Copenhagen, 25 April 2012 – European Broadcasting Union (EBU) Members today chose an edgy Dutch concept to be made into a major international coproduction by European public service broadcasters.

The winning idea, called Crisis, was shortlisted from 30 proposals and picked from three finalists today when more than 80 EBU professionals cast their vote at the Eurovision TV Summit, in Copenhagen.

Work will now start to identify EBU Members to join the project, which aims to create an ambitious common programme initiative in the area of knowledge.

Crisis, described as a "simulation game based on reality", will bring five public and private sector figures together in a studio and present them with an emergency situation. The producers will give players specific roles, and increasingly bombard them with information, such as phone calls, conference reports and fictitious news stories. How they fare in the game will depend on how well they cope with the crisis.

Crisis was conceived by Netherlands broadcaster NTR, which produced a first series nationally ten years ago. For the new version the producers plan to make use of new technologies and social media to involve and engage their audience.

Eurovision TV's Head of Factual Anna Vasova, who led the call for ideas entitled THE Great Idea For Eurovision, said: "We want to unite EBU Members in a common project that can be rolled out to any number of European countries. This idea is very appealing because its content and  production will strike a chord right across the EBU Membership and encourage the internationalisation of the format."

The two runners up were:

100, presented by the Hamburg-based Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion. This show would set 100 European teens in a small village and poll their feelings about the big issues facing young people today. 

The Eurovision Tech Contest, from German pairing Leuphana / Zero One Film. This proposes a technological take on the Eurovision Song Contest that "invites the crowd to design and prototype innovative technology in a competitive but friendly contest".

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About the European Broadcasting Union (EBU)

The EBU serves 85 national media organizations in 56 countries in and around Europe. It represents its Members and promotes the values and distinctiveness of public service media in Europe and around the world. The Eurovision and Euroradio networks deliver news, sports, events and music to EBU Members and other media organizations. Services to Members range from legal advice, technical standardization and development to coproduction and exchange of quality European content.  For more information about the EBU: www.ebu.ch and www.eurovision.net/