PSM Funding
March 2012

Funding is one of the biggest challenges facing public service media (PSM) today. The age of austerity has led to greater scrutiny of the way in which EBU Members are financed. Yet even as budgets contract, the need to invest in the future grows more urgent against a background of fast-evolving technology.

To honour their remits, public broadcasters need specific, sustainable funding. The funding model must fit the context, i.e. sources of revenue must be long-term and independent of national politics. The level of funding must also reflect national needs; every organization poses unique financial questions.

Empowering Citizenship through Media Literacy: the Role of Public Service Media 
February 2012

In a digital world, learning never ends. Understanding how to use the latest media technology and evaluate its content is fundamental to critical understanding and active participation, which are the basis of every democratic society. Lacking the required skills not only excludes sections of society from making informed choices, it increases the risk of being exposed to harmful, unsolicited, or unreliable messaging.

Public service media (PSM) advance everyday media literacy: the ability to access the media, to understand and critically evaluate its content and communicate over a range of platforms. Nowadays, PSM use multi-platforms to create an intelligent media experience, to reach out to audiences in interactive and innovative ways.

The Future of Digital Radio
October 2011

The EBU believes that digital broadcasting is pivotal to radio's progress, and that the future of radio listening will be via a combination of broadcast and internet. But for digital radio to flourish in Europe, national governments must decisively plan digital launch scenarios amid a broader, coordinated EU-wide approach. Digital radio is important for Europe, but the technology needs greater impetus to drive it to the top of national agendas.

The future is hybrid
March 2011 

European broadcasters, the driving forces of this new technology, are calling for hybrid systems to be designed in a way that respects some basic principles that will make full use of modern technology yet remove potential risks. Click on the image to download the EBU Viewpoint on this topic. 

Modernizing Copyright 
March 2011

Modernizing copyright rules is not only of utmost importance to the EU cultural sector but also to its copyright economy. The EU broadcasting sector contributes over EUR 30 billion to the EU copyright economy. One third of this sum is paid by European public broadcasters for rights used in their original European productions and in their 28 million hours of archive materials. This means that in the majority of European countries, publicly funded broadcasters tend to invest heavily in original content (original journalism, documentaries, a culturally diverse range of programming topics, etc.). If they are to continue investing such substantial amounts in quality content on all platforms, broadcasters need rights-clearance mechanisms to be simplified. Read the EBU's position by clicking on the image on the right. 

EU Spectrum policy 
November 2010

Click on the image to download the EBU Viewpoint on EU spectrum policy with a particular focus on the European Commission’s proposal for the first Radio Spectrum Policy Programme (RSPP).