EBU community united as it faces 00

More than 150 Members of the EBU Community have made active contributions to the Vision2020 project, delegates attending the final session of the 70th EBU General Assembly in Malta have heard.

Ruurd Bierman, who is leading the project, told the conference that Members have embraced the journey into the future, which aims to generate big ideas and recommendations to help PSM create strategies for 2020 and beyond.

Mr Bierman said that since the 2012 Winter General Assembly in Geneva, the Vision2020 project team had completed the initial phase of collecting facts, trends, challenges and developing scenarios. Principle concerns identified by Members include matters of funding, the rise of Pay TV, new media and technologies, the influence and dependence of governments, audience support, external competition and issues of quality.

Members have at the same time expressed confidence about the qualities that distinguish their indispensable contribution to society, mainly the quality and relevance of content, trust, the generation of objective information, local content, culture and education, distinctiveness, and audience interaction.

Later in the Vision2020 session, Members participated in a discussion on changes in the Media Eco-System, which is one of the central trends identified by the three Experts Groups: Content & Audiences; Distribution & Technology; Governance, Role & Remit.

Following the presentation of case studies by Norwegian Member NRK and Flemish broadcaster VRT, delegates debated the merits of developing bespoke platforms or entering into external alliances with gatekeepers who provide internet content such as Netflix, Hulu and Youtube.

"Some of the most pressing questions relate to content access and navigation," said Mr Bierman. "Do we rely on our own platforms and Electronic Programme Guides, or do we cooperate with third parties? The experience of VRT, which has experimented with an over the top catch-up service in cooperation with Belgian market players and NRK, which has coproduced drama with Netflix show there is not one single option. Members must define strategies that best serve their interests."

Earlier, EBU Director General Ingrid Deltenre told Members that when we look to the future, it is a common future and one that we face together.

"We are spending a great deal of energy identifying just what that future is - the threats, the challenges and the rewards it may bring," Ms Deltenre said.

The Experts Groups will meet for a final third round of discussions in September. Their preliminary findings will be presented to a meeting of the EBU Executive Board in October ahead of the Winter General Assembly in Geneva.

The EBUs strategy and services will be reviewed according to the projects conclusions, which will be presented to the 2014 Summer Assembly.

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LINK:	http://www3.ebu.ch/cms/en/sites/ebu/contents/news/2013/06/ebu-communit...
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