2016 World Television Day
14 November 2016
Power of television celebrated by key media alliances on World Television Day
Brussels, 21 November 2016
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the Association of Commercial Television in Europe (ACT) and egta, the Brussels based association of television and radio sales houses are underlining the impact and reach of the television industry on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of World Television Day (21 November).
As part of the annual United Nations initiative the three organisations have produced a 30 second video emphasising the impact TV has on European society. It will be shown by broadcasters across Europe, Asia, Canada, USA and Australia on 21 November (please see here: http://bit.ly/WorldTVDayVideo2016).
Broadcasters can add their own local content to the video before airing the clip across their networks or online portals.
The video highlights that 600,000 [1] people in Europe help create the TV programmes that reach 610 million viewers [2] across the continent. Viewers, who watch for an average of 3.55 hours [3] every day, enjoy 60,000 hours [4] of entertainment daily on Europe’s 5,463 TV channels [5].
To celebrate their love of television, viewers are encouraged to use the hashtags #WeloveTV and #WorldTVDay on social networks on 21 November.
“TV has impressively broken its historical linear chains, its one-way signal and its living-room constraints” says Jan Isenbart, egta President, “Today’s global media sphere is mainly a video sphere; and within this video sphere, it is the daily professional content from TV stations all over the planet that we dedicate by far the biggest chunk of our screen-time to. In fact, almost any digital device is also a TV screen today…or will be soon! TV’s reach, impact and effectiveness thus remain unchallenged, be it for information, entertainment or commercial communication.”
EBU Director General Ingrid Deltenre says that TV plays a huge role in contributing to society: “89% of European citizens watch TV every week. Its reach and impact is incredible. Public service television reaches 60% of European citizens every week and accounts for 20% of all TV viewing."
"These broadcasters play an indispensable role in the functioning of democracies and contribute to the cohesion of society. Despite the many choices consumers now have television remains the dominant medium with more and more of us watching across all platforms,” she added.
Magnus Brooke, Chairman of the ACT Board, explains: “Commercial broadcasters drive investment in the production of high quality original European TV content. From news and documentaries through to drama, children’s programming and family entertainment, our goal is to produce ground breaking content to push the boundaries of creativity, originality and the very best entertainment has to offer. High quality original content that speaks to our viewers and their lives in each Member State of the EU lies at the heart of everything we do.”
Caroline Petit, Deputy Director, United Nations regional information Centre added: “We are happy to see these three key associations partnering up again to celebrate World TV Day, especially as we are now one year into the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. All aspects of society, including the media and television, can play its part in implementing this people’s agenda.”
For this occasion, an infographic with facts and figures about the TV industry has been created and is available for download here:
