European Broadcasting Union facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
European Broadcasting Union

Union européenne de radio-télévision
Logo used since 2012
Countries with one or more members are in dark blue. Associated members in light blue.
Predecessor	International Broadcasting Union
Formation	12 February 1950; 74 years ago (1950-02-12)
Type	Union of broadcasting organisations
Headquarters	Geneva, Switzerland
Membership	112 member organisations (in 54 countries)
Official language	English, French
President	Delphine Ernotte
Director-General	Noel Curran

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; French: Union européenne de radio-télévision, UER) is an alliance of public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who are members of the Council of Europe. As of 2023^[update], it is made up of 113 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 and 2019 parliamentary elections. The Director-General is Noel Curran since 2017.

General description

The classic opening ident that preceded all Eurovision network transmissions until 1993. The logotypes of both the sending and receiving companies were shown in the middle. This sample shows the old logo of the BBC.

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 Egypt, from Ireland in the west and 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 whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area, 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 programs.
• 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 Eurovision Dance Contest, the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, the Eurovision Young Dancers 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 theme music played before and after every EBU broadcast 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.

History

EBU's previous logo used from 1994 to 17 June 2012.

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 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, England, United Kingdom. The first president was Ian Jacob of the BBC who remained at the helm for 10 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. West Germany was admitted in 1951 and a working relationship forged with the USSR's Organisation for International Radio and TV (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.

Members

Map of EBU members in Europe (as of September 2022)

Countries with active EBU membership coloured in order of accession from 1950.

As of March 2024^[update], the list of EBU members comprises the following 68 broadcasting companies from 56 countries.

Current members

Country	Broadcasting organisation	Abbr.	Year
Albania	Albanian Radio-Television (Radio Televizioni Shqiptar)	RTSH	1999
Algeria	Public Establishment of Television (المؤسّسة العمومية للتلفزيون, Établissement public de télévision)	EPTV	1970
	National Sound Broadcasting Company (المؤسسة العمومية للبث الإذاعي, Entreprise nationale de radiodiffusion sonore)	ENRS
	Algerian Broadcasting Company (البث الإذاعي والتلفزي الجزائري, Télédiffusion d'Algérie)	TDA
Andorra	Radio and Television of Andorra (Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra)	RTVA	2002
Armenia	Public Television Company of Armenia (Հայաստանի Հանրային Հեռուստաընկերություն, Hayastani Hanrayin Herrustaynkerut'yun)	ARMTV ՀՀՀ	2005
	Public Radio of Armenia (Հայաստանի Հանրային Ռադիո, Hayastani Hanrayin Radio)	ARMR
Austria	Österreichischer Rundfunk	ORF	1953
Azerbaijan	İctimai Televiziya və Radio Yayımları Şirkəti: İctimai Televiziya (İctimai Television, İTV) İctimai Radio (İR)	İCTI/İTV	2007
Belgium	Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie	VRT	1950
	Radio-Télévision Belge de la Communauté Française	RTBF
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Radio and Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosanskohercegovačka radiotelevizija)	BHRT	1993
Bulgaria	Bulgarian National Radio (Българско национално радио, Bǎlgarsko nacionalno radio)	BNR БНР	1993
	Bulgarian National Television (Българска национална телевизия, Balgarska natsionalna televizia)	BNT БНТ
Croatia	Croatian Radiotelevision (Hrvatska radiotelevizija)	HRT	1993
Cyprus	Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (Ραδιοφωνικό Ίδρυμα Κύπρου, Radiofonikó Ídryma Kýprou, Kıbrıs Radyo Yayın Kurumu)	CyBC ΡΊΚ RKYK	1969
Czechia	Český rozhlas	ČRo	1993
	Česká televize	ČT
Denmark	Danmarks Radio	DR	1950
	TV2 Danmark	DK/TV2	1989
Egypt	National Media Authority (الهيئة الوطنية للإعلام)	NTU	1985
Estonia	Eesti Rahvusringhääling: Eesti Raadio (ER) Eesti Televisioon (ETV)	ERR	1993
Finland	Yleisradio (Rundradion)	Yle	1950
France	Groupe de Radiodiffusion Française: France Télévisions (FTV) Radio France (RF) France Médias Monde (FMM)	GRF	1950
Georgia	Georgian Public Broadcaster (საქართველოს საზოგადოებრივი მაუწყებელი, sakartvelos sazogadoebrivi mauts'q'ebeli)	GPB სსმ	2005
Germany	Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (The Working Group of Public Broadcasters in the Federal Republic of Germany, ARD): Bayerischer Rundfunk (Bavarian Broadcasting: BR) Hessischer Rundfunk (Hessian Broadcasting: HR) Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (Central German Broadcasting: MDR) Norddeutscher Rundfunk (Northern German Broadcasting: NDR) Radio Bremen (RB) Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (Berlin-Brandenburg Broadcasting: RBB) Saarländischer Rundfunk (Saarland Broadcasting: SR) Südwestrundfunk (Southwest Broadcasting: SWR) Westdeutscher Rundfunk (West German Broadcasting: WDR) Deutsche Welle (German Wave: DW) Deutschlandradio (Radio Germany: DLR)	ARD	1952
	Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (Second German Television)	ZDF	1963
Greece	Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (Ελληνική Ραδιοφωνία Τηλεόραση, Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi)	ERT	1950–2013, 2015
Hungary	Médiaszolgáltatás-támogató és Vagyonkezelő Alap (Media Support and Asset Management Fund): Duna Médiaszolgáltató (Duna Media Service Provider)	MTVA	2014
Iceland	Ríkisútvarpið	RÚV	1956
Ireland	Raidió Teilifís Éireann	RTÉ	1950
	TG4	TG4	2007
Israel	Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (תַּאֲגִיד הַשִׁיְדּוּר הַיִשְׂרָאֵלִי, Taʾăḡid HaŠidûr HaYiśrāʾēli) (هَيْئَة اَلْبَثّ اَلْإِسْرَائِيلي, Hayʾat al-Baṯṯ al-Isrāʾīlī)	KAN	2017
Italy	RAI – Radiotelevisione Italiana	RAI	1950
Jordan	Jordan Radio and Television Corporation (مؤسسة الإذاعة والتلفزيون الأردني)	JRTV	1970
Latvia	Public Broadcasting of Latvia (Latvijas Sabiedriskie mediji): Latvijas Televīzija (LTV) Latvijas Radio (LR)	LSM	1993
Lebanon	Télé Liban (تلفزيون لبنان)	TL	1950
Libya	Libya National Channel (قناة ليبيا الوطنية)	LNC	2011
Lithuania	Lithuanian National Radio and Television (Lietuvos nacionalinis radijas ir televizija)	LRT	1993
Luxembourg	RTL Group	RTL	1950
	Établissement de Radiodiffusion Socioculturelle du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg	ERSL	1996
Malta	Public Broadcasting Services	PBS	1970
Moldova	Compania Națională "Teleradio-Moldova"	TRM	1993
Monaco	Monaco Media Diffusion	MMD	1994
	TVMonaco	TVM	2024
Montenegro	Radio i televizija Crne Gore (Радио и телевизија Црне Горе)	RTCG РТЦГ	2006
Morocco	Société Nationale de Radiodiffusion et de Télévision (الشَرِكَة الوَطَنِيَّة لِلْإِذَاعَة وَالتَلْفَزَة, ⵜⴰⵎⵙⵙⵓⵔⵜ ⵜⴰⵏⴰⵎⵓⵔⵜ ⵏ ⵓⵏⵣⵡⴰⵢ ⴷ ⵜⵉⵍⵉⴼⵉⵣⵢⵓⵏ)	SNRT	1950
Netherlands	Nederlandse Publieke Omroep (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 [nl] (Unheard Netherlands: ON) PowNed Stichting Ether Reclame (Foundation for Ether Advertisement: STER) VPRO WNL Omroep Zwart (Broadcaster Black)	NPO	1950
North Macedonia	Macedonian Radio Television (Македонска Радио Телевизиjа, Makedonska radio televizija)	MRT МРТ	1993
Norway	Norsk Rikskringkasting	NRK	1950
	TV 2 Group (TV 2 Gruppen)	NO/TV2	1993
Poland	Telewizja Polska	TVP	1993
	Polskie Radio	PR
Portugal	Rádio e Televisão de Portugal	RTP	1950
Romania	Societatea Română de Radiodifuziune	ROR	1993
	Societatea Română de Televiziune	RO/TVR
San Marino	San Marino RTV	SMRTV	1995
Serbia	Radio-televizija Srbije (Радио-телевизија Србије)	RTS	2006
Slovakia	Radio and Television of Slovakia (Rozhlas a televízia Slovenska)	RTVS	2011
Slovenia	Radiotelevizija Slovenija	RTVSLO	1993
Spain	Radiotelevisión Española	RTVE	1955
Sweden	Sveriges Rundradiotjänst: Sveriges Television (SVT) Sveriges Radio (SR) Sveriges Utbildningsradio (UR)	SRT	1950
Switzerland	Swiss Broadcasting Corporation: Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS) Radiotelevisione svizzera (RSI) Radiotelevisiun Svizra Rumantscha (RTR)	SRG SSR	1950
Tunisia	Établissement de la Radio Tunisienne (مؤسسة الإذاعة التونسية)	RTT	2007
	Établissement de la Télévision Tunisienne (مؤسسة التلفزة التونسية)
Turkey	Türkiye Radyo ve Televizyon Kurumu	TRT	1950
Ukraine	National Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (Національна суспільна телерадіокомпанія України, Natsionalna Suspilna Teleradiokompaniya Ukrayiny)	SU	1993
United Kingdom	British Broadcasting Corporation	BBC	1950
	United Kingdom Independent Broadcasting: ITV plc STV Group Channel Four Television Corporation S4C Authority	UKIB	1981
Vatican City	Vatican Radio (Radio Vaticana, Statio Radiophonica Vaticana)	VR	1950

Suspended members

Country	Broadcasting organisation	Abbr.	Year	Suspension
Belarus	National State TV and Radio Company of the Republic of Belarus	BTRC	1993	2021 (indefinite)
Russia	Channel One Russia	C1R	1995	2022 (indefinite)
	All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company	VGTRK	1993
	Radio Dom Ostankino: Radio Mayak (MK) Radio Orpheus (OP)	RDO	1996

Past members

Country	Broadcasting organisation	Abbr.	From	To
Czechoslovakia	Czechoslovak Television (Československá televize)	ČST	1991	1992
Finland	MTV3	FI/MTV	1993	2019
France	Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française	RTF	1950	1964
	Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française	ORTF	1964	1975
	Télédiffusion de France	TDF	1975	1982
	TF1	TF1	1975	2018
	Europe 1	E1	1978	2022
	Organisme Français de Radiodiffusion et de Télévision	OFRT	1983	1992
	Canal+	C+	1984	2018
Greece	New Hellenic Radio, Internet and Television (Νέα Ελληνική Ραδιοφωνία, Ίντερνετ και Τηλεόραση, Néa Ellinikí Radiofonía, Ínternet kai Tileórasi)	NERIT	2014	2015
Hungary	Duna TV	Duna	2013	2015
	Magyar Rádió	MR	1993
	Magyar Televízió	MTV
Israel	Israel Broadcasting Authority (רָשׁוּת השִּׁדּוּר, Rashút HaShidúr)	IBA	1957	2017
Libya	Libyan Jamahiriya Broadcasting Corporation (الجماهيرية اللّيبيّة)	LJBC	1974	2011
Malta	Maltese Broadcasting Authority	MBA	1970	2003
Monaco	Groupement de Radiodiffuseurs Monégasques: Radio Monte Carlo (RMC) Télé Monte-Carlo (TMC)	GRMC	1950	2021
	Telemontecarlo (now La7)	TMC	1981	2001
Russia	Channel One Ostankino [ru] (Первый канал Останкино)	C1O	1994	1995
Serbia and Montenegro	Udruženje javnih radija i televizija (Alliance of Public Radio and Television)	UJRT	2001	2006
Slovakia	Slovenský rozhlas	SRo	1993	2011
	Slovenská televízia	STV
Spain	Antena 3 Radio	A3R	1986	1993
	Radio Popular SA COPE	COPE	1998	2019
	Sociedad Española de Radiodifusión	SER	1982	2020
Sweden	TV4	SE/TV4	2004	2019
Tunisia	Établissement de la radiodiffusion-télévision tunisienne (Tunisian Radio and Television Establishment)	ERTT	1990	2007
United Kingdom	Independent Television Authority	ITA	1959	1972
	Independent Television Companies Association	ITCA	1959	1981
	Independent Broadcasting Authority	IBA	1972	1981
	Commercial Radio Companies Association (now Radiocentre)	CRCA	1981	2006
Yugoslavia	Yugoslav Radio Television (Југославенска радиотелевизија, Jugoslavenska radiotelevizija)	JRT	1950	1992

Associate members

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 country that is granted Associate Member status does not gain access into Eurovision events with the notable exceptions of Australia, who have participated in the Eurovision Song Contest and the Junior Eurovision Song Contest since 2015, Canada in Eurovision Young Dancers between 1987 and 1989 and Kazakhstan, who have participated in Junior Eurovision since 2018, all of which were individually invited.

The list of Associate Members of EBU comprised the following 31 broadcasting companies from 20 countries as of December 2023^[update].

Country	Broadcasting organisation	Abbr.	Year
Australia	Australian Broadcasting Corporation	ABC	1950
	FreeTV Australia	Free	1962
	Special Broadcasting Service	SBS	1979
Bangladesh	National Broadcasting Authority of Bangladesh	NBAB	1974
Brazil	TV Cultura (Fundação Padre Anchieta)	FPA	2012
Canada	Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (Société Radio-Canada)	CBC	1950
Chile	Canal 13	C13	1971
China	China Media Group (中央广播电视总台)	CMG	2010
	Shanghai Media Group (上海文化廣播影視集團有限公司)	SMG	2016
Cuba	Cuban Institute of Radio and Television (Instituto Cubano de Radio y Televisión)	ICRT	1992
Georgia	Teleimedi	TEME	2004
	Rustavi 2 (რუსთავი 2)	RB	2003
Hong Kong	Radio Television Hong Kong	RTHK	1983
Iran	Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (صدا و سيمای جمهوری اسلامی ايران)	IRIB	1968
Japan	Nippon Hoso Kyokai	NHK	1951
	TBS Holdings (TBSホールディングス)	TBS	2000
Kazakhstan	Khabar Agency ("Хабар" Агенттігі, Агентство «Хабар»)	KA	2016
Malaysia	Radio Television of Malaysia (Radio Televisyen Malaysia, راديو تيليۏيشن مليسيا‎)	RTM	1970
Mauritius	Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation	MBC	1980
Nepal	Association of Community Radio Broadcasters Nepal	ACORAB	2023
New Zealand	Radio New Zealand (Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa)	RNZ	1950
	Television New Zealand (Te Reo Tātaki o Aotearoa)	TVNZ	1980
Oman	Public Authority for Radio and TV of Oman	PART	1976
South Korea	Korean Broadcasting System (한국방송공사)	KBS	1974
Syria	General Organization of Radio and TV (Organisation de la Radio-Télévision Arabe Syrienne, الهيئة العامة للإذاعة والتلفزيون – سورية)	ORTAS	1978
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

The list of past associate members of EBU comprises the following 85 broadcasting companies from 48 countries and 1 autonomous territory.

Country	Broadcasting organisation	Abbr.	From	To
Argentina	Canal 7	C7	1970
	El Trece	C13	1973
Australia	Australian Fine Music Network	AFMN	2008	2010
Barbados	Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation	BB/CBC	1971	2005
Benin	Radiodiffusion du Dahomey	RD		1975
Bolivia	Bolivia TV	TVB	1970
Brazil	Associação Brasileira das Emissoras de Rádio e Televisão	ABERT
	Diários Associados	DA
	Emissoras Unidas de Rádio e Televisão [pt]	EURT		1969
	TV Globo	GLOBO	1970
	Network of Independent Broadcasters (Rede de Emissoras Independentes)	REI	1974
	Rádio Nacional	RN	1974
Canada	CTV Television Network	CTV	1969
Chad	Chadian National Radio (Radiodiffusion Nationale Tchadienne)	RNT
Chile	Televisión Nacional de Chile	TVN	1970
Colombia	Instituto Nacional de Radio y Televisión	Inravisión	1970
Congo	Radiodiffusion Télévision Congolaise	RTC	1974
Costa Rica	Telesistema Nacional S.R.L.	TSN	1969	1971
Gabon	Radiodiffusion-Télévision Gabonaise	RTG
Gambia	Gambia Radio & Television Service	GRTS		2010
Ghana	Ghana Broadcasting Corporation	GBC
Greenland	Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa (Greenlandic Broadcasting Corporation)	KNR		2011
Haiti	Service des Télécommunications			1969
Honduras	Televisora de Honduras, S.A.	TH	1969	1971
Hong Kong	Asia Television (亞洲電視有限公司)	ATV		2010
	Television Broadcasts Limited	TVB	1973	2012/2013
India	All India Radio	AIR	1979	2021
Indonesia	Radio Republik Indonesia	RRI	1973
	Televisi Republik Indonesia	TVRI	1973
Ivory Coast	Radiodiffusion Television Ivoirienne	RTI
Jamaica	Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation	JBC	1970
Japan	Mainichi Broadcasting System (株式会社毎日放送, Kabushiki-gaisha Mainichi Hōsō)	MBS	1970
	TV Asahi	ANB		2009
	Fuji Television	FTN	1969	2012/2013
	National Association of Commercial Broadcasters in Japan	NACB		2012/2013
	Nippon Television Network Corporation (日本テレビ放送網株式会社, Nihon Terebi Hōsōmō kabushiki gaisha)	NTV		2009
	Tokyo FM	TFM	1986	2021
Kenya	The Voice of Kenya	VK
Kuwait	Kuwait Broadcasting and Television Service	KBTS	1970
Liberia	Liberian Broadcasting Corporation	LBC
Madagascar	Radiodiffusion-Télévision de Madagascar	RTM	1971
Malawi	Malawi Broadcasting Corporation	MBC
Mauritania	Television of Mauritania	MR/TVM	2003	2013
Mexico	Telesistema Mexicano	TSM		1973
	Televisión Independiente de México (Mexican Independent Television)	TIM	1969	1973
	Tele-Cadena Mexicana	TCM	1969	1973
	Televisa SA de CV	TVA	1973	2005
	Corporación Mexicana de Radio y Televisión	CMRT	1973
Nepal	Nepal Television (नेपाल टेलिभिजन)	NTVC		2010
Niger	Office de radiodiffusion et Télévision du Niger	ORTN
Nigeria	Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation	NBC
Pakistan	Radio Pakistan (ریڈیو پاکستان)	RP		1974
	Pakistan Television Corporation (پاکستان ٹیلی وژن نیٹ ورک)	PK/PTV	1971	2010
Palestine	Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation (هيئة الإذاعة والتلفزيون الفلسطينية)	PBC	2002	2014
Peru	Teledos	T2	1969	1971
	Compañía Peruana de Radiodifusión	AMÉRICA	1969
	Panamericana Televisión	PANTEL	1969
Qatar	Qatar Television and Broadcasting Service	QTBC	1973
	Al Jazeera Children's Channel	JCC	2008	2013
	Qatar Radio (إذاعة قطر‎)	QR	2009	2009
Senegal	Radiodiffusion Télévision Sénégalaise	RTS	1973	2006
Sri Lanka	Ceylon Broadcasting Corporation	CBC		1973
	Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (ශ්‍රී ලංකා ගුවන් විදුලි සංස්ථාව, Shrī Lankā Guvan Viduli Sansthāva) (இலங்கை ஒலிபரப்புக் கூட்டுத்தாபனம், Ilangkai Oliparappuk Kūṭṭuttāpaṉam)	SLBC	2007	2010
South Africa	South African Broadcasting Corporation	SABC	1951	2022
South Korea	Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (주식회사문화방송)	MBC		2009
Tanzania	Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation	TBC
United Arab Emirates	Emirates Media Inc.	EMI		2006
	United Arab Emirates Radio And Television – Dubai	UAERTVD		2006
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
	International Broadcasting Bureau	IBB		2007
	Minnesota Public Radio	MPR	2004	2007
	New York Public Radio	NYPR	2012	2016
	WGBH Educational Foundation	WGBH	2014	2014
Upper Volta	Radiodiffusion-Télévision Voltaïque	RTV
Uruguay	Sociedad Televisora Larrañaga (Tele 12)	C12	1970
Venezuela	Teleinversiones S.A.		1969	1970
	Corporación Venezolana de Televisión	CVTV	1973
	Radio Caracas Televisión	RCTV		2010
	Radio Caracas Radio	RCR		2010
Zaire	Radiodiffusion National Congolaise	RNC
Zimbabwe	Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation	ZBC		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 seven EBU broadcast members had status as Approved Participants in May 2022.

The following members previously had status as Approved Participants.

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

A replica of the Eurovision Song Contest trophy on display in Rotterdam, host city of the 2021 edition.

The Eurovision Song Contest (French: Concours Eurovision de la chanson) is an annual international song competition between EBU members, that was first held in Lugano, 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. The 1956 contest was won by the host nation, Switzerland. The most recent host city was Malmö, Sweden.

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.

Jeux sans frontières

Jeux sans frontières (English: Games without frontiers, or Games Without Borders) 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

The 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 two years, with some countries holding national heats. Since its inaugural edition in 1982, it has become one of the most important music competitions on an international level.

Eurovision Young Dancers

The Eurovision Young Dancers was a biennial dance showcase broadcast on television throughout Europe. The first 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.

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 (French: Concours Eurovision de la Chanson Junior) is an annual international song competition that was first held in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 15 November 2003. Sixteen countries participated in the inaugural edition, with each submitting one song, for a total of 16 entries. The inaugural contest was won by Croatia. The winner of the most recent contest, which took place in Nice, France, is France.

Eurovision Dance Contest

The Eurovision Dance Contest (not to be confused with the Eurovision Young Dancers Competition) was an international dancing competition that was held for the first time in London, United Kingdom, on 1 September 2007. The competition was repeated in 2008 when it was held in Glasgow, United Kingdom, but has not been held since.

Eurovision Magic Circus Show

The Eurovision Magic Circus Show was an entertainment show organised by the EBU, which took place in 2010, 2011 and 2012 in Geneva. 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.

Eurovision Choir

The inaugural Eurovision Choir, featuring non-professional choirs selected by EBU members, took place on 22 July 2017 in Riga, hosted by the Latvian broadcaster Latvijas Televīzija (LTV). Nine countries took part in the first edition. Carmen Manet from Slovenia was the first winner.

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 (already chosen as the host for the 2018 European Athletics Championships) and Glasgow (already chosen as the host for the 2018 European Aquatics Championships, and which concurrently also hosted the events of the other sports).

See also

In Spanish: Unión Europea de Radiodifusión para niños

• 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