International Broadcasting Union
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| Successor | European Broadcasting Union |
|---|---|
| Formation | 4 April 1925 |
| Extinction | 1 November 1950 |
| Type | Union of broadcasting organisations |
| Headquarters | Geneva, Switzerland |
The International Broadcasting Union (IBU; official name in French: Union Internationale de Radiophonie, UIR) was an alliance of European radio broadcasters, established on April 3-4, 1925. The union had its headquarters in Geneva. The UIR aimed to resolve international problems of broadcasting.
History
Since its establishment in 1865, the international Telegraph Union (ITU) focused on wireless point-to-point communications. After the end of World War I, ITU did not take up the new development of radio broadcasting. The League of Nations and ITU decided not to create international broadcasting regulations as the technology was too "young" and changing too quickly. The decision left room for international efforts that were not driven by governments.
European broadcasters took the initiative, discussing how to deal with national and international problems of broadcasting, and whether the private companies should seek government regulation or establish their own international organization of broadcasters working outside governments. Lengthy negotiations between the various private broadcasters and BBC culminated in establishing of the non-governmental International Broadcasting Union.
The diverse and complex problems of a growing number of broadcasting stations in Europe required expert knowledge in law, finance, engineering, journalism, and musicology. The experts argued that their efforts would improve the quality of broadcasting to such a degree that the medium would attract a wider radio audience. Their reasoning proved correct. In 1920 only a few thousand homes in Europe had radio receivers, in 1926 this number has grown to 5.8 million and to 16 million receivers in 1931.[1]
After the end of the World War II the UIR was discredited as "German-friendly" in the eyes of many former member states. In March 1946, the Soviet Union, which was the driving force in the elimination of UIR in favor of a competition organization, demanded dissolution of UIR and establishment of a new international broadcasting organization, where all the satellite states of the USSR would be represented with voting rights. 26 members of UIR founded the alternative International Broadcasting Organisation commonly known as OIR on 28 June 1946, but ultimately the attempt to dissolve UIR failed.
The dispute escalated when the ITU world radio conference was held in 1947 in Atlantic City. Both organizations, the OIR and the UIR, demanded to participate at this meeting as "technical experts". Both organizations were denied this status, instead being allowed only to participate as observers without voting rights. The European follow-up conference in Copenhagen in 1948 had similar outcome. This situation did not satisfy either party. After failing to reach agreement, UIR was officially dissolved in 1950, and its remaining assets were transferred to a newly established European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
"The founding of the EBU," says Rüdiger Zeller, "was the result of splitting Europe into a Western and Eastern Block."[2]
On January 1, 1993, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and dismantling of Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, OIRT, the successor of OIR, merged with the European Broadcasting Union.
References
- ↑ Suzanne Lommers. "Europe - On Air: Interwar Projects for Radio Broadcasting". Retrieved 8 November 2016.
- ↑ »Politique de la grandeur« versus »made in Germany« by Andreas Fickers, R. Oldenbourg Verlag München 2007