2016 Public Broadcasters International Conference to be held in Canada

The Public Broadcasters International (PBI) Conference will be held this year from September 14 to 16 in Montreal and will be hosted by CBC/Radio-Canada.

The 2016 edition of PBI with the theme – The next Future: Connecting the Digital Generation to Public Broadcasting will explore the theme of young audiences and their shift away from traditional media consumption. This conference will shed light on cutting-edge strategies to reach and retain Millennial and GenZ audiences.

Created in 1990, PBI is an annual forum that brings together executives from over 80 public broadcasters to discuss issues of concern to public service media. The PBI Secretary-General, Mr Toshiyuki Sato from NHK-Japan said that the media landscape has changed rapidly in the past twenty five years because of the emergence of new media. Audiences now seek the information they need, instead of just waiting for it.

Mr Sato added that such changes are more visible among the younger generation. This has been an issue for us public broadcasters for years. Broadcasters have to add the usage of new media to our traditional radio and television services to catch up to the changing values of the younger generation.

For Mr Hubert T. Lacroix, President and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada “Digital: that’s the world we live in. The 16-34 generation knows nothing else. How can we now succeed at digital when our business models are outdated and the industry is evolving at lightning speed? He added that this year’s conference will be an opportunity for the global public broadcasting community to strengthen its ties, share ideas, and explore innovative solutions.