Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union

Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union

ABU headquarters in Angkasapuri, Kuala Lumpur
Formation	1 July 1964; 57 years ago (1964-07-01)
Type	Union of broadcasting organisations
Headquarters	2nd Floor, IPPTAR Building, Angkasapuri, 50614 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Membership	286 members (from 57 countries and regions)
Official language	English
President	İbrahim Eren
Website	http://www.abu.org.my/

The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), formed in 1964, is a non-profit, professional association of broadcasting organisations. It currently has over 280 members in 57 countries and regions, reaching a potential audience of about 3 billion people. The ABU's role is to help the development of broadcasting in the Asia-Pacific region and to promote the collective interests of its members. The ABU covers an area stretching from Turkey in the west to Samoa in the east, and from Mongolia in the north to New Zealand in the south. Its secretariat is located in Angkasapuri, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, its secretary-general, currently Dr Javad Mottaghi.

One of the ABU's activities is Asiavision, a daily exchange of news feeds by satellite among television stations in 20 countries in Asia. The ABU also negotiates coverage rights to major sports events for its members collectively, and carries out a wide range of activities in the programme and technical areas. The ABU provides a forum for promoting the collective interests of television and radio broadcasters, and encourages regional and international co-operation between broadcasters.

Full members must be national free-to-air broadcasters in the Asia-Pacific region, but there is an associate membership category that is open to provincial broadcasters, subscription broadcasters and national broadcasters in other parts of the world, and an affiliate category that is open to organisations connected to broadcasting.

Overview[]

ABU former President Cho Dae-hyun

The ABU's activities include:

• a daily satellite TV news exchange (Asiavision)
• co-production and exchange of programmes
• negotiating rights for major sports events and organising coverage
• technical, programming and management consultancy services
• advising members on copyright and legal matters
• rights-free content acquisition for developing countries
• representing members in international forums
• international frequency planning and coordination
• organising seminars, workshops and training courses
• annual competition for radio and television programmes (ABU Prizes)
• a robot competition for engineering students (Robocon)
• publication of ABU News and Technical Review
• started 2012: ABU TV and Radio Song Festivals^[1][2]

Journalists from ABU member organisations

The ABU works closely with the regional broadcasting . in other parts of the world on matters of common concern, and with many other international organisations, to exchange information on the latest developments in broadcasting, undertake activities to improve the skills and technologies of its members, and encourage harmonisation of operating and technical broadcasting standards and systems in the region. The ABU is funded primarily by annual subscriptions from members. The Union has an elected President and three Vice-Presidents, who serve three-year terms. The current President is Yoshinori Imai of NHK-Japan.

The ABU Secretariat is located in Angkasapuri, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It has over 30 staff, of whom 12 are broadcast professionals recruited from among the ABU members within the region. The head of the Secretariat is the Secretary-General, who is appointed by the General Assembly. The current Secretary-General is Dr. Javad Mottaghi. The Asia-Pacific region is defined in the ABU statutes as countries within areas of Asia and the Pacific that lie substantially between the longitudes of 30 degrees east and 170 degrees west. On the map, this region stretches from Turkey in the west, to Samoa in the east, and from Russia in the north, to New Zealand in the south. All of the ABU's full members operate in this region.

Most of the ABU's associate members are European and North American broadcasters, many of whom have operations in Asia, and pay-TV and cable operators in the Asia-Pacific. Its affiliate members include satellite providers, telcos, production companies, equipment vendors and regulators. The ABU is the third largest of the world's eight broadcasting unions, but covers the largest geographic area of the world.

Membership[]

A number of different membership types are available to national broadcasters and national broadcasting organisations. These include full, additional full, associate, affiliate and institutional memberships.^[3]

Full members[]

Countries with Full ABU Membership.

• Below is a list of full members of the ABU. These are members who are independent nations within the ABU broadcasting region, and consist of two members per country. Broadcasters have the option to change between full and additional full membership.^[3]

Country	Broadcasting organisation	National script	Abbr.
Afghanistan	Radio Television Afghanistan	رادیو تلویزیون ملی افغانستان (Dari) د افغانستان ملي راډيو تلويزون (Pashto)	RTA
Australia	Australian Broadcasting Corporation	Australian Broadcasting Corporation	ABC
Azerbaijan	İctimai Television	İctimai Televiziya və Radio Yayımları Şirkəti	İTV
Bangladesh	Bangladesh Betar	বাংলাদেশ বেতার	BB
	Bangladesh Television	বাংলাদেশ টেলিভিশন	BTV
Bhutan	Bhutan Broadcasting Service	འབྲུག་རྒྱང་བསྒྲགས་ལས་འཛིན	BBS
Brunei	Radio Television Brunei	Radio Televisyen Brunei	RTB
Cambodia	National Television of Cambodia	ទូរទស្សន៍ជាតិកម្ពុជា	TVK
China	China Media Group	中央广播电视总台	CMG
	National Radio and Television Administration	国家广播电视总局	NRTA
Egypt	Egyptian Radio and Television Union	إتحاد الإذاعة و التليفزيون المصري	ERTU
Fiji	Fiji Television	Fiji Television	FTV
India	All India Radio	आकाशवाणी	AIR
	Doordarshan	दूरदर्शन	DD
Indonesia	Radio of the Republic of Indonesia	Radio Republik Indonesia	RRI
	Television of the Republic of Indonesia	Televisi Republik Indonesia	TVRI
Iran	Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting	صدا و سيمای جمهوری اسلامی ايران	IRIB
Japan	Japan Broadcasting Corporation	日本放送協会	NHK
	Tokyo Broadcasting System	東京放送	TBS
Jordan	Jordan Radio and Television Corporation	مؤسسة الإذاعة والتلفزيون الأردني	JRTV
Kazakhstan	Khabar Agency	Хабар Агенттігі (Kazakh) Агентство Хабар (Russian)	KA
Kiribati	Broadcasting and Publications Authority	Broadcasting and Publications Authority	BPA
Kyrgyzstan	Kyrgyz Public Radio and Television Corporation	Кыргыз Республикасынын Коомдук телерадиоберүү корпорациясы (Kyrgyz) Общественная телерадиовещательная корпорация Кыргызской Республики (Russian)	KTRK
Laos	Lao National Radio	ວິທະຍຸກະຈາຍສຽງແຫ່ງຊາດລາວ	LNR
	Lao National Television	ສະຖານີໂທລະພາບແຫ່ງຊາດລາວ	LNTV
Malaysia	Radio & Television of Malaysia	Radio Televisyen Malaysia	RTM
Maldives	Public Service Media	ޕަބްލިކް ސަރވިސް މީޑިއާ	PSM
Mongolia	Mongolian National Broadcaster	Монголын Үндэсний Олон Нийтийн Телевиз	MNB
	TV5	TV5 Телевиз	TV5
Myanmar	Myanmar Radio and Television	မြန်မာ့အသံနှင့်ရုပ်မြင်သံကြား	MRTV
Nepal	Nepal Television	नेपाल टेलिभिजन	NTV
	Radio Nepal	रेडियो नेपाल	RNE
New Zealand	Television New Zealand	Television New Zealand Te Reo Tātaki o Aotearoa (Māori)	TVNZ
Pakistan	Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation	ہیئت پاکستان برائے قومی نشریات	PBC
	Pakistan Television	پاكِستان ٹیلی وژن نیٹ ورک	PTV
Papua New Guinea	Media Niugini Limited	—	MNL
	National Broadcasting Corporation of Papua New Guinea	National Broadcasting Corporation of Papua New Guinea	NBC/PNG
Philippines	People's Television Network	People's Television Network Telebisyon ng Bayan (Filipino)	PTNI
Qatar		المؤسسة القطرية للإعلام	QMC
Samoa	Samoa Broadcasting Corporation	Samoa Broadcasting Corporation	SBC
Saudi Arabia	Saudi Broadcasting Authority	هيئة الإذاعة والتلفزيون السعودية	SBA
Singapore	Media Corporation of Singapore	Media Corporation of Singapore Private Limited 新加坡传媒私人有限公司 (Chinese) Perbadanan Media Singapura Sendirian Berhad (Malay) சிங்கப்பூர் ஊடகம் கூட்டுத்தாபனம் (Tamil)	Mediacorp
South Korea	Korean Broadcasting System	한국방송공사	KBS
	Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation	문화방송주식회사	MBC
Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation	ශ්‍රී ලංකා ගුවන් විදුලි සංස්ථාච (Sinhala) இலங்கை ஒலிபரப்புக் கூட்டுத்தாபனம் (Tamil)	SLBC
	Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation	ශ්‍රී ලංකා රූපවාහිනී සංස්ථාව (Sinhala) இலங்கை ரூபவாகினி கூட்டுத்தாபனம் (Tamil)	SLRC
Thailand	National Broadcasting Services of Thailand	สถานีวิทยุกระจายเสียงแห่งประเทศไทย กรมประชาสัมพันธ์ สถานีวิทยุโทรทัศน์แห่งประเทศไทย กรมประชาสัมพันธ์	NBT
	Television Pool of Thailand	โทรทัศน์รวมการเฉพาะกิจแห่งประเทศไทย	TPT
Timor Leste	Radio-Television of East Timor	Radio-Televisão Timor Leste (Portuguese) Radio-Televizaun Timor Lorosae (Tetum)	RTTL
Tonga	Tonga Broadcasting Commission	Tonga Broadcasting Commission Komisoni Fakamafolalea Tonga (Tongan)	TBC
Turkey	Turkish Radio and Television Corporation	Türkiye Radyo ve Televizyon Kurumu	TRT
Turkmenistan	State Committee of Turkmenistan for Television, Radio Programs and Cinematography	Türkmenistanyň Telewideniýe, radiogepleşikler we kinematografiýa baradaky döwlet komiteti	TTV
Uzbekistan	National Television and Radio Company of Uzbekistan	O'zbekiston milliy teleradiokompaniyasi	MTRK
Vanuatu	Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation	Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation Société de Radiodiffusion et Télévision du Vanuatu (French)	VBTC
Vietnam	Voice of Vietnam	Đài Tiếng nói Việt Nam	VOV
	Vietnam Television	Đài Truyền hình Việt Nam	VTV

Additional full members[]

Countries with Additional Full ABU Membership.

• Below is a list of additional full members of the ABU. These are members who already have 2 full member organisations, and for countries in non-independent area.^[3]

Country	Broadcasting organisation	National script	Abbr.
Afghanistan	Ariana Radio and Television Network	آريانا تلويزيون	ATN
		—	ERTV
	Noorin Radio Television Network	تلویزیون نورین	NRTN
	Saba Media Organisation	تلویزیون سبا	SMO
Bangladesh	Asian TV	এশিয়ান টিভি
	Radio Broadcasting FM (Bangladesh) Company Limited	Radio Broadcasting FM (Bangladesh) Co. Ltd.	Radio Today
	South Asian Television	—	SATV
Bhutan		—	CR101
		—	KFM
China	Shandong Radio and Television Station	—	SDRT
	Shanghai Media Group	上海文化广播影视集团有限公司	SMG
	Sichuan Radio and Television	四川广播电视台	SRT
Fiji	Fiji Broadcasting Corporation	—	FBC
Hong Kong	Radio Television Hong Kong	香港電台	RTHK
	Television Broadcasts Limited	電視廣播有限公司	TVB
India	New Delhi Television	—	NDTV
Jordan		—	SMR
Kazakhstan	Republican Television and Radio Corporation	—	RTRC
Kiribati	Adventist Hope Radio	—
	WAVE TV	—
Kyrgyzstan		—	NBS
Laos	Television Lao Limited	—	TVLAO
Lebanon	Radio Liban	اذاعة لبنان	RL[4]
Macau	Macau Television Broadcasting	澳門廣播電視股份有限公司 Teledifusão de Macau (Portuguese)	TDM
Malaysia	Media Prima Berhad	—	MPB
Maldives	VMedia Island Broadcasting Company Pvt Ltd	—	VMedia
Marshall Islands	Radio Marshalls V7AB	—
Mongolia	Ekoron TV	—
	HBS TV LLC Company	—
	MONGOLRadio FM 88.3-102.1	—
	MN25 Television	25-р Суваг Телевиз	MN25
	Mongolian National Educational Channel	Боловсрол Суваг	EduTV
	Mongolian Radio and Television Broadcasting Network	Монголын Үндэсний Олон Нийтийн Телевиз	MRTBN
	Must Technology	—
	TV9 Television	TV9 Телевиз	TV9
	SULD Television, Noyon Suld Co Ltd	—
	United Broadcasting Corporation LLC	Юнайтед Бродкастинг Корпорэйшн ХХК	Star TV
Myanmar	DVB Multimedia Group	ဒီမိုကရေတစ်မြန်မာ့အသံ	DVB
Nauru	Nauru Media	—	NM
Nepal	Kantipur Television Network	—	KTV
	Radio Sagarmatha	—
New Zealand	Radio Tarana	—
	Television New Zealand Limited	—	TVNZ
Norfolk Island	Norfolk Island Broadcasting Service	Norfolk Island Broadcasting Service	VL2NI
North Korea	The Radio and Television Broadcasting Committee of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea	조선중앙방송위원회	KRT
Pakistan	Hum Network Limited	—	HUM TV
	Shalimar Recording & Broadcasting Company	—	ATV/SRBC
	Virtual University TV	—	VTV
Palestine	Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation	—	PBC
Philippines	Amcara Broadcasting Network	—	ABS-CBN
	Philippine Broadcasting Service	—	PBS
Solomon Islands	Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation	—	SIBC
		—	TTV
South Korea	Educational Broadcasting System	한국교육방송공사	EBS
	Seoul Broadcasting System	주식회사에스비에스	SBS
Sri Lanka	Asset Radio Broadcasting	Asset Radio Broadcasting (Pvt) Limited	Neth FM
		EAP Broadcasting Company	EAP
	Independent Television Network Limited	Independent Television Network Limited	ITN
	MBC Networks	MBC Networks (Pvt) Limited	MBC Radio
	MTV Channel	MTV Channel (Pvt) Limited	MTV
	Power House	Power House LTD	TV Derana
	VIS Broadcasting	VIS Broadcasting (Pvt) Ltd.	VIS
Thailand	Thai Public Broadcasting Service	องค์การกระจายเสียงและแพร่ภาพสาธารณะแห่งประเทศไทย	Thai PBS
	The National Assembly Radio and Television Broadcasting Station	สถานีวิทยุกระจายเสียงและวิทยุโทรทัศน์รัฐสภา สำนักงานเลขาธิการสภาผู้แทนราษฎร	TPChannel
Vietnam	Audio Visual Global Joint Stock Company	—	AVG

Associate members[]

Countries with Associate ABU Membership.

• Below is a list of associate members of the ABU. These are international broadcasters beyond the ABU region, and national broadcasting associations.^[3]

Country	Broadcasting organisation	National script	Abbr.
Australia		Commercial Radio Australia Limited	CRA
		CVC Network Limited	CVC
France	France Télévisions	Organismes Français de Radiodiffusion et de Télévision	OFRT
Germany	German National Broadcasting (Deutsche Welle)	Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland	ARD
	Second German Television	Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen	ZDF
Hong Kong	Cable TV Hong Kong	香港有線電視	HKCTV
	Phoenix Television	鳳凰衛視控股有限公司	Phoenix TV
		點心衛視	Dim Sum TV
	PCCW Media Limited	電訊盈科有限公司	Now TV
Japan	National Association of Commercial Broadcasters in Japan	日本民間放送連盟	JBA
Indonesia	PT Media Televisi Indonesia	—	METRO TV
	PT Indonusa Telemedia	—	Telkomvision
	PT Karyamegah Adijaya	—	Aora TV
Malaysia	ASTRO All Asia Networks plc	—	AAAN
	U Television Holdings Sdn Bhd	—	U Television
Mauritius	Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation	Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation	MBC
Micronesia	Federated States of Micronesia Broadcasting Service	—	FSMBS
Mongolia	Eagle Broadcasting Company	Ийгл Телевиз	EBC
		—	"BTV" Television
	DDishTV	ДДэшТВ ХХК	DDish TV
	Supervision Broadcasting Network Television	SBN Телевиз	SBN
Netherlands	Radio Netherlands Worldwide	Radio Nederland Wereldomroep	RNW
New Zealand	Radio New Zealand	Radio New Zealand (English) Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa (Māori)	RNZ
Norway	Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation	Norsk rikskringkasting	NRK
Pakistan	Geo Independent Media Corporation Ltd	Geo Television	Geo
Philippines	Association of Broadcasters of the Philippines	Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas	KBP
Qatar	Al Jazeera English	قناة الجزيرة حاصلة	AJE
Russia	All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company	Всероссийская государственная телевизионная и радиовещательная компания	VGTRK
		—	AIST
Singapore	MediaCorp TV	MediaCorp Pte Ltd	MediaCorp TV
Switzerland	Swiss Broadcasting Corporation	SRG SSR Radio- und Fernsehgesellschaft (German) Société suisse de radiodiffusion et télévision (French) Società svizzera di radiotelevisione (Italian) Societad svizra da radio e televisiun (Romansh)	SRG SSR
United Kingdom	British Broadcasting Corporation	British Broadcasting Corporation	BBC
USA	American Broadcasting Company	American Broadcasting Companies	ABC
	CBS Corporation	CBS Corporation	VIACOM/CBS
	National Association of Broadcasters	National Association of Broadcasters	NAB
	Turner Broadcasting System	Turner Broadcasting System	TBS
	Voice of America	Voice of America	VOA
	Trans World Radio	Trans World Radio	TWR

Institutional members[]

Countries with ABU Institutional Membership.

Country	Broadcasting organisation	National script	Abbr.
Belgium	International News Safety Institute	International News Safety Institute	INSI
Germany		—
Hong Kong	Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia	Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia	CASBAA
Switzerland	Digital Radio Mondiale	Digital Radio Mondiale	DRM
Thailand	Asia-Pacific Telecommunity	Asia Pacific Telecommunity	APT
United Kingdom	Association for International Broadcasting	The Association for International Broadcasting	AIB
	International News Safety Institute	International News Safety Institute	INSI
	WorldDMB	WorldDMB	WorldDMB
USA	International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences	International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences	IATAS
	United Nations Department of Public Information	United Nations Department of Public Information	UN-DPI

Affiliated members[]

Countries with Affiliated ABU Membership.

Country	Broadcasting organisation	National script	Abbr.
Australia	Radio Frequency Systems	Radio Frequency Systems	RFS
	Broadcast Australia	Broadcast Australia
	Globecast Australia	Globecast Australia
	Asia Media Monitors Sdn. Bhd.	Asia Media Monitors Sdn. Bhd.	AMM
Canada		International Business Communications Consultants	IBC Consultants
France	Eutelsat	Eutelsat S.A
Germany		—	Lstelcom
Hong Kong	AsiaSat	Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited	AsiaSat
	Bloomberg L.P.	—	Bloomberg
	ITV Choice	ITV International Hong Kong
India	Broadcast Engineering Consultants India	Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited	BECIL
		—	N1
		Induslnd Media and Communications Limited	IMCL
		Technomedia Solutions Ptv Ltd	Technomedia
Indonesia	First Media	PT First Media Tbk	First Media
	Indosat	PT Indonesia Satellite Corporation Tbk	Indosat
		PT. Adhi Karya (Persero) Tbk	AKV
Italy		—	SPA
Japan	SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation	スカパーJSAT株式会社	SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation
		—
		—	NHK ITEC
	NHK International	—
		—	NHK G-Media
	SoftBank Telecom	ソフトバンクテレコム株式会社	Softbank Telecom
Jordan	Arab Radio and Television Network	Arab Radio and Television	ART
Kazakhstan		—	OKNO-TV Kazakhstan
Mauritius	Multi Carrier	Multi Carrier (Mauritius) Limited	MCML
Myanmar		—	Forever Group
Malaysia	Celcom	Celcom Axiata Berhad'	CELCOM
	MEASAT Satellite Systems	MEASAT Satellite Systems	MEASAT
		—	on
Pakistan	Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority	Pakistan Electronic Media Regulator Authority	PEMRA
Philippines	Mabuhay Satellite Corporation	Mabuhay Investment Corporation	MIC
	ABC Development Corporation	-	ADC
Singapore	Ascent Media Corporation	Ascent Media Corporation	Ascent Media
	KIT Digital	Benchmark Broadcast Systems (S) Pte. Ltd.	BSS
	Globecast Asia	Globecast Asia Pte Ltd	GCA
	Intelsat Singapore Pte Ltd	—	Intelsat
	Media Development Authority	媒体发展管理局	MDA
	Motion Picture Association	Motion Picture Association International	MPA
		—	NewTec
	PCCW Global (Singapore) Pte Ltd	電訊盈科有限公司	PCCW
		—
	Editec International	—
	Sony Entertainment Television	Sony Electronics Asia Pacific	SET
	Plisch Broadcast Asia Pacific	—
South Africa	Sentech	Sentech	Sentech
South Korea		—	KBI
Sri Lanka		—	YA*TV
Sweden	Dolby Sweden	—
Switzerland	Digital Video Broadcasting	—	DVB
Tonga	Tonga Broadcasting Commission	Komisoni Fakamafolalea Tonga	TBC
United Kingdom	VT Communications	United Kingdom VT Group Plc	VT Communications
	International Association of Broadcasting Manufacturers	International Association of Broadcasting Manufacturers	IABM
		—	Radioscape
USA		—	PacTV
	Radio Free Asia	—	RFA
		—	PACSAT

Other activities[]

Emergency Warning Broadcasting System (EWBS) for the Asia-Pacific region[]

EWBS development work has focused on identifying a suitable country code methodology. This system of codes has now been standardised by ITU-R. The General Assembly in Beijing endorsed the work carried out by the TC and issued an ABU Declaration calling all members to encourage their respective governments to implement an EWBS system.^{[citation needed]}

ABU Engineering Excellence Awards[]

Veronica Pedrosa of Al Jazeera addressing an ABU conference

ABU Engineering Industry Excellence Award and ABU Broadcast Engineering Excellence Award are presented annually to broadcast personalities who have made significant contributions respectively to their organisations and to the industry as a whole. They are selected from nominations made by ABU members and followed by an evaluation process by a panel of judges. The Broadcast Engineering Excellence Award is being sponsored by Broadcast and Professional Pacific Asia Company (BPPA). The award includes a study tour of Sony research facilities.^{[citation needed]}

Publications[]

The ABU publishes the ABU News magazine while the Technical Department publishes the Technical Review. Both publications are published quarterly. They are sent free to members and non-affiliates and published in print version, downloadable in PDF format through the ABU's Publications area of the ABU's website and on ABU's app on Android. The ABU also publishes books related to broadcasting which is available in print.

Inter-union activities[]

The World Broadcasting Unions (WBU) brings together eight unions including the ABU. The WBU has a number of specialised forums, including the International Satellite Operations Group (WBU-ISOG) and the Technical Committee (WBU-TC). The ABU is an active member of both.

See also[]

References[]

External links[]

• Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union