The 53rd ABU Programme Committee Meeting was held on November 11, 2011, with 139 participants. In the absence of Chairman Mr Soleman Yusuf, the meeting was led by the Vice Chair, Mr. Keizo Izuta. The meeting started with a video message from Mr. Soleman Yusuf, and a welcome remark by the ABU Secretary-General, Dr. Javad Mottaghi.

Mr. Nagahata, Director of ABU Programming, reported on the activities of the Programme Department over the past year, and the discussion of the 12th Programme Bureau meeting held last month.

In the Special Session, Mr. Takuya Iryo of NHK, Japan, Ms. Clair M. Gorman of ABC, Australia, and Ms. Maria Luisa Mazzei of RAI, Italy gave presentations with video clips of their programmes on the topic of “Sharing new Ideas of program production under the Covid-19 pandemic.”

In the Member’s Forum, Mr. Takushi Yoshida of ABU Robocon Tokyo Secretariat reported on last year’s competition and future activities of ABU Robocon. Dr. Hyunsook Chung of EBS, South Korea, presented on “Beasts of Asia Season 2”, and Ms. Miwa Komori of NEP, Japan, introduced the Video Restoration Service called “Goldseam Scaler.”

In the Invitation to Future Events, the PC members and ABU secretariats in a total of 10, announced information on upcoming events and activities. A brand-new project of ABU, “TV-Con” which is scheduled to be held next May was introduced by Mr. Nagahata.

At the end of the meeting, the results of the election for the next Programme Bureau members were announced – ABC Australia and RAI Italy were chosen as the new PB members. The meeting ended with short messages from the new Chairperson of the Programme Committee, Ms. Claire M. Gorman of ABC, the new Vice-Chairperson, Ms. Yeşim Eren of TRT, Turkey, and re-elected Vice-Chairperson, Mr. Keizo Izuta.

This constructive meeting that shared the tremendous efforts of our members who have worked hard to overcome the complexities presented by Covid-19, together with the exciting new initiatives in 2022, provided a much needed silver lining to look forward to as we start to emerge from the pandemic.