The 19^th Euroradio Assembly, held on the Spanish island of Tenerife, wrapped up after two days in which Europe’s public radio leaders mulled over the major opportunities and challenges facing radio today.

Hosted by Radio Nacional de España (RNE), the 2013 Assembly agenda covered multimedia strategies, innovations and changing trends in radio, as well as the ever pressing issue of severe budget cuts and how to weather them. The delegates also examined the pros and cons of different funding models.

Several Members presented their strategies for competing in a converging media world. Jan Petersson of Swedish Radio (SR) homed in on the station’s identity and the importance of trustworthy reporting, while RNE director Manuel Ventero presented his new radio news station, Radio 5.

For the EBU, Head of Radio Christian Vogg presented a new video exchange platform (2see.euroradio.org) dedicated to Member radio websites and discussed the results of a wide-ranging survey on public service media (PSM) radio and media apps.

EBU’s Media Intelligence Service manager, Roberto Suárez Candel, described the findings of their study into the way EBU Members are using YouTube.

Euroradio Committee election

During the closing session, Members voted for the next Euroradio Committee, which is the principal policy-making body in the EBU radio sector.

The new chairman is Graham Ellis, Controller of Production, BBC Radio who vowed to be a “chairman for every radio member.” Mr. Ellis told the Assembly he is “a conservative radio man who is open-minded to new media in our convergent world, but strongly believing in radio as a strong and still attractive media.” He succeeds Alain Massé (Radio France), who held the position for two years.

The new committee is as follows:

Chairman

Graham Ellis (BBC)

Vice chairs

Albena Milanova, (BNR)

Marc Savary, (SRG-SSR)

Jan Westerhof, (NPO, re-elected)

Committee

Marcelino Blanes, (ES RNE)        

Francis Goffin, (BE RTBF)            

Christian Gramsch, (DE ARD/DW)

Oleg Kupriyanov, (RU RDO VOR)  

Miha Lampreht, (SI RTVSLO)      

Alain Massé, (FR GRF/SRF)           

Zoran Mihajlovic, (HR HRT)

Jan Petersson, (SE SR)         

Sergio Valzania, (IT RAI)    

Rene Zavoral, (CZ CR)