About the ABU

The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) is the biggest broadcasting union in the world. Through its members’ network, the ABU can reach 3 billion people across the Asia – Pacific region.

The Union was established in 1964 as a non-profit, non-governmental, non- political, professional association with mandate to assist the development of broadcasting in the region. ABU promotes the collective interests of television and radio broadcasters as well as key industry players and facilitate regional and international media co-operation. In the last decade, the Union has become a global player in using media for social development and nation-building. The ABU flagship outreach campaigns on gender empowerment and climate action and disaster preparedness have won the backing of numerous governments and the support of international organisations.

Currently, the ABU has 272 member in 76 countries on four continents. The ABU runs a wide range of services, including the daily Asiavision TV news exchange, several co-productions, program exchanges and technical, programming, legal and management consultancies, as well as industry and international conferences and an international frequency planning and coordination. The Union negotiates rights for major sports events and organises their coverage for the region. It also runs the prestigious annual ABU Prizes, TV Song and Radio Song Festivals. Keeping everyone abreast of what we do is the ABU website and the quarterly publications- ABU News and ABU Technical Review.

ABU is a member of the World Broadcasters’ Union and works closely with the other regional broadcasting unions on matters of common concern such as reserving frequencies for broadcasters, harmonisation of operating and technical broadcasting standards and systems and finalising the Broadcasting Treaty.