CIM:Who are the members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU)?
Dr. Brinkmann: The EBU is the largest organisation of public national broadcasters in the world. It has 74 active members in 54 European countries, in North Africa, the Middle East and 44 associated members. Active members are ARD, ZDF (Germany), BBC, RAI (Italy), SVT (Sweden)…
What goals does the EBU have?
We negotiate for our members the broadcasting rights of major sports events such as the World Cup, operate Eurovision (exchange of TV news and programmes) and the Euroradio network, where the broadcast of 440 sport and major events annually is coordinated. Another task is cooperation with our members on technical issues. The EBU is involved in the research and development of new broadcasting techniques and has contributed to the introduction of systems like Digital Audio Broadcasting. This is supplemented by organising seminars and coordinating programme groups.
Why do you hold your assembly for the first time during the IFA (1 – 6 September)?
We believe that a link to the IFA makes sense: during our Eurovision Creative Forum our members can visit the IFA and get information on technical innovations. The exchange between technical and content providers will be increasingly important in the future.
Which issues will be on the agenda?
All those which are vital for us as public broadcasters. The Eurovision Creative Forum will focus on certain issues, e.g. what is public service entertainment? The Forum is above all a networking platform for our members.
What criteria do cities have to fulfil in order to acquire your conferences?
They must have good infrastructure and good transport links, so that our members can travel there easily. There have to be enough hotel capacities. Help from the city in organisational matters is important for us too. After all the Eurovision Creative Forum is an event which draws public media players from many countries and thus is very attractive for a city.
