastern Europe, the Levant, and North Africa.

After Stresa, a consensus emerged among the Western Europeans to form a new organisation and the BBC proposed it be based in London. Meetings in Paris on 31 October and 1 November 1949 sealed the fate of the IBU and IBO, but it was decided not to allow any broadcaster from West 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 in Torquay, 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, the International Radio and Television Organisation (OIRT), which existed in parallel with the EBU until its merger on 1 January 1993.

In 1967, the first concert in the International Concert Season of the European Broadcasting Union was broadcast from the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.

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 the provision of technical information to Members via conferences and workshops, as well as in written form (such as the EBU Technical Review, and the EBU 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 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, formally known as AES3;
• Serial and parallel interfaces for digital video (ITU-R Recommendations 601 and 656);
• RDS – the radio data system used on FM broadcasting.
• The EBU Loudness Recommendation R 128 and 'EBU Mode' meters (EBU Tech 3341)

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

• Digital radio (DAB) through Eureka Project 147 and the WorldDAB Forum.
• DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting) through the DVB Project and DigiTAG.
• Digital radio in the bands currently used for AM broadcasting through Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM).
• 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. The EBU is also part of the European P2P-Next project.

Controversies

Greek state broadcaster (2013)

On 11 June 2013, the Greek government shut down the state broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) on short notice, citing government spending concerns related to the European debt crisis. 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. The EBU put out a statement expressing its "profound dismay" at the shutdown, urging the Greek 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". Starting on 4 May 2014, the new state broadcaster New Hellenic Radio, Internet and Television (NERIT) began nationwide transmissions, taking over ERT's vacant active membership slot in the EBU. On 11 June 2015, two years after ERT's closure, NERIT was renamed as Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), 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 channels ERT1, ERT2 and ERT3.

Belarusian state broadcaster (2021)

The Belarusian Television and Radio Company (BTRC) has been accused of repressing its own employees, having fired more than 100 people since a wave of anti-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 the Eurovision 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.

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. The suspension of the broadcaster was made effective on 1 July 2021. Although initial reports mentioned that it would expire after three years, in April 2024 the EBU confirmed that the suspension had been made indefinite.

Russian state broadcasters (2022)

The three Russian members of the EBU, Channel One Russia, VGTRK, and Radio Dom Ostankino are all controlled by the Russian government. On 21 February 2022, the Russian government recognized the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, disputed territories that are internationally recognized as part of Ukraine. Ukraine's public broadcaster Suspilne called on the EBU to terminate the membership of Channel One Russia and VGTRK, and to consider preventing them from participating in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 representing Russia, citing the Russian government's use of both outlets to spread disinformation surrounding the Russo-Ukrainian war. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, several other public broadcasters joined UA:PBC in calling for Russia's exclusion from the 2022 Contest; Finland's Yle and Estonia's ERR stated that they would not send a representative if Russia was allowed to participate. After initially stating that both Russia and Ukraine would be allowed to compete, the EBU announced on 25 February 2022 that it would ban Russia from participating in the Contest.

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. The EBU released a statement saying that it was aware of the reports, but that it had not received any formal confirmation. On 1 March, a further statement from the EBU announced that it had suspended its Russian members from its governance structures. On 26 May, the EBU made effective the suspension of its Russian members indefinitely.

In 2023, an extensive investigation by the EBU Investigative Journalism Network uncovered evidence of a Kremlin-sponsored initiative to take Ukrainian children from the war-torn country to Russia, a war crime under international law.

Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest

Template:Further information The Gaza war has led to calls for the EBU to exclude Israel and its broadcaster Kan from the Eurovision Song Contest, and demonstrations against its participation took place in Template:Escyr and Template:Escyr.

Members

File:European Broadcasting Union members map.svg

Map of countries with EBU member broadcasters (as of May 2024)

File:EBU enlargement animation.gif

Countries with active EBU member broadcasters coloured in order of accession since 1950

Current members

Template:As of, the list of EBU members comprises the following 75 broadcasting companies from 56 countries.

Country	Broadcasting organisation	Abbr.	Year
Template:Country data Albania	Albanian Radio-Television ()	RTSH	1999
Template:Country data Algeria	Public Establishment of Television (, )	EPTV	1970
	National Sound Broadcasting Company (, )	ENRS
	Algerian Broadcasting Company (, )	TDA
Template:Country data Andorra	Radio and Television of Andorra ()	RTVA	2002
Template:Country data Armenia	Public Television Company of Armenia (, )	ARMTV ՀՀՀ	2005
	Public Radio of Armenia (, )	ARMR
Template:Country data Austria		ORF	1953
Template:Country data Azerbaijan	: (İctimai Television, İTV) (İR)	İCTI/İTV	2007
Template:Country data Belgium		VRT	1950
		RTBF
Template:Country data Bosnia and Herzegovina	Radio and Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina ()	BHRT	1993
Template:Country data Bulgaria	Bulgarian National Radio (, )	BNR БНР	1993
	Bulgarian National Television (, )	BNT БНТ
Template:Country data Croatia	Croatian Radiotelevision ()	HRT	1993
Template:Country data Cyprus	Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (, , )	CyBC ΡΊΚ RKYK	1969
Template:Country data Czech Republic		ČRo	1993
		ČT
Template:Country data Denmark		DR	1950
		DK/TV2	1989
Template:Country data Egypt	National Media Authority ()	NTU	1985
Template:Country data Estonia	: Eesti Raadio (ER) Eesti Televisioon (ETV)	ERR	1993
Template:Country data Finland	()	Yle	1950
Template:Country data France	: France Télévisions (FTV) Radio France (RF) France Médias Monde (FMM)	GRF	1950
	Arte	ARTE	2024
Template:Flagcountry	Georgian Public Broadcaster (, )	GPB სსმ	2005
Template:Country data Germany	(The Working Group of Public Broadcasters in the Federal Republic of Germany, ARD): (Bavarian Broadcasting: BR) (Hessian Broadcasting: HR) (Central German Broadcasting: MDR) (Northern German Broadcasting: NDR) (RB) (Berlin-Brandenburg Broadcasting: RBB) (Saarland Broadcasting: SR) (Southwest Broadcasting: SWR) (West German Broadcasting: WDR) (German Wave: DW) (Radio Germany: DLR)	ARD	1952
	(Second German Television)	ZDF	1963
Template:Country data Greece	Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (, )	ERT	1950–2013, 2015
Template:Country data Hungary	(Media Support and Asset Management Fund): (Duna Media Service Provider)	MTVA	2014
Template:Country data Iceland		RÚV	1956
Template:Flagcountry		RTÉ	1950
	TG4	TG4	2007
Template:Country data Israel	Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (, ) (, )	KAN	2017
Template:Country data Italy		RAI	1950
Template:Country data Jordan	Jordan Radio and Television Corporation ()	JRTV	1970
Template:Country data Latvia	Public Broadcasting of Latvia (Latvijas Sabiedriskie mediji): (LTV) (LR)	LSM	1993
Template:Country data Lebanon	()	TL	1950
Template:Country data Libya	Libya National Channel ()	LNC	2011
Template:Country data Lithuania	Lithuanian National Radio and Television ()	LRT	1993
Template:Country data Luxembourg	RTL Group	RTL	1950
	Média de Service Public 100,7 (radio 100,7)	MSP	2022
Template:Country data Malta	Public Broadcasting Services	PBS	1970
Template:Country data Moldova		TRM	1993
Template:Country data Monaco		MMD	1994
		TVM	2024
Template:Country data Montenegro	()	RTCG	2006
Template:Country data Morocco	Société Nationale de Radiodiffusion et de Télévision (, )	SNRT	1950
Template:Country data Netherlands	(Dutch Public Broadcaster): AVROTROS BNNVARA Evangelische Omroep (Evangelical Broadcasting: EO) Humanistische Omroep (Humanist Broadcasting: HUMAN) KRO-NCRV MAX Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (Dutch Broadcasting Foundation: NOS) NTR Ongehoord Nederland (Unheard Netherlands: ON) PowNed Stichting Ether Reclame (Foundation for Ether Advertisement: STER) VPRO WNL Omroep Zwart (Broadcaster Black)	NPO	1950
Template:Country data North Macedonia	Makedonska radio-televizija ()	MRT МРТ	1993
Template:Country data Norway		NRK	1950
	TV 2 Group ()	NO/TV2	1993
Template:Country data Poland		TVP	1993
		PR
Template:Country data Portugal		RTP	1950
Template:Country data Romania		ROR	1993
		RO/TVR
Template:Country data San Marino	San Marino RTV	SMRTV	1995
Template:Country data Serbia	()	RTS	2006
Template:Country data Slovakia	Slovak Television and Radio ()	STVR	2024
Template:Country data Slovenia		RTVSLO	1993
Template:Country data Spain		RTVE	1955
Template:Country data Sweden	: Sveriges Television (SVT) Sveriges Radio (SR) Sveriges Utbildningsradio (UR)	SRT	1950
Template:Country data Switzerland	Swiss Broadcasting Corporation: (SRF) (RTS) (RSI) (RTR)	SRG SSR	1950
Template:Country data Tunisia	Établissement de la Radio Tunisienne ()	RTT	2007
	Établissement de la Télévision Tunisienne ()
Template:Country data Turkey		TRT	1950
Template:Country data Ukraine	National Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (, )	SU	1993
Template:Country data United Kingdom	British Broadcasting Corporation	BBC	1950
	United Kingdom Independent Broadcasting: ITV plc (UKIB/ITV) STV Group (UKIB/STV) Channel Four Television Corporation (UKIB/C4) S4C Authority (UKIB/S4C)	UKIB	1981
Template:Country data Vatican City	Vatican Radio (, )	VR	1950

Suspended members

Country	Broadcasting organisation	Abbr.	Year	Suspended
Template:Country data Belarus	National State TV and Radio Company of the Republic of Belarus	BTRC	1993	2021
Template:Country data Russia	Channel One Russia	C1R	1996	2022
	All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company	RTR	1993
	: Radio Mayak (MK) Radio Orpheus (OP)	RDO	1996

Past members

Country	Broadcasting organisation	Abbr.	From	To
Template:Country data Belgium	National Institute of Radio Broadcasting (, INR; , NIR)	INR-NIR	1950	1960
Template:Country data Czechoslovakia	Czechoslovak Television ()	ČST	1991	1992Template:Efn
Template:Flagicon Finland	MTV3	FI/MTV	1993	2019
Template:Flagicon France		RTF	1950	1964
		ORTF	1964	1975
		TDF	1975	1982
	TF1	TF1	1975	2018
	Europe 1	E1	1978	2022
		OFRT	1983	1992Template:Efn
	Canal+	C+	1984	2018
Template:Flagicon Greece	New Hellenic Radio, Internet and Television (, )	NERIT	2014	2015Template:Efn
Template:Flagicon Hungary		Duna	2013	2015Template:Efn
		MR	1993
		MTV
Template:Flagicon Israel	Israel Broadcasting Authority (, )	IBA	1957	2017Template:Efn
Template:Country data Libya	Libyan Jamahiriya Broadcasting Corporation ()	LJBC	1974	2011
Template:Country data Luxembourg		ERSL	1996	2022Template:Efn
Template:Country data Malta	Maltese Broadcasting Authority	MBA	1970	2003
Template:Country data Monaco	Groupement de Radiodiffuseurs Monégasques: Radio Monte Carlo (RMC) Télé Monte-Carlo (TMC)	GRMC	1950	2021
	Telemontecarlo (now La7)	TMC	1981	2001
Template:Country data Netherlands	Dutch Radio Union ()	NRU	1947	1967Template:Efn
	(Dutch Television Foundation)	NTS	1951
		TROS	1964	2014Template:Efn
Template:Country data Russia	1st channel Ostankino ()	C1O	1994	1995Template:Efn
Template:Country data Serbia and Montenegro	(Alliance of Public Radios and Televisions)	UJRT	2001	2006Template:Efn
Template:Flagicon Slovakia		SRo	1993	2011Template:Efn
		STV
	Radio and Television of Slovakia (Rozhlas a televízia Slovenska)	RTVS	2011	2024Template:Efn
Template:Flagicon Spain	Antena 3 Radio	A3R	1986	1993
		COPE	1998	2019
		SER	1982	2020
Template:Flagicon Sweden	TV4	SE/TV4	2004	2019
Template:Flagicon Tunisia	(Tunisian Radio and Television Establishment)	ERTT	1990	2007Template:Efn
Template:Flagicon United Kingdom	Independent Television Authority	ITA	1959	1972
	Independent Television Companies Association	ITCA	1959	1981
	Independent Broadcasting Authority	IBA	1972	1981Template:Efn
	Commercial Radio Companies Association (now Radiocentre)	CRCA	1981Template:Efn	2006
Template:Country data Yugoslavia	Jugoslavenska radio-televizija / Jugoslovenska radio-televizija ()	JRT	1950	1992

Associate members

File:EBU Associate Members.svg

Countries with associate EBU membership

Any group or organisation from an International 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.

It is also noted by the EBU that any broadcaster that is granted Associate Member status does not gain access into Eurovision eventsTemplate:Sndnotable exceptions being those from Australia, who have participated in the Eurovision Song Contest since Template:Escyr and the Junior Eurovision Song Contest between Template:Escyr and Template:Escyr; Canada, who participated in the Eurovision Young Dancers between 1987 and 1989; and Kazakhstan, who participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest between Template:Escyr and Template:EscyrTemplate:Sndall of which were individually invited.

The list of Associate Members of EBU comprised the following 30 broadcasting companies from 20 countries Template:As of.

Country	Broadcasting organisation	Abbr.	Year
Template:Country data Australia	Australian Broadcasting Corporation	ABC	1950
	Special Broadcasting Service	SBS	1979
Template:Country data Bangladesh	Bangladesh Television	BTV	1974
Template:Country data Brazil	TV Cultura (Fundação Padre Anchieta)	FPA	2012
Template:Country data Canada	Canadian Broadcasting Corporation ()	CBC	1950
Template:Country data Chile	Canal 13	C13	1971
Template:Country data China	China Media Group ()	CMG	2010
	Shanghai Media Group ()	SMG	2016
Template:Country data Cuba	Cuban Institute of Radio and Television ()	ICRT	1992
Template:Country data Georgia	Teleimedi	TEME	2004
	Rustavi 2 ()	RB	2003
Template:Country data Hong Kong	Radio Television Hong Kong ()	RTHK	1983
Template:Country data Iran	Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting ()	IRIB	1968
Template:Country data Japan	Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai ()	NHK	1951
	TBS Holdings ()	TBS	2000
Template:Country data Kazakhstan	Khabar Agency (, )	KA	2016
Template:Country data Malaysia	Radio Television of Malaysia (, )	RTM	1970
Template:Country data Mauritius	Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation	MBC	1980
Template:Country data Nepal	Association of Community Radio Broadcasters Nepal	ACORAB	2023
Template:Country data New Zealand	Radio New Zealand ()	RNZ	1950
	Television New Zealand ()	TVNZ	1980
Template:Country data Oman	Public Authority for Radio and TV of Oman	PART	1976
Template:Country data South Korea	Korean Broadcasting System ()	KBS	1974
Template:Country data Syria	General Organization of Radio and TV (, )	ORTAS	1978
Template:Country data United States	American Broadcasting Company	ABC	1959
	American Public Media	APM	2004
	Columbia Broadcasting System	CBS	1956
	National Public Radio	NPR	1971
	National Broadcasting Company	NBC	1953
	WFMT Radio Network	WFMT	1980

Past associate members

Template:Update section The list of past associate members of EBU comprises the following 95 broadcasting companies from 55 countries and 1 autonomous territory.

Country	Broadcasting organisation	Abbr.	From	To
Template:Country data Argentina		C7	1970	1999
		C13	1973	1999
Template:Country data Australia	Australian Fine Music Network	AFMN	2008	2010
	FreeTV Australia	Free	1962	2024
Template:Country data Bahamas	Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas	BCB	1975	1999
Template:Country data Barbados	Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation	BB/CBC	1971	2005
Template:Country data Benin		RD	1972	1975
Template:Country data Brazil		ABERT	1962	1980
		DA	1950	1980
	Emissoras Unidas de Rádio e Televisão	EURT	1961	1969
	TV Globo	GLOBO	1970	1999
	Network of Independent Broadcasters ()	REI	1974	1975
		RN	1974	1975
Template:Country data Canada	CTV Television Network	CTV	1969	1999
	Agency for Tele-Education in Canada	ATEC	1975	1981
Template:Country data Chad	Chadian National Radio ()	RNT	1955	1974
Template:Country data Chile		TVN	1970	1999
Template:Country data Colombia		IRV	1970	1999
Template:Country data Congo		RTC	1974	2009
Template:Country data Costa Rica		TSN	1969	1971
Template:Country data Ecuador	Teleamazonas	4TA	1975	1999
Template:Country data Gabon		RTG	1960	2009
Template:Country data Gambia	Gambia Radio & Television Service	GRTS	1962	2010
Template:Country data Ghana	Ghana Broadcasting Corporation	GBC	1953	1990
Template:Country data Greenland	(Greenlandic Broadcasting Corporation)	KNR	1978	2011
Template:Country data Guyana	Guyana Broadcasting Service	GBS	1977	2009
Template:Country data Haiti			1950	1969
Template:Country data Honduras		TH	1969	1971
Template:Country data Hong Kong	Asia Television ()	ATV	1957	2010
	Television Broadcasts Limited	TVB	1973	2012/2013
Template:Country data India	All India Radio	AIR	1979	2021
Template:Country data Indonesia		RRI	1973	1981
		TVRI	1973	1981
Template:Country data Iraq	Iraqi Broadcasting and Television Establishment	IBTE
Template:Country data Ivory Coast		RTI	1961	2010
Template:Country data Jamaica	Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation	JBC	1970	1981
Template:Country data Japan	Mainichi Broadcasting System (, )	MBS	1970	2009
	TV Asahi	ANB	1960	2009
	Fuji Television	FTN	1969	2012/2013
	National Association of Commercial Broadcasters in Japan	NACB	1984	2012/2013
	Nippon Television Network Corporation (, )	NTV	1953	2009
	Tokyo FM	TFM	1986	2021
Template:Country data Kenya	The Voice of Kenya	VK	1964	2010
Template:Country data Kuwait	Kuwait Broadcasting and Television Service	KBTS	1970	2010
Template:Country data Liberia	Liberian Broadcasting Corporation	LBC	1964	1981
Template:Country data Madagascar		RTM	1971	2010
Template:Country data Malawi	Malawi Broadcasting Corporation	MBC	1964	2010
Template:Country data Mauritania	Television of Mauritania	MR/TVM	2003	2013
Template:Country data Mexico		TSM	1960	1973
	(Mexican Independent Television)	TIM	1969	1973
		TCM	1969	1973
		TVA	1973	2005
		CMRT	1973	1999
Template:Country data Nepal	Nepal Television ()	NTVC	1985	2010
Template:Country data Niger		ORTN	1967	1981
Template:Country data Nigeria	Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation	NBC	1962	2010
Template:Country data Pakistan	Radio Pakistan ()	RP	1950	1974
	Pakistan Television Corporation ()	PK/PTV	1971	2010
Template:Country data Palestine	Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation ()	PBC	2002	2014
Template:Country data Papua New Guinea	National Broadcasting Corporation	NBC	1977	2015
Template:Country data Peru	Teledos	T2	1969	1971
	Compañía Peruana de Radiodifusión	AMÉRICA	1969	1999
	Panamericana Televisión	PANTEL	1969	1999
Template:Country data Qatar	Qatar Television and Broadcasting Service	QTBC	1973	2009
	Al Jazeera Children's Channel ()	JCC	2008	2013
	Qatar Radio ()	QR	2009	2009
Template:Country data Saudi Arabia	Saudi Arabian Broadcasting and Television Service	SABTVS	1962	2012
Template:Country data Senegal		RTS	1973	2006
Template:Country data Sri Lanka	Ceylon Broadcasting Corporation	CBC	1967	1973
	Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (, ) (, )	SLBC	2007	2010
Template:Country data South Africa	South African Broadcasting Corporation	SABC	1951	2022
Template:Country data South Korea	Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation ()	MBC	1961	2009
Template:Country data Sudan	Sudan Television Service	STS	1976	2009
Template:Country data Tanzania	Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation	TBC	1960	2010
Template:Country data United Arab Emirates	Emirates Media Inc.	EMI		2006
	United Arab Emirates Radio And Television – Dubai	UAERTVD		2006
Template:Country data United States	National Association of Educational Broadcasters	NAEB		1981
	Time Life Television	TIME		1970
	United States Information Agency	USIA
	National Educational Television	NET		1970
	Educational Broadcasting Corporation	EBC	1971
	Corporation for Public Broadcasting	CPB	1972
	Cable News Network	CNN
	International Broadcasting Bureau	IBB		2007
	Minnesota Public Radio	MPR	2004	2007
	New York Public Radio	NYPR	2012	2016
	WGBH Educational Foundation	WGBH	2014	2014
Template:Country data Upper Volta		RTV	1963	1981
Template:Country data Uruguay		C12	1970	1976
Template:Country data Venezuela			1969	1970
		VV	1973	1999
		RCTV	1953	2010
		RCR	1960	2010
Template:Country data Zaire		VZ	1976	1997
Template:Country data Zimbabwe	Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation	ZBC	1980	2010

Approved participant members

Any groups or organisations from a country with International 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.

The following eight EBU broadcast members had status as Approved Participants in November 2024.

Country	Broadcasting organisation	Abbr.
Template:Country data France	Euronews	EURONEWS
	Institut national de l'audiovisuel	INA
	TV5Monde	TV5
Template:Country data North Macedonia	JP Makedonska Radiodifuzija	JP MRD
Template:Country data Serbia	Radio Television of Vojvodina	RTV
Template:Country data Spain	Catalunya Música	CAT
	Cellnex	CELLNEX

The following members previously had status as Approved Participants.

Country/region	Broadcasting organisation	Abbr.
Template:Country data France	International Radio and Television Union ()	URTI
Template:Country data Hungary	Template:Ill	AH
Template:Country data Israel	Israeli Educational Television	IETV
Template:Country data MENA	MBC Limited – Middle East Broadcasting Centre	MBC
Template:Country data Russia	Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network	RTRN
Template:Country data South Africa	Sentech	SNTC
Template:Country data Spain	Abertis Telecom S.A.	ABERTIS
	Retevisión	RETE

Organised events

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:

Eurovision Song Contest

File:Eurovision-2021-microphone-Rotterdam-Centraal.jpg

A replica of the Eurovision Song Contest trophy on display in Rotterdam, host city of the Template:Escyr

The Eurovision Song Contest (Template:Langx) is an annual international song competition between EBU members, that was first held in Lugano, Switzerland, on 24 May 1956. Seven countries participatedTemplate:Sndeach 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. The Template:Escyr was won by the host nation, Switzerland. The winner of the Template:Escyr, which took place in Basel, Switzerland, is Austria.

Let the Peoples Sing

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 the Silver Rose Bowl. The first winner was Glasgow Phoenix Choir, conducted by their Chorus Master Peter Mooney, from Scotland in the 1961 competition that was held in London. 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

Jeux sans frontières (Template:Langx) 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

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 of EMCY. The first competition was held in Manchester, 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 the most recent contest, which took place in Bodø Municipality, Norway, is Austria.

Eurovision Young Dancers

Eurovision Young Dancers was a biennial dance showcase broadcast on television throughout Europe. The inaugural competition was held in Reggio 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 the most recent contest, which took place in Prague, Czech Republic, is Poland.

Euroclassic Notturno

Euroclassic Notturno is a six-hour sequence of classical music recordings, assembled by BBC 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.

Junior Eurovision Song Contest

The Junior Eurovision Song Contest (Template:Langx) is an annual international song competition that was first held in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 15 November 2003. Sixteen countries participated in the Template:Escyr, with each submitting one song. The inaugural contest was won by Croatia. The winner of the most recent contest, which took place in Madrid, Spain, is Georgia.

Eurovision Dance Contest

The Eurovision Dance Contest (not to be confused with Eurovision Young Dancers) was an international dancing competition that was held for the first time in London, United Kingdom, on 1 September 2007. The inaugural contest was won by Finland. The competition was repeated in 2008 when it was held in Glasgow, United Kingdom, but has not been held since. The winner of the most recent contest is Poland.

Magic Circus Show

The Magic Circus Show was an entertainment show organised by the EBU, which took place in 2010, 2011 and 2012 in Geneva, 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 (Template:Langx). The main show was also accompanied by the Magic Circus Show Orchestra.

Eurovision Choir

The inaugural Eurovision Choir, featuring non-professional choirs selected by EBU members, took place on 22 July 2017 in Riga, Latvia, hosted by the Latvian broadcaster Latvijas Televīzija (LTV). Nine countries took part in the first edition. Carmen Manet from Slovenia was the first winner and the winner of the most recent contest, which took place in Gothenburg, Sweden, was Vocal Line from Denmark.

European Sports Championships

The European 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 the first edition in the summer of 2018, hosted by the cities of Berlin, Germany (already chosen as the host for the 2018 European Athletics Championships) and Glasgow, United Kingdom (already chosen as the host for the 2018 European Aquatics Championships, and which concurrently also hosted the events of the other sports).

Olympic Games

The EBU first covered the Olympic Games in 1956, and has historically acquired broadcasting rights on behalf of its members. The amount paid by the EBU steadily increased over time, paying US$22 million for broadcasting rights for Los Angeles 1984, US$240 million for Atlanta 1996, US$394 million for Athens 2004 and US$746million for Vancouver 2010 and London 2012.

In 2008, the International 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". The IOC subsequently signed individual deals with broadcasters in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Turkey and the UK, selling the remainder of the broadcasting rights to Sportfive for US$315 million. Despite an attempt by the EBU to purchase broadcasting rights for the 2018-2024 Olympic Games, the IOC awarded a contract to Discovery Communications in June 2015. 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".

In January 2023, the IOC announced that a joint bid from the EBU and Warner 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. 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.

See also

• African Union of Broadcasting
• Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union
• Caribbean Broadcasting Union
• Commonwealth Broadcasting Association
• Commonwealth Press Union
• Europe by Satellite
• International Telecommunication Union
• North American Broadcasters Association
• Organización de Telecomunicaciones de Iberoamérica
• Public Broadcasting System

External links

• Template:Commons category-inline
• Template:Official website