How the EBU builds Relevance in a fragmented Media Landscape
Photo by EBU
Last week, the Swiss Chapter of the European Association of Communication Directors (EACD) gave us the opportunity to visit the European Broadcasting Union (EBU)'s headquarters in Geneva, where we were hosted by Axel J. Schafmeister (EACD Swiss Chapter Lead) and several senior EBU leaders.
Martin Green CBE, Director of Eurovision Song Contest, walked us through how Eurovision is built and defended as a year-round brand. That matters even more for an event that is reimagined every year across different host countries, while still needing to remain instantly recognizable. The figures shown that evening were striking: 96% brand recognition, 131 million people reached on TV, a strong youth share, and huge reach across social, media and YouTube. The result is a media property that operates less like a one-off TV broadcast and more like a global, multi-platform content ecosystem*.
Andreas Aristodemou, Director of Olympics, offered a view into EBU Sport, a division built over more than 70 years of partnerships with many of the worldβs leading free-to-air broadcasters and streamers. Milano Cortina 2026 came through as a strong example: broadcasters across multiple markets delivered record or near-record audiences. What stood out even more, though, was the βπ’πππ π πππ ππ ππ‘. At a time when people often assume television is steadily losing ground to social and digital platforms, events like this still bring huge audiences to the screen at the same time. They create rare moments of π¬π‘ππ«ππ πππππ§ππ’π¨π§ ππ§π ππ¨π₯π₯ππππ’π―π π£π¨π², and that is part of what public-service broadcasting continues to protect.
Liz Corbin, Director of News, laid out EBU's position on AI and journalism. In short: news content should not be used in generative AI models or tools without the authorization of the originator / the value of high-quality news content needs to be fairly recognized when it is used to benefit third parties / sourcing has to stay visible to the public / a plural, healthy news ecosystem benefits AI tools too, not just journalism / EBU is inviting tech companies into formal dialogue on safety, accuracy, and transparency standards. That's not lobbying quietly behind closed doors; that's positioning public service media as the trustworthy anchor in an AI-saturated information environment.
What tied the evening together was the broader strategic lens outlined by Michelle Roverelli, Director of Member Relations and Communications. Seen through that lens, EBU isnβt just making content; it is playing a long game, building reputation, securing rights, strengthening relevance, and supporting collaboration across its network of members, all with one goal in mind: remaining innovative and meaningful to audiences across Europe and beyond as the media landscape keeps fragmenting.
An eye-opening evening on what that strategy looks like from the inside. Thank you.
#EACD #Media #Eurovision #EBU #Newsroom #CorporateCommunications
*Independent academic research (Quigg, Wilson, Bates et al., published in the Journal of Public Health, 2025 β https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-025-02458-5) found that most respondents believe Eurovision genuinely brings nations together and celebrates cultural difference.
