The EBU - European Broadcasting Union formed

Boxes for foreign commentators at the Eurovision Song Contest, 1960. Thirteen nations competed in the contest which was televised by the BBC from the Royal Festival Hall on 29 March 1960.

The EBU (European Broadcasting Union) is the major association of public service media organisations, sharing and co-operating across Europe and beyond. It has over a hundred members, including the BBC. The EBU is best known for the international broadcasting event The Eurovision Song Contest and for its signature Eurovision fanfare, from Charpentier’s Te Deum. But it was set up to apportion radio wavelengths and foster co-operation between countries.

The EBU was born in a post-war Europe divided by the start of the Cold War, from a struggle between competing ideologies trying to shape the broadcasting landscape. It was established on 12 February 1950 at a conference in Torquay. The first elected president – emphasising the crucial part played by the BBC in its formation - was the BBCs Director of Overseas Services, Major-General Sir Ian Jacob. The first live television broadcast from Europe followed in August, with an outside broadcast from Calais. The first major Eurovision broadcast was the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953, seen live across the continent.

Today the EBU facilitates exchanges of sports and music events – such as the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s Day Concert - as well as news content between member organisations. In the past it brought the European game show Jeux Sans Frontieres to viewers. But its most enduring idea remains the Eurovision Song Contest, first staged in 1956 and now an institution spreading far beyond Europe.