This year, we are marking 100 years of technical collaboration between public service media. The EBU’s predecessor, the International Broadcasting Union, was formed in 1925, driven by the birth of radio broadcasting across Europe.

This week at the International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam, it’s inspiring to see how far we’ve come. Walking around the exhibition and meeting our Members, I’m reminded that innovation and adaptation have always been in our DNA. 

For a century, public service broadcasters have embraced new technologies and shifting audience behaviour and, today, that spirit of change is more important than ever.

Meeting changing audience needs

Public service media still reach four out of five Europeans every week and remain the most trusted source of news in over 90% of European countries1. 

But the landscape is more complex. Audiences now consume content across multiple apps and devices, and competition for attention is fierce.

Our Members are investing heavily to meet these challenges. Nearly 80% of PSM have formal digital transformation strategies, over two-thirds already integrate AI into their corporate strategies, and more than half utilize AI in content generation2. 

From dedicated innovation hubs to AI-powered tools like the EBU’s NEO – which is already powering services like Swedish Radio’s conversational news interface – public service media are experimenting with new formats and services while staying true to our editorial standards.

Change is not easy, but we are up for it. We know our role as Europe’s most trusted media organizations is dependent on us ensuring that public interest content remains visible, engaging and accessible – on every platform audiences use.

Partnerships that work for the public

Reaching audiences at scale increasingly involves working with the giant global technology players. We are very open to partnering with these platforms, as long as they respect PSM values, safeguard editorial independence and deliver genuine benefits to our viewers and listeners. We need to be where our audiences are.

The EBU is increasingly being asked to act as a conduit between public service media and major technology companies – and that role gives us all greater collective influence. Europe’s public service broadcasters are coming together to develop common criteria for connected TVs, discuss prominence and discoverability with the automotive and tech industries, and negotiate together on AI and cloud services.

Working together makes us stronger. Whether it’s formal partnerships with global companies such as NVIDIA or new collaborations across radio and television, we can ensure that innovation serves the public rather than undermining it.

Strengthening European digital sovereignty

Right now, more than 60% of public service media rely primarily on US providers for their cloud services3. AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud dominate the market. We need diversity of supply which means both US companies being able to demonstrate that they are safe partners and European suppliers stepping up to provide credible alternatives.

Several EBU Members are already building their own data centres or testing partnerships with European hyperscalers like STACKIT and Scaleway. We are also supporting open-source and interoperable infrastructures and have adopted a joint statement on sovereign digital infrastructure and AI.

Europe cannot afford to leave its media foundations to be controlled by others. Sovereign, secure, and open platforms are not just about infrastructure – they’re about protecting discoverability, democratic values and editorial independence in the digital age.

We’re inviting regulators, cloud/AI providers, academia, and infrastructure partners to work with us to co-create secure, sovereign platforms. Our aim is to support open, secure media platforms under European control, while promoting innovation in areas such as AI tools in production, enhanced systems for distribution and user interaction, and better integration with third-party platforms. One prime example is our recent work on a Media Exchange Layer (MXL) to enable multi-cloud workflows – you’ll see mentions of this everywhere at IBC.

Leading together

The EBU’s role is to help our Members navigate this shift – to be the innovator, connector and enabler. From setting international standards such as our Emmy-Award winning work on IP based production ST 2110 to offering practical tools like our Rights and Remedies Against Big Tech handbook, we’re providing leadership at a time when it’s most needed.

Our mission remains the same as it was 100 years ago: to ensure that Europe’s public service media remain trusted, independent and at the forefront of technological innovation. Together we can shape a digital future that reflects Europe’s values and serves all audiences.

If you’re in Amsterdam, please do visit our stand in Hall 10 where you’ll be able to see a range of the EBU and our partners’ work.

1 MIS Trust in Public Service Media (https://www.ebu.ch/research/membersonly/report/trust-in-public-service-media)
2 MIS Survey PSM Digital Strategy & Offer database ( https://www.ebu.ch/publications/research/membersonly/dataset/all-datasets-media-intelligence-survey )
3 Caretta Research (July 2025)