Geneva, 12 September 2012 – The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) is to chart a multi-annual strategic plan that ensures the primacy of public service media (PSM) amid a converging media environment.

Work on Vision2020, which was initiated by the EBU Executive Board in July, will begin in October.

The project's purpose has two aims: to develop ideas to help Members flourish and remain sustainable over the next decade and to create a new mid-term strategy for the EBU to respond to Member needs.

The project will be led by Dutch-born Ruurd Bierman, who  has chaired the EBU TV Committee since 2009, and has been a member of the Executive Board of the Netherlands Public Service Broadcasting corporation (NPO) since 2003.

Mr Bierman says during the first half of 2013, Members will be invited to participate in a conference to define future trends in terms of audience; media consumption, socio-demographics politics and technology.

Four expert groups drawn from respective Member Committees will be supported by a dedicated EBU project team. The groups will embark on assignments to analyse the big issues facing radio, television and multimedia and to define new ideas on PSM, best practices and recommendations
The areas of focus will be:

• Public expectations and attitudes towards the media
• Audiences, programming, competition
• Technology, trends and impact
• Public and political support and funding
• PSM organization and governance
• EBU services, resources and organization

Members will be kept abreast of the project via the EBU community platform. The results will be presented to the General Assembly at the end of 2013.