World Broadcasting Unions Technical Committee
The World Broadcasting Unions (WBU) is the coordinating body for broadcasting unions who represent broadcaster networks across the globe. It was established in 1992 as a coordinating body at the international broadcasting level. Since then, the WBU has provided global solutions on key issues for its member unions. The North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) acts as secretariat for the WBU.
The broadcasting unions who belong to the WBU are the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU), the African Union of Broadcasting (AUB), the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU), the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the International Association of Broadcasting (IAB/AIR), the North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) and the Organizacion de Telecomunicaciones Iberoamericanas (OTI).
The WBU currently has four working committees: the International Satellite Operations Group (WBU-ISOG), the Technical Committee (WBU-TC), the Sports Committee (WBU-SC) and the WBU-WIPO Broadcaster Treaty Group (WBU-WIPO).
As the technical arm of the World Broadcasting Unions, the Technical Committee (WBU-TC) is responsible for technical broadcasting issues of importance to the members of the World Broadcasting Unions. Its responsibilities include:
- The study of broadcasting technologies
- Informing members of the World Broadcasting Unions on these technologies
- Coordinating collective action on technical matters associated with broadcasting technologies in order to bring benefits to individual Broadcasting Unions
- Encouraging the development and introduction of common technical and operational standards Fostering interoperability of systems where a common standard does not exist
- Coordinating broadcaster’s requirements and developing common positions of the Broadcasting Unions Presenting the common positions of the Unions to standards setting and regulatory bodies and to professional and consumer electronics manufacturers
- Preparing guidelines for the application of new technologies and frequency planning Organizing workshops and seminars which aim to equalize expertise across the Unions by sharing experiences and best practices among broadcasters in different parts of the world
The work of the WBU-TC focuses on issues and areas to which all Unions are welcome to contribute to, and which materially affect broadcasting in all regions of the world. It does not duplicate work already being done by other bodies or groups, but rather presents the broadcasters’ views and defend their positions in international matters. For issues which are universally important, the WBU-TC endeavours to agree on and pursue a common policy.
The WBU-TC carries its work mostly by correspondence and holds meetings once or twice a year. Chairmen of the Technical Committees, Directors of the Technical Departments and Secretariats of the individual Broadcasting Unions participate in its meetings. As appropriate, the WBU-TC Chairman, in consultation with the committee members, may invite attendance of those technical experts that can contribute to WBU-TC work. In addition, the Committee may organize conferences for members of the Broadcasting Unions to focus on specific technical issues.