Founded in 1950 , the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) counts 75 active members, from 56 countries in and around Europe, plus 45 associate members around the world. The EBU Headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland. The EBU is also represented in different countries through its offices in Beijing, Brussels, London, Madrid, Moscow, Singapore and Washington. The EBU represents its Members on European Union audiovisual policy matters of concern to the audiovisual sector. The EBU also works closely with the UN, UNESCO and the World Broadcasting Unions (WBU)on media policy.
In 1950 Europe’s public service broadcasters embarked on an adventure. They decided to invest in the future, in a new technology – television. Today, the EBU plays a leading role in bringing Europe into the future, at the forefront of research and development of new media. The EBU has worked to help develop many new radio and TV systems: radio data system (RDS), digital audio broadcasting (DAB), digital video broadcasting (DVB), high-definition TV (HDTV), TV-Anytime (TVA), NewsML (IPTC), production metadata in the SOA FIMS project, and the W3C Media Annotation ontology. The organisation promotes open technical standards and interoperability for the benefit of broadcasters and consumers, and explores the opportunities presented by new technologies. The EBU studies digital technology for production and transmission and advice members on appropriate solutions.