The European Broadcasting Union members have elected a new Executive Board at the EBU’s General Assembly which was held virtually earlier this month.

A total of nine European public media service executives will be joining the new EBU President Ms. Delphine Ernotte Cunci (France Télévisions) and Vice President Petr Dvořák (Czech TV)  on the Executive board as of 2019 for a two year term. The new board will serve from January 2021-December 2022.

The EBU’s Executive Board is responsible for ensuring the implementation of the EBU’s strategy and policies.

Five members re-elected

Marcello Foa (RAI), Giacomo Ghisani (RV), Sebastian Sergei Parker (C1 Russia) and Gonçalo Reis (RTP) have all been re-elected by the EBU members to serve for a second term on the Executive Board. Whilst Cilla Benko (SR) has been re-elected for the fifth time to serve on the Executive Board.

Three new members join the board

Thomas Bellut (ZDF), Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė (LRT) and Fran Unsworth (BBC) will be joining the board for the very fist time.

• Thomas Bellut is ZDF’s Director General since 2012
• Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė is LRT’s  Director General since 2018
• Fran Unsworth is a member of the BBC Board and is responsible for the BBC’s current affairs and news programming

One member rejoins the board

Alexander Wrabetz (ORF) is back on the Executive Board after having served as an EBU Board Member from 2011-2016.  He has been the Director General of ORF since 2007.

Three women on the board

Ms. Delphine Ernotte Cunci (incoming EBU President) says:

I’m glad we could gather a great cast of skills and experience and also keep the balance of the geographical, economical and cultural diversity of the EBU Members in the composition of the new Executive Board. For the first time, I’m also proud to include 3 women on the board.

The EBU Executive Board

• Ms. Delphine Ernotte Cunci – President ( CEO France Télévisions/France)
• Mr.Petr Dvořák- Vice President (Director GeneralCzech TV/Czech Republic)
• Mr.Thomas Bellut (Director General ZDF/Germany)
• Ms.Cilla Benkö (Director General SR /Sweden)
• Mr.Marcello Foa  (President Rai/Italy)
• Ms.Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė (Director General LRT /Lithuania)
• Mr.Giacomo Ghisani (Acting Director General RV/Vatican State)
• Mr.Sebastian Sergei Parker (Deputy Director General Channel One/ Russia)
• Mr.Gonçalo Reis (President and CEO RTP/ Portugal)
• Mr.Fran Unsworth (Director of News and Current Affairs BBC/UK)
• Mr.Alexander Wrabetz (Director General ORF/Austria)

The EBU members and assembly thanked the outogoing Executive board members along with the outogoing President Mr. Tony Hall (BBC) for their had work and devotion.

About the EBU

The EBU is based in Geneva, Switzerland and is a global alliance of public service media (PSM). The European Broadcasting Corporation has 69 active members in 56 countries and 34 associate members in 21 countries.

The EBU’s main target is to secure a sustainable future for public service media, providing its members with world-class content: news, sports and music etc. The EBU also aims building on its founding ethos of solidarity and co-operation to create a centre for learning and sharing.

Mr. Noel Curran is currently the General Director of the EBU. The European Broadcasting Unions is the organizer of the Eurovision Song Contest, an event it has been producing since 1956.