European Broadcasting Union

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; French: Union européenne de radio-télévision, UER) is an alliance of public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who are members of the Council of Europe. It was established on February 12, 1950, and has its administrative headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
The EBU manages and operates the Eurovision and Euroradio telecommunications networks, which broadcast major television and radio programs live to its members.
==History==
The EBU, a successor to the International Broadcasting Union (IBU), was established on April 4, 1925, and had its administrative and technical offices in Geneva and Brussels. During WWII, Nazi Germany took over the organization, leading the Allies to view it as compromised.
On June 27, 1946, the International Broadcasting Organisation (IBO) was established with 26 members, without any British involvement.
On 13 February 1950, the European Broadcasting Union met with 23 members from the ITU-defined European Broadcasting Area at the Imperial Hotel in Torquay, England. The first president was Ian Jacob of the BBC, who remained in power for 10 years due to the BBC's financial, technical, and staff contributions. The International Broadcasting Union was dissolved on November 1, 1950, and its remaining assets were transferred to the newly established European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
In 1967, the first concert in the International Concert Season of the European Broadcasting Union was broadcast from the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.https://web.archive.org/web/20180331173624/https://www.ebu.ch/files/live/sites/ebu/files/Projects/Radio/Euroradio%2050th/Doc_50th_years_radio_programme_no_BBC.pdf
Following the Soviet Union's dissolution and the end of the Cold War, the OIRT merged with the European Broadcasting Union on January 1, 1993, transferring all European OIRT memberships.https://books.google.com/books?id=K5Sy7aIIHkYC&q=oirt&pg=PA96https://web.archive.org/web/20050129162217/https://www.ebu.ch/CMSimages/en/dossiers_1_04_eurovision50_ve_tcm6-13890.pdf
==Controversies==
===Greek state broadcaster (2013)===
The Greek government abruptly ceased operations of Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) on 11 June 2013, citing budgetary concerns stemming from the European debt crisis.https://web.archive.org/web/20220525191740/https://www.ekathimerini.com/news/132876/greek-public-broadcaster-ert-to-be-shut-down-reopened-with-fewer-employees/ On May 4, 2014, New Hellenic Radio, Internet and Television (NERIT) took over ERT's active membership slot in the EBU.https://web.archive.org/web/20140305040837/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17372888 Two years later, NERIT was renamed Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) and reopened with a comprehensive program in all radio stations and three TV channels. The company reopened with nineteen regional, two world-range, and five pan-Hellenic range radio stations.https://web.archive.org/web/20160119223741/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33090373
===Belarusian state broadcaster (2021)===
Belarusian Television and Radio Company (BTRC) has been accused of repressing its employees, firing over 100 people since 2020 following anti-Lukashenko protests. Many have been jailed. The EBU has raised concerns about Belarus' participation in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2021, arguing that if it endorses Belarus, it would make a political statement that democracy is unimportant and basic human rights are unimportant.https://web.archive.org/web/20210204144539/https://wiwibloggs.com/2021/01/28/belarus-protestors-call-ebu-remove-btrc-from-eurovision/259115/ On 28 May 2021, the EBU suspended BTRC's membership due to the broadcast of interviews obtained under duress. BTRC was expelled from the EBU on 1 July 2021 for three years.https://web.archive.org/web/20210701100520/https://euroradio.fm/belteleradyyokampaniyu-vyklyuchyli-z-eurapeyskaga-vyashchalnaga-sayuza
===Russian state broadcasters (2022)===
The Russian government recognized the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, disputed territories in Ukraine on February 21, 2022. Ukraine's public broadcaster Suspilne called on the EBU to terminate the membership of Channel One Russia and VGTRK and consider preventing Russia from participating in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022.https://web.archive.org/web/20220224093023/https://corp.suspilne.media/newsdetails/4807 Other public broadcasters, including Finland's Yle and Estonia's ERR, joined the call for Russia's exclusion.https://web.archive.org/web/20220226235605/https://yle.fi/aihe/a/20-10002306https://web.archive.org/web/20220303223353/https://menu.err.ee/1608512489/eesti-osalemine-eurovisioonil-soltub-venemaa-osalusest The EBU announced on 25 February 2022 that Russia would be banned from participating in the Contest, and on 26 May, the EBU suspended its Russian members indefinitely.https://web.archive.org/web/20220526144238/https://www.escplus.es/la-uer-hace-efectiva-la-suspension-indefinida-a-sus-miembros-rusos/
==Trivia==
*As of 2023, it is made up of 113 member organisations from 56 countries, and 31 associate members from a further 20 countries.https://www.ebu.ch/about/members?type=associate
==References==
Category:Swiss YouTubers
Category:Users who joined in 2011